Weekly recap yielded 26 units! YAY! However I did have a bit of a scare Friday drinking 6 units ( I think) Woke up in the middle of the night feeling pretty crappy. Drank down two sodas to relieve the dry mouth. I bought a good bottle of wine and it tasted a little too good! Lol. But anyway, 26 "ain't bad". I'm wondering how I would fare if I went back to white wine? I've been wanting to test myself to see if it's TSM that's at work or the fact that I really dont care for red.

More good news! Tonight I stopped at 2! That's not like me.... )

Nal on everyone!

Those two drink days are awesome aren't they? You are making great progress!

Hi Nalway

Yes, those 2 drink days are awesome. I wish I could say I've had more of them than i have in the last year, but when i do i really appreciate it.

Have been feeling a bit stressed tonight. Have been sleeping poorly and now have 13-yr-old behaving like a toddler (almost). Refusing to do just a small chore so not having dinner. Overly spoilt no doubt as i am way too soft b/c my parents were very strict and extremely conservative. Have decided i need to go back to the ignoring tactics i used when the boys were toddlers and above all to not over-react. Have been really looking forward to their prizegiving/carol service in local cathedral tomorrow where older son expects an academic prize, then even more to his leaving dinner/social after 8 years at the same primary/intermediate school. I think i am running this by you b/c you are only a couple of years older than me & more successful with TSM, even tho' you obviously had your kids at a more "normal" age than me!! Do you have any tips for dealing with teenagers?

Keep up the good work

Sticky

Hi Sticky and everyone,

I'm so sorry I havent been in touch with all of you as you've been such great support for me. Its just such a busy time of year for me and I find it difficult to find time to be active in the forum. Christmas, year end, client work etc is all consuming lately! But I intend to read and catch up on all of your threads. No excuses, this is important stuff and we all need each other to help with our success.

Sticky, I've had two very different experiences with teens. My daughter now turning 33 was a holy terror in her teenage years. Many attribute it to her very turbulent upbringing with an abusive father. I just think it comes down to accepting them as they are and not pushing too hard except when absolutely necessary. Hold fast with open arms is a saying coming from the elders in my family. Choosing the important battles and letting small things go. My second child now 17 is so totally different. He is stable, honest and hardworking, although he does tend to slack at times (lol). I have complete trust in him. He's never stolen or lied or done anything that I've objected to. I find it easy to support him in all his endeavors as I consider him to be quite sincere. Once again I attribute his strength and apparent stability to his father who is a rock. Typically I never give myself the credit. I don't know why. Anyway, its made it easy for me to give my son the freedom he desires. Trust is so important. I can remember not believing a word my daughter said because everything she did, everything she said was a lie. I could not count on her for anything. Even now, I feel the same way about her. We are constantly helping her financially and emotionally but she seems forever stuck in the muck! Although she is making great strides towards maturity, finally at age 33.

So, all I can offer for advice is to support their dreams as best you can. Try to establish a trust between you and truly believe in them. Perhaps they will sense your trust and not want to dissappoint you. To this day, I am amazed at the reaction I get from my son when he senses I am dissappointed. He is obviously deeply hurt. Apparently he wants nothing more than to please his parents. Go figure...... They are all so different!

Good luck with your teen. I truly hope you and and your child can live together in harmony!

Best Wishes,

Nal, it's totally ok to be busy I have also just gone through a super busy patch and am just getting back to everyone
Glad to hear things are generally swimming along!

Hi Nalwayout

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom. They really help. It also makes me feel better with my parenting style, which is so different from that of my conservative and overly-strict, brought-up-during-the-war parents. My mum grew up in Wales. Also she was old when she had me - 30 - old 50 years ago . It's almost like I have gone to the other extreme with discipline (far too soft), but then I guess my friends and I have our more domineering, stricter hubbys to balance us out. We are keen for our kids to do what THEY want to do, not what we think they should do. Is your daughter an alcoholic? My brother has borrowed money from family, myself included, never paying it back and has been missing in Bangkok for the last 3 years. Very sad as my parents disowned him years ago and he is my only sibling. Not only does he suffer from alcoholism and depression but he developed juvenile diabetes at 13. He has been very sick and owes money to the Thai government so cannot leave in a hurry. I would bail him out yet again if I could track him down.

I have worried for years about one or other of my sons becoming an alcoholic. It is of course highly likely that one or other will be afflicted with depression and/or alcoholism. Maybe the 13-year-old rather than the 10-year-old, but I don't really know and have wasted hours over worrying unnecessarily as they haven't even started drinking yet. I've heard stories in AA of kids drinking when still under 10 and many at 12/13/14 and stressed. But i also know I won't be able to stop them & will just have to try to be an example. As if mum will be a desirable example for a teenage boy. HAHA! All rather scarey...

Take care and well done on your progress

Sticky

Hi,

I tried the "My Way Out" program with Topomax about a year and half ago. I found that the drug cut my alcohol consumptions and cravings significantly in a short period of time. I also lost my appetite. I only took it for a couple of months and thought I might retain my new found indifference to alcohol, but I began to drink excessively as soon as I was off it. With this drug, you have to take it everyday, whether you drink or not. It made me super tired, gave me insomnia (so I started taking pills to sleep- didn't like that) and my joints were aching so I quit. The vitamins you can buy anywhere and might not be necessary. The GABA seemed helpfull. The hynosis CDs were calming, but I don't know if they changed my thinking.

I would hang in there with this program for now.

My units went way up this week Is this what they call an extinction burst? It's that evil white. I should stear clear of it. And here I am starting week 31 and definitely NOT where I wanted to be. 41 units last week! Yuck!!! I planned to start my weight loss program 1/1/2012 but now I'm wondering if I should just continue on with TSM? I'm now really really up there in the weight department.

Both Saturday and Sunday were long drinking sessions. And both days I took extra Nal to compensate. No blackouts or bad behavior, so that's good. Saturday was my daughters birthday and Sunday Christmas. Lots of eating and drinking holiday stuff going on. I hope this week is better but with New Years Eve on the horizon, that may be a tough call.

Happy holidays everyone:)

Nalwayout, you are doing the best thing you can do to your body by taking nal. I wouldn't worry too much about the weight (thought I know, I have the same thing!!!).

Thanks EL,

But here is my plan. I figure 23 days off is not going to make very much difference as far as my cure is concerned. I do the HCG Diet. It works very fast and a person can lose a huge amount of weight pretty painlessly. Than after the 23 days, I'll resume TSM again. I mean, I've come to the conclusion that this is not going to be over anytime soon. So why be in a rush? I can't continue to gain weight like this, its just not me. I found that consuming low carb alchohol like vodka or gin allowed me to maintain my weight before. So I'll be able to continue on once the weight is off and hopefully not gain it back. Sooooo January 2 is when I start. Wish me luck. I'll be checking in on you and the rest of the TSM gang during the next few weeks.

Best wishes to you,