I drank too much last night and am suffering today. When I overdo it my depression and anxiety amps up. Also, my son and his girlfriend came home at 12:30 pm to find me asleep in front of the TV. I don't know if they could tell I had been bombed but I'm embarrassed. That's the kind of crap I want to do away with.

I knew I was going to drink when I got home. The craving/anxiety was just too strong. I took nal before leaving work but it doesn't seem to be reducing the craving as much as a few weeks ago.

Tonight I know I need to do some alternative activities to keep from over drinking. This is scarey and hard.

Hey tiller,
hang in there. Yes, the anti-craving effect of nal goes away pretty quickly (at least, compared to the initial honeymoon). However, it is only by having cravings, taking nal, and drinking that you are going to be successful at TSM - so dont sweat it right now! It's part of the program.

Thanks for that. The thing is, I do want to reduce intake as well as doing TSM. Need to find more strategies for that. I've been trying to do alternative things in the evenings but yesterday I didn't.

Hmmm in terms of reducing intake...here are a few suggestions that work for me (sometimes!).
1) making yourself eat, preferably a big meal, before starting to drink
2) taking the full 50mg of nal (as it makes me a bit nauseous)
3) setting a drinking plan for yourself, and keeping a chart with the drinks for every day so that you are accountable.
4) actively think through each potential drinking situation, visualizing it, and visualizing what you want to happen and how much you want to drink. Try and set a specific limit (e.g., 3 beers) rather than just going into the situation with the thought "I don't want to drink too much".
5) schedule early-morning events that you look forward to, if possible.
6) try and pack your schedule with alternative night-time activities; a good one for me is volunteering with NYCARES. Maybe you have a similar program? You can just sign up online for various volunteering projects after going through a 45 minute training once. You can even get to work with cute kitties and doggies
7) working out, preferably in the evening. It feels good, and then you're tired.
8) Cognitive-behaviour therapy, or harm reduction therapy, to talk about all this stuff with a trained professional if you can.
9) drinking things that are not your favourites. trying to stay away from hard alcohol. NO SHOTS lol
10) possibly telling your friends and/or drinking buddies about TSM - you will feel more self-conscious about your drinking around them then and it will likely cause you to analyse your own behaviour.
Hope this helps!!