What deaf ears have our substance abuse specialists and physicians. TSM flies in the face of convention and on the face of it appears merly another crack-pot panacea. Among the hundreds of crack-pot ideas that come to the fore, perhaps one may actually be true. Unfortunately, there are more true believers in this world than beliefs in what is true. The proliferation of treatments modalities in our specialized clinics, do not simply represent an honorable multi-disciplinary approach to treat the "whole-person", e.g., psychosocial, physical, spiritual, nutritional, meditation, anger management, (list your favorite) ,etc. Such a proliferation of Treatment modalities is symptomatic of a pervasive professional ignorance and together these attempts at treatment stand as failed attempts to hit the proverbial nail on the head.
AA and the profession ASAM approach are institutionalized approaches which have become power structures in which so-called "specialists" may bask in the glory of an prevailing professional standard, no matter how misguided. Nal-on, KAT.

Thanks for a great post and set of insights, TakKat - I really appreciated that. Nal on!

3 weeks down, and so far I'm really very happy with my numbers. 12 is one-third of what I drank pre-TSM. The only thing I'm not settled on, though, is how much Nal to take.

This past week, I stepped up to 50mg (after 2 full weeks at 25mg). I posted before that 50mg felt like alot, and on Saturday night (my third AF day in a row) I had the craving to drink, but I didn't because I just didn't want to take the full 50mg. This bothers me. I mean It's great to have an AF day and all, but at this point, I'd rather not have one because I want to avoid taking Nal.

So for now, I decided that I will just stick with 25mg. 25mg definitely has an effect, and I tolerate it without really any side-effects. And most importantly, I won't avoiding drinking because of it. (Upon re-reading that last sentence - how odd this all is!)

I'm still very much into TSM and will not miss a dose of Nal!

I think they honeymoon's ending. I had six drinks last night. That's alot for me on Nal. And for sure will this week's numbers go up for the first time since starting Nal. I've been expecting that to happen (thanks to this board), but still, it's a little scary.

Yet 6 drinks on a big night is not so bad. In the five weeks prior to starting Nal, I had 4 nights drinking 10, one night at 12, and one at 13 units (the rest normally hovered between 5-9). I'm nowhere near that now. I just don't want as much when drinking on Nal (simple as that).

My drink is white wine. I buy it either in a box (which is 4 bottles), or in double-bottle. The "reason" I give for that is that it's cheap. But seriously I just don't want anyone seeing me uncork a second bottle. Not that it's really any big secret. But that's just my way. I look forward to being confident enough that I won't drink more than a bottle, that I can just buy a single bottle. Small victory, I suppose. But that will help me feel at least somewhat "normal" again.

I'm only taking 25mg now. We'll see how this goes in the next week or so. If my numbers go back to pre-Nal levels, I'll up the dose. Right now, I can't see that happening, but we'll see. Still no day-after anxiety attacks though (yay!).

keep on, keeping on tak_kat

Week 4 was pretty good. Normal, I'd say. After my last post, I thought about something Nick had said in some other thread regarding whether or not your could do the whole program on 25mg. He said more or less, maybe you can, but all the research and most of the experiences on this board were with people taking 50mg. So to make a long story short, I decided to just take the 50mg and deal with it. I've had two nights with 50mg since then and both were exceedingly normal. I guess my body is warmed up at this point.

18.5 drinks and 3AF days is pretty darn good. That's basically 50% less than my pre-TSM average. Also, the 3AF days were smooth too. Last but not least, again, no panic attacks. Wooohoo!

I did have a trigger or two come up this week. Co-workers invited me out to drinks. Normally I'd be leading this charge, but since I had no Nal on me at the time, I had to refuse which made me feel self-conscious. My self-confidence sometimes plummets around things like this. I'm generally terrified someone will ask me exactly why I don't want a drink, which ultimately leads me to admit I'm a binger, and then they'll "know", which - of course - sends me into a shame spiral and gaaaaaaaahhhh!

Oh well. The Nal's working, so I'm still very enthused. Take care.

This past weekend, I went to Walgreen's and bought a pill fob I can keep with me at all times. It's too large for my pocket, but fits easily in my computer bag.

But I would rather do what you did, which is stay AF.... but networking is good too.

Nice work, TK. You and I are in similar numbers. i know that to some others on the board our numbers seem really low, possibly too low to elicit concern, but we still think we've got work to do The numbers are not as interesting as the subjunctive changes that TSM brings about. The clarity and control are the best part of this whole process...being able to say no or enough!!

Thanks for the support everybody!


@EL, thanks, and yes, I noticed that too.

A bottle+ of wine a night is too much for me. I started tracking numbers for 5 weeks before starting Nal, and that's where I was. I think things like - what would happen if my daughter got hurt? I mean, I couldn't exactly drive. And other things like would she ultimately associate the smell of alcohol on someone's breath with me? She's only 2 right now. But I want to be a good role model for her. And to be a good husband to my wife. Lucky for me, drinking really hasn't caused any problems there. Not directly at least. But being hungover all the time and having panic attacks certainly isn't good for a marriage.

Anyhow, it's been long enough. I am grateful for TSM and Nal. It's really helping me.

Week 5 was a breeze. The 4AF days were easy and there was only one night where I had my new (I guess) max - 5 drinks. The other two days were 2, and 3 drinks each. This, to me, is a dream come true. 2 or 3 drinks is enough to get a slight buzz and also to after a bit be able to drive. So it means that I could meet up with a friend for a drink somewhere. Or watch a game with a friend with a beer or two and still be able to get home.

I have been expecting an "extinction bust" but so far it hasn't come. I don't know if that means it won't, but I am a little surprised (actually I am alot surprised) that my numbers are trending almost straight down. I'm not sure what to make of that. But I am thrilled with it.

My goal is still largely the same. I want to be basically abstient except on some (rare) occasion or another, and then only maybe 2-3 drinks, and still be able to safely and legally be able to drive.