Digetic is right on in that response. Don't force anything. Just drink however and whatever you usually do and let Nal work it's magic. With every sip you are closer to regaining control.

You jumped right in there with a 50 mg. dose, huh? Usually people start the first two drinking nights with 25 mg. and on the third night drinking, up that dose to 50 mg. It's not a biggie, but many have severe side effects including sleeplessness, nausea and feeling "loopy." All of those things pass in a week or two.

I am excited for you! It sounds like you really want this monkey off your back. Good for you for having an arsenal of Nal with you at all times.

One bad side effect that you did experience was that Katy Perry download. Dude, I hope that doesn't happen again. Yikes! I'd rather fall down a flight of stairs than listen to her. Keep on keeping on Hess!

You will one day be a great inspiration for others,

Ketchikan1

Welcome Hess

I hope the honeymoon is continuing for you. I can relate to going missing - I used to do it for days on end!

Good luck
Sticky

Many thanks for the advice and support, all.

I'm making it through at least one of your threads almost every afternoon at work (yeah, I have focus issues). Really enjoying the stories.

Ketch - let's just forget about that KP download. I believe I saw in your thread that you're a Zeppelin fan...it doesn't get much better than the first disc of "How the West Was Won." Ridiculous performances.

Good luck to everyone this weekend.

-H

Hi Hesster, and welcome to TSM,

For Heaven's sake, don't ever drink again without taking NAL and waiting 1 hour. I am worried for you.

Your first day on NAL is a GREAT sign. I am 26 weeks in to TSM, and not cured yet. You will have a lot of ups and downs, but if you stay with it, it works.

My thread might help you. I wish you all the best. I just drafted a couple of NFL Fantasy teams and was in control of my faculties the whole time for a change. That was nice.

Take care.

The fact that you noticed something different about drinking that first night on nal, even if the amounts didn't change, is a GREAt sign. Increasing indifference to alcohol (or at least the ability to say "no more" relatively easily) are some of the amazing consequences of TSM. Good luck and keep posting!

Hi all,

I've finished my first week with Nal (well, technically 6 days...but for ease of consistency, I'm going to use Mon-Sun as my "week"), and while I'm sure I'm in the Honeymoon phase, I was really excited about how everything went. This sh*t is legit.

Monday - 14.33

I didn't have my Nal yet on this day, so (not suprisingly) the units were high. I had 2 whiskeys on my red-eye flight back from Seattle. I normally don't booze on airplanes, but I knew I wasn't going to sleep, and it was actually a pretty cool experience to see the sun coming up with some good tunes and a mild buzz. Later that day, I had some pints during dinner, and crushed an excellent bottle of honey wine before passing out (I've been tearing through those "Game of Thrones" books lately, and the characters are always drinking honey wine, so I had an intense craving). Hopefully, that bottle will be the last alcohol I ever drink without Nal.

Tuesday - 6

This was my first night drinking on Nal, which I described in depth in an earlier post. I'm long-winded as sh*t, so I'll spare you the rehash.

Wednesday - AF

I literally felt no craving on Wed, so I didn't push it. I felt great about this.

Thursday - 8

By Thurs, I knew I should start working on extinction...particularly extinction with my boy, Jim Beam*. Getting past whiskey is going to be a huge challenge for me, because I associate it with an ex-gf, and I have a lot of great memories of her that involve JB (along with some awful experiences, but no need to dwell on those here).

*A quick note about Jim Beam: not so long ago, I would make it a habit to grab a handle (1.75 l) after work on Mondays and see how many nights it would take me to get through the whole thing. Keep in mind, these were WEEKDAY nights. The bottle would seldom last longer than Wednesday. I would be a trainwreck on the mornings following these sessions. Gross.

I picked up a handle after work and got after it later that night. I literally struggled to get through 4 double-bourbons. I felt much more lucid and aware of how I felt while boozing...it was a very surreal experience. I pounded two waters before bed, and felt great in the am. I should also note that I felt more obligation than "craving" to drink on this night. Once I get further along in my treatment, I think applying a little will power will make nights like this AF.

Friday - 6

I can say with confidence that this is probably the lowest amount of units I have consumed on a weekend night since I had a tonsillectomy (3 years ago - couldn't hit the sauce for a whole month, and white-knuckled like a mofo through it). I made it through 3 double-bourbons before calling it a night, since I had to come into the office on Saturday. Normally, I would've tried to get through as much JB as possible before blacking out and passing out on the couch at 4 am while re-watching old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm (epic season this year, by the way). I continued my trend of having very strange/intense dreams on Fri night as well. These aren't bad dreams, just very vivid, weird ones.

Saturday - 11

This was my first night of drinking on Nal in public. I took care of my work obligations, went for a 6-mile run and met up with two good buddies at perhaps the greatest bar/restaurant in Rhode Island. I had 3 pints of craft brew there over several hours and dinner. Later, we ended up going to a local college bar which was pretty hilarious, since we are clearly too old for these types of places. I nursed every beer I had here, and at one point I was even waving off pours from our communal pitcher. I DO NOT NORMALLY DO THIS. I got a mild buzz going, and felt content with that. The night culminated in a 2 am canoe trip with a few brewskis to my buddy's beach, which normally would've been a drunken sh*tshow, but on this night it was a great way to wind down. I'm really happy about how this day went.

This is how Saturday would've gone pre-nal...

I would wake up ridiculously hungover...probably on the couch or living room floor...and stumble into the office an hour late. I would've struggled through work sh*t, and then mercifully hit the bar across the street for lunch once I was finished. When I made it home that afternoon, I would nail the handle of Beam until it was time to meet my buddies for dinner. I would've showed up at the bar/restaurant early, and crush at least 3 pints while waiting for the others to arrive. I would be in fine form at this point. Dinner would help to slow me down a little bit, but I would give the waitress the ok to "fire at will" each time she came to the table.

When we made it to the college bar after dinner, I would likely be the drunkest person there. I would fall into the jukebox and pour money into it until it played Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack." Once I hit the BOC I would lose my friends and slur terrible game at whatever girl will listen to me. The night would end with a sloppy public makeout session, until my friends found me and dragged me out before the bouncers inevitably would. Once we got home, I would be left on my buddy's couch to pee myself, while everyone else enjoyed the late night canoe/beach bonanza. Ugh.

Sunday - 14

Incredibly, I was the last to start drinking on the boat/beach this afternoon. Normally, I would've woken up half-sh*tfaced, and started crushing immediately. I ate lunch, popped a Nal, waited the hour, and nursed 5 beers over about 6 hours of frollicking on the beach and throwing the football around (poorly). THIS NEVER HAPPENS. Once I made it home Sunday, I felt like having a few bourbons while watching the Dallas/NY game, so I indulged myself. Unfortunately, an ex-gf trigger popped up and a few bourbons turned into almost 5 double JBs. While I couldn't even finish the last one, I would've prefered to stop at 2 or 3. Again, this is something that will take a lot of time for me.

Total - 59.33

Some thoughts...

Obviously, that total is still really high, but there are some mitigating factors here...

1 - It's my first week!
2 - I didn't get my Nal until Tues, so I would assume that Monday's total would be lower if I had my meds.
3 - 60 units is about 2/3rds of my pre-Nal level of surly sauce.

There was a lot of great stuff to take away from my first week, so I'm really excited to continue on this odyssey. My appointment with my pcp is this afternoon, so hopefully he'll write me a proper prescription. I have two HUGE triggers coming up this week/weekend, so I'd like to confront them with the pharmaceutical-grade sh*t.

Oh man.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the week, and good luck everyone!

-H

Thanks for this entertaining and detailed post, Hesster! I love that you are open and honest on your thread!

This will serve you well in the months ahead as you will be able to see where and how you began your journey on TSM.

I like, too, that you easily recognize some triggers and that old Jimmy B. will most likely be a casuality for you at some point, that seems to be a goal for you. That is very mature thinking in my opinion. Sounds like you are ready to take this whole thing head on, geared up for battle.

Many people on this forum experienced the loveliness of a honeymoon in their initial weeks on TSM. I did not. Despite my not having had a honeymoon, TSM is working for me. The good news for you is that the word on the street is if you do have that honeymoon it is a great indicater that TSM will work for you.

So congratulations on that and also that you did not wake up on your living room floor. We've gotta' count ALL the victories no matter how small they may seem. Progress is progress no matter what!

Just buckle up, Hesster. It is a long, sometimes bumpy ride.

From Alaska to Rhode Island,

Ketchikan1

P.S. Do any of your friends or family know that you are in this treatment? Just curious....

What a great start Hesster! I am convinced TSM will work for you after such important changes happening right away. Just remember not to get despondent when and if things start to trend upwards again...we've all been there, and the roller coaster is part of TSM. Just hang on to the glimmer of hope that this week provided you!!

Nice detailed description of your early experience on Nal + Al. This is the kind of post that helps others understand the possibilities of TSM. My honeymoon never really ended, that is, I never went back to pre-TSM levels. Your notice of a difference in your experience of alcohol suggests you will have the desired outcome. I, for one, look forward to your chronicled report. I predict that you will be absolutely amazed (at least I hope so). I'm coming up on one year, and I still can't believe how easy it is to string day after day of Alcohol-free days. Nal-on!

As always, thanks for the kind words and predictions. I really hope this works out!

@Ketch - I talked to one of my best friends about what I planned on doing, but he doesn't know that I've actually started taking Nal. My ex-gf knew I was going to get treatment, but I am trying to limit all contact with her, so she is unaware of the particulars.

I'll be at my parents' place on Wed, so I might bring it up with them during dinner. They are wonderful people, but very old school, so I'm not sure how they'll feel about me taking a non-abstinent approach. I'll bring Eskapa's book for my mom so she doesn't think I am making all this up.

When it comes to identifying triggers, I found this approach helpful...

During the weeks I was tracking my pre-Nal units, I made a list of everything I thought would be a trigger along with a corresponding level of severity (some triggers will be bigger than others). I also grouped them into situations I knew I would have control over, so I could target them at will (i.e. planning to drink whiskey when I'm bored after work to start extinguishing that trigger) versus those situations that could occur spontaneously (i.e. a death or illness to a loved one, Red Sox losing a postseason game). I continue to update the list when I think of additional triggers.

I also just got back from the appointment with my pcp. He was not familiar with The Sinclair Method, but he is an affable guy, and wrote me a 2-week prescription. He was interested in all the literature I brought with me (Sinclair's letter, Eskapa's chapter for medical professionals, a NY Times article, and the COMBINE results) and kept them so he could study up on the method. I have another appointment after the 2-week trial, and if things are progressing hopefully he'll issue me a longer prescription. Hopefully I'm still Honeymooning at that point, so I'll have some compelling results!

My pharmacy won't get my meds in until Wed afternoon, so until then, I'll stick with my River supply.

-H