Hi BlueHen, looks like you are having some good positive signs along the journey. Whilst its important to track figures its also important to reflect on the more intangible benefits of TSM whilst in the course of the journey. I've always found it useful to ask myself. Am I better off now (in TSM) than I was before I started TSM. The answer is always a resounding yes. Keep up the good work and progress will come.

Well done BlueHen

You are making progress and that is great. To realise that drinking is not a good option is more than I can do at 19 weeks so well done you!!

Cheers
Sticky

Wow BlueHen your progess in week 13 was amazing! You are now down to 37 units in a week. That's fantastic. It really bodes well for you. Keep going and keep posting. A couple of weeks ago you were really down and couldn't even track your numbers so it seems you are on your way to regaining control.

Bluehen, 3 months in and your units are roughly half of your pre-TSM levels. I'd call that success. I'm glad to hear your 2AF nights were without difficulty, that is a good sign. I think the 3 month mark is where TSM really begins for us long time drinkers. Enough extinction has occurred that you can start to apply some effort which seems to be working for you. I would be very surprised if in 3-6 months you are not seeing that off switch starting to work.

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. I am in a much better place than I was a month ago and have TSM to thank for it. Gosh it is so nice to be happy and at peace with myself. There is still a long way to go but every little success starts to add up!
i just had two nights of heavy drinking. We went to our cabin and that has always been associated with cocktails by the fire pit, cocktails in the hot tub, cocktails by the pool, cocktails while watching a movie and so on. I was hurting on Saturday but that didn't stop me for over indulging again that night. But I am not upset about it; I knew this would be a trigger that needs extinction, and am glad to start working on it prior to summer when we wil be at the cabin more often and with friends. Last summer I never made it past 9:00 at night which was embarrassing and I would really like to stay up late enough to watch the shooting stars! So that's my goal this summer- to be sober enough to lay in the 2 person hammock and watch shooting stars with my son.

I had planned an AF day last night but at the last moment my hubby and I decided to go to the Casino near our home. When we got there we gambled for the first 30 minutes and I had no craving to get a glass of wine, and usually I would have that glass in hand before I started on the slots. My husband went to the cigar bar to enjoy a cigar and scotch but I wasnt finished gambling so I stayed and played some more, drink free. I joined him in the bar and ordered a glass of wine. I wasn't craving it and could of ordered something non alcoholic but in thought "you took your Nal so why not "? I finished one an ordered a second, and that glass I wanted! And when I got home I finished the open bottle of wine in the frig. I wasn't drunk just tipsy and drank a large glass of water prior to going to bed so I woke up with no pain today.
It is the same pattern;once I start I don't want to stop, but my desire to start is very deminished. I am going to work on AF days this week.

BlueHen - Your progress still amazes me! Don't worry about the "once I start, I don't want to stop." It will come in time. I just now started this week being able to stop when I want to and I'm in week 20 or (can't remember off the top of my head but I think that is where I am ).
So, just do the Nal+Al and it all evens out in time.

I just updated my last two weeks numbers-I feel like I am in a holding pattern; most nights I am not anxious about getting my first drink and I don't feel as obsessed and I can have an AF day easily enough each week. There are lots of subtle changes in my drinking patterns but I still drink too much when I start and am not happy with my drunken behavior.
I haven't posted for awhile as not much has changed and I don't feel like I have made any progress. But I am better than I was before TSM and will stick with it.

Hi BlueHen - I too have been in a holding pattern since about week 10. Like you my strength comes in the other changes right now that TSM has given me. So, keep going like you said and we will get there.

I am going to have to change how I post my weekly units as I have reached my limit on allowable characters but week 16 came in at 49. No AF days this week, but two days with only a couple of drinks; which means that on my drinking days I drank a lot. I don't see any real progress this week but I will say that except for 2 really stressful days I didn't crave alcohol. Once I started I just kept going. On the high stress days I really wanted my first drink, and my second and so on.
Last night I went to a play and didn't get home until 9:30. This would usually of been stressful for me; sitting at the play I would feel anxious about getting home and getting my first drink. I did drink when I got home but I was not itching for that first drink. I need to use some will power and and stop drinking so much out of habit.
Overall Nal has improved my life. I want my units to drop but I do like that my cravings are greatly reduced and I have certainly seen a huge improvement in my relationship with my husband; he never mentions my drinking anymore- well actually that is not true, the other night he said "you were so cute last night all buzzed and giggly". Not sure that is good but it beats what he used to say about my drunkenness.