Hey EL:

Great report and thanks for checking in. Words are a big part of your business so I doubt you'll take the term "cured" lightly. Sounds like control is much more your target (mine too). Drinking IS fun, like so many other things that are great in moderation but hell when not.

As a pal of mine says, "Excess in Moderation" makes a happy life.

Hi EL,

As I just was saying to Hess...reading the reports from younger TSM followers provides a really interesting contrast/comparison for me. I didn't even seek out any kind of solution to what I knew was an "alcohol problem" until I was a few years older than you, and the options were pretty limited. Of course you are bringing different goals and expectations for what you want from TSM. I LOVE that you say, "dammit, I like to drink!", and TSM is providing you a way to do just that, but in a controlled, safe, manageable way.

I was interested to read that you've gone back to your preferred drink, bourbon, and it's okay. REALLY glad to hear that. Sounds like the best of all worlds are pulling together for you now. Your future is bright & I hope you will keep posting and inspiring us, as usual.

(BTW, out here in the Real World my first two initials are EL, and was a term of affection used by my father...as opposed to when he called me by my full first and middle names, which meant I was in Deep Doo Doo).

Chrissie

Hi EL

Thanks for a great inspirational post. 13 units is awesome and I'm sure you'll get to the point when you can space it more evenly over the week.

Chrissie and Nalway were suggesting I had a "goal" so I would be more successful with TSM. I, like you, would like to drink under 15 drinks/week and not too many on any one occasion, i.e. "healthy levels." Maybe if I Google "Moderation Management techniques" I might get some inspiration, as I know they have helped you a lot. Will do that tonight.

(& Chrissie, yes that first and middle name in full thing was never good when I was little either!)

Take care
Sticky

Hi EL,

So you've done it, sounds like! Congratulations on your success. I know what you mean about enjoying the drink. I'm wondering how you got over the nausea part though? I thought I remembered you saying that nal made you nauseated when you took it. Thats a problem for me now as well since I went so long without taking it.

Anyway, I'm so proud of you and your great progress. Its so wonderful to be free from this isn't it? Thanks for taking the time to keep us all updated on your progress. Its so very helpful.

Nal on, you're doing great!

I decided to check in since it has been a while since my last post but I have been busy enjoying my family...yes we do things as a family again. My 15 year old and her father are getting along greatly and I have even felt that it was safe enough for me to go out of town overnight on a business trip. It was as if someone flipped a switch. My husband started Nal on June 27 2011 and drank vodka nearly everyday until the start of March 2012....8 months after starting Nal....he stopped....just stopped. Not only has he stopped drinking but now he is trying to stop smoking. He is the man that I married.

I am sure that Nal has changed his drinking and I am now an outspoken advocate of Nal...how sad that families will still be torn apart and alcoholics will still suffer because no one knows about Nal....this is upsetting to me because this little white pill, which costs us $10 a month saved my family....for $80 and 8 months my family is restored.....what a crime against humanity that this treatment is not more widely used.

I cannot remember the last time he drank...I really cannot remember the last day because even when he was still drinking it was less and less and his personality did not change. I was starting to have my doubts at the end of January and into February becasue he was really putting it away and then it stopped. I guess he was having an "extinction burst"

So to those of you on Nal or living with someone on Nal....hang on....it took him 8 months and he has been AF now for probably about 2 weeks which for him is unheard of.

His new addiction to is "Words with Friends" on our daughter's ipad....she gladly shares it with him and they are getting closer every day....it absolutely makes mt heart sing.

Lynn

Hi, Lynn! Glad your husband is doing well. In so far as quitting smoking, that was much easier for me than quitting drinking. I simply took wellbutrin (zyban) 300mg per day for 90 days and went through the nicotine patches at the same time. It's been 9 years, I haven't smoked even when I was blind drunk. Good luck!

Wow, Lynn, that is AMAZING!!! I am so glad to hear that you have your husband back. What a relief this all must be....
In terms of me, thanks everyone for the support and words of wisdom. My weekly recap is at 14, which is right about where I want to be numbers-wise, but again, was mostly concentrated in one big night, which is not ideal. So, still some stuff to work on. I think I need to work on not having more than 5-6 drinks in one day, even if it's over a long period of time. Anything more than that and I WILL feel horrendous the next day because of the nal-over. So that's my next goal (barring weddings and major events like that lol).
So yeah, not "cured" yet, but trucking along. Business is picking up which is GREAT, so I'm busy and making enough cash to stay afloat. It also looks like I might be able to get health insurance thanks to Obamacare - apparently there is a great (and cheap!) new program for people who have a) been uninsured for at least 6 months and b) have at least one preexisting condition. Check and check! If I get approved my life would be a lot easier.
The main thing that's been on my mind these days, drinking/health=wise, is how to get out of my current pattern, whereby I tend to exercise, then cook dinner and watch tv every other evening, and go out/drink/socialize the other ones. Since I work at home, I feel like going out in one form or another is key to my sanity. But I find it hard to a) find activities with people that don't involve drinking and b) I have slide into a pattern of thinking where a drink "marks" the end of my workday, if exercise does not. IT's not the worst of habits, but I'd like to be more flexible. I think this is something I will need to work on in general, working from home. The work/life balance, aaaaah.
Anyways, off to check some threads!
EL

I sympathize with your search for nonalcoholic ways to spend time. A certain component of this has to be a lifestyle change, too. I went out Sunday night and it wasn't pleasant being sober around drunk people. The irrational drama.

When I worked from home, I tried to change my schedule every so often to keep myself from falling into a rut. It's hard to do, but I think that helps.

Thanks again for all your help!

Weekly recap: 23. And not good. People: I've done the stupidest thing ever. I drank, massively, big time, St. Patrick's day style, WITHOUT TAKING NAL. My god, was it fun...for a while. And then it was 2am and I'm in this bar except none of my friends are there any more. Then: new vignette, I'm roaming the streets with some new people I met. I'm in another bar. Next snapshot: getting a street kebob. Next snapshot: at this bar called swift, trying to buy a drink in quarters. Next snapshot: another bar, with other people, and realizing I should NOT drink anymore, and anyways I don't have anymore money. I get on the subway home. I wake up....HOURS LATER. In CANARSIE (far east brooklyn, the OPPOSITE direction from where I live in Harlem). I walk out and panic and am completely lost in a bad part of town, it's 6am. I made it home - barely, though, as I talked to strangers and sang along to my Ipod and made TWO MORE train mistakes, despite this being a route I've take a hundred times.
Shame, guilt, horrible hangover, disgust, can't believe I drank without nal, and depression at realizing that I'm not cured, and I don't think I ever will be - in the sense that I don't think I will ever be able to drink without nal. Which yes, a small part of me was still holding onto.

Oh, EL...First of all, a big hug to you (for your current suffering), & secondly, I'm SO relieved you got home safely, despite all the mishaps, wrong trains, & strangers. Hey, St. Patricks Day happens (as Hess would testify)

Boy, just when you think the roller-coastin' is behind you, TSM shows otherwise. But like you said, you were kind of testing the waters, w/o the Nal, and it's good information to have. Reality sinks in. It's a huge life change we've taken on, in terms of feelings and behaviors. Anyway, I always get so much from your posts - they are so honest (no sugar coating), tellin' it like it is. From MY view, you are still in a very good place!

Chrissie