Hi JDog - Welcome aboard - Don't control your drinking this early in the game except to protect yourself and others like not drinking and driving. The goal here is extinction and I think you will find out fairly early on that Nal controls your drinking for you somewhat. Most of us here have had the experience early on of reduced numbers because alcohol doesn't taste the same, the buzz isn't the same, and Nal keeps us less drunk. So, my advice is don't over think it and just practice Nal+Al.

Hi Everyone,

I plan to keep a very active journal. I know when I go on sites like this, I desperately try to find stories like my own and learn from them.

Thank you everyone who has wished me advice and encouragement! I will do the same to you. Point me to your journals.

Took my NAL, waited an hour, and I am a couple units in. Will check in tomorrow.

Thank you again!!

Finished Wednesday with 7 units in. Stopped drinking at 11pm, watched a TV show and drank a big drink of water. I have not been able to stop once I start for years. Thank you NAL.

Be confident that you are heading towards regaining control. I have never seen a single person here have your initial reduction and experience and then claim TSM does not work. Congratulations!

Someone else posted here some valuable health information: the number one cause of stroke/heart attack from binge drinking is DEHYDRATION. Given your high BP (I have it too), MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS DRINK A LOT OF WATER when you drink. You may even try drinking a glass of water every other drink. It will reduce your numbers. Moving away from vodka (my former favorite) to beer or wine, will also likely reduce your numbers in a hurry.

Congratulations, you are on your way!

My best,

Nick

PS

We are about the same age so you might want to read my progress thread. Real control came at about week 33 or so for me... So, TSM works but think 6 to 12 months minimum to fully regain control. But in the meantime, expect more control and clarity when you do drink and fewer/lesser hangovers.

Thanks Nick. I appreciate the advice and will heed it.

I was considering a switch to beer, to be honest. Easier to keep count, but always gave me more of a headache. But given the lack of the incredible craving I used to feel before NAV, the beer didn't satisfy the demon fast or hard enough. Now, I think beer will do the trick. Vodka has been my drink of choice for a while now, but I think our dance will soon be done.

Now that I can see where this is going, the sooner I kick the vodka, the better. I am back taking my BP pills, now that I am using TSM. I was off them after I got out of rehab. My BP went to normal. But the recent increase in my binges scared me into taking them again, which I think is wise.

I will continue to post and use this place as my journal and a record of my journey. I am only a week into this community, and I have a question. Should I post my day to day journal in a different place on this site and only give my weekly updates/summary here?

Please let me know. I do want to journal on a daily basis somewhere, but I know how people investigating/learning about TSM may not want to deal with daily entries in this thread.

I await response.

Hey Jdog, welcome. I don't think you need to make a separate journal for daily. It should be fine to leave the daily updates in this thread. Most people just click on "view active topics" anyway to see what the new posts are.

I found that towards the beginning I posted my progress very often, but as I got more into TSM, A weekly progress report sufficed. My drinking life got much less eventful so there was just less to report.

You are welcome. Post away here.

Looking forward to following your progress!

Week 1 summary. 5,10,10,12,AF,10,13

In reviewing my week 1 result (Fri-Thursday), I drank about 60 units and had 1 AF day. This is much more than I have been drinking recently. But around what I was drinking regularly over the last couple of years. I haven't fought hard against my urge to drink. I figured I might as well just take the NAL and go with it.

I am on vacation, and am drinking in a safe place where there is absolutely no chance of any drinking/driving or stupidity like that. In the past number of years, I have drank excessively during this vacation period. I never kept track, but I think it was more than this past week.

I am honestly a little worried about how much I drank this week. I will be back at work Monday, and in the past, I have not had any trouble working clean. I just drank late at night when the day was over. I am hoping that with NAL next week I will have a big drop in units.

After drinking a lot, I often wake up early unable to sleep - which just happened today. I re-read the book cover to cover to give myself some confidence.

I am not sure what to do with today. Still a day of leisure on vacation. Fight with willpower for a AF? Or just hold off until late in the day, take NAL and drink.... We'll see. Part of me thinks that I should fight to stay clean, another part of me thinks that I should just have another, "extinction session" in this safe and controlled environment.

As long as this process works for me, I will be fine eventually. I will not drink without NAL.

Being on vacation, with leisure time and a safe environment, is one big trigger. If you don't know what a "trigger" is, search the term on the board as it has been discussed extensively. Basically, a trigger is anything that makes you want to drink. By drinking through triggers you will ultimately defeat the addiction. In any event, it's not surprising your numbers are high in this environment.

There is a fine line between drinking from habit versus addiction. If you can take or leave the drink, leave it. If not drinking causes heavy craving, then drink through the trigger. It's a tough call to make, but you will figure it out for yourself. The longer you or on TSM, the sooner you will be able to take it or leave it.

Lastly, I'm willing to bet that once you go back to work that you will find it a lot easier to not think about drinking. TSM is rewiring your brain gradually, on a subconscious level. Your former occasions when you didn't drink will gradually get longer without you even realizing it.

My best,

Nick