I am new to this board as a member even though I have been reading the posts for months. I convinced my spouse to try Nal about 6 months ago. My spouse agreed to take the Nal just to pacify me and has never really wanted to quit drinking, he didn't want to quit when he started taking Nal and doesn't want to stop now. Therefore I don't have any amounts to list but I do know that he has decreased the amounts that he is drinking by about half. (Although we never have any alcohol free days) I was just wondering if there are others out there who have spouses who are taking Nal and are in my situation, just hoping that they will keep taking it and hoping that it will continue to work. I have such a fear that it is going to stop working or that he is going to develop a tolerance to it, specifically because he doesn't have alcohol free days. Any advice / support from any of you who may be going through the same thing?

Hi LeeMarie. Check out Lynn's thread. She is a spouse of an alcoholic.

Depending on how old your husband is and how long he has been drinking alcoholically really will determine how long of a process TSM will be. I am 42 and drank heavily for 10+ years. I am in my 10th month and I follow the golden rule: Nal+Al+Patience=Regaining Control.

It's been quite the journey thusfar! A lot of twists, turns, stumbles and curves. But you mentioned that in a six month period your man has dropped to half of his pre-TSM intake. Chalk that cool fact as true success!! That's great progress!

Do you or he keep track of his unit intake? It is helpful as the weeks turn into months. It took Ms. Kris two years to regain control. So, it takes what it takes.

Hope you stick around this forum as there is a lot of support here. Maybe in time your husband mught even introduce himself. If he is alcoholic-- he is among kindreds!

Best to you and happy holidays,

Ketchikan1

Thanks Ketchican1 for the reply and the encouragement. He is 45 and has been drinking heavily for about 8 years. There is no way that he would track his drinking (he doesn't really want to know or admit how much he drinks) and it is basically impossible for me to do it. I do know that for years he would drink almost a fifth of Vodka most nights with occasionally an alcohol free night now and then. I don't really know how he has made it through it. Now, he pours it into a 16 oz water bottle and drinks about 1/2 of that per night, he hasn't made me crazy and we haven't fought about the drinking in months, life has been much better for us both. Although he hasn't had an AF night in 6 months, just seeing the progress is so encouraging. I am just remaining patient and hopeful. I am very thankful for Nal and this site. We may not have tried it without having had all of these posts available to encourage me to place the order and try to persuade him to try it. I was at the end of my rope and was willing to bear the expense and try anything. I just want to help to encourage others now to try it too, it has definitely saved our marriage. Good luck to you and I will definitely stick around. Thanks again.

I think you are really fortunate that your husband is willing to take the Nal. That says a lot for your marriage and your trust in each other. Even if he has a few drinks a day without getting out of hand, he will begin to discover a new life and then his drinking might decrease more. It is important that there are things that he likes to do that are separate from drinking and it might take some effort on your part to do these things-not to sound preachy, but you both might discover a whole new world together. That would be my hope.

Welcome to the board and it sounds like we are married to the same man! My husband has been drinking since he was a teenager (he will be 50 in Jan 24 2012) and has always had the reputation as a party boy and I have tolerated it for years but in 2010 it turned ugly. He started drinking vodka and his personality changed and he became violent and crazy when he drank so I had to take a stand. He spent many nights away from home because if he drank he was not allowed to come home but yet it just didn't work. I wanted to try everything to save my family so I researched and read everything I could get my hands on and finally found hope in this method.

My Husband started Nal on 7/27/11 and it has been a roller coaster ride. But all in all he has reduced his drinking but still drinks the vodka and has some good days and some bad (like last night) when he drinks more that I wish he would. He is a stubborn man that says he wants to stop drinking but sometimes I wonder. I have personally seen 3 AF days since he started and they were in a row and that was only once. He says there have been more but they were when he was out of town on business.

He will not keep track of his drinking and it is a touchy subject anymore and I don't believe what he says anyway. I think that he wanted to stop drinking when I was going to divorce him but now that I have kind of set back and let him go I thunk he likes the way it is. Today I did say something that he drank too much last night and he of course denies it but I know. I have been told on this board that he will probably start to get control around 8 months on Nal...that is Feb 27 and it may even take a year which will be July 27. So I give him until 7/27 and if it is not alot better then I am leaving. Life is too short to live with a lying alcoholic. And it is so sad because I love him and want to stay married but this is not a marriage...it is lonely and I have to deal with it un medicated...he just drinks his problems away.

Today is not a good day so I am sure that it is coming across in this post. Who knows...tomorrow he could stop for ever....and my life would change...but as of today he is still draining this family and I am barely holding on until 7/27....

Lynn

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 save 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 becasue 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 had bee AF probably for about 2 weeks which for him is unheard of. Something that he has now become addicted 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

Great news, Lynn! Thanks so much for checking in. Please know how much we admire spouses like you and care about your side of the struggle. Your husband is lucky to have you!

I wanted to chime in on this thread as a member of this club of drunken husbands. I spent a lot of time denying that I was an alcoholic and only admitted to wanting to decrease my intake when absolutely cornered. Everyone is different... but MY reason for the denial was simple. In our society, the progression goes:

1. Admit that you are a drunk
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2. People offer you "help" in the form of AA
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3. You white knuckle as long as you possibly can, living a miserable life
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4. You relapse and go on a bender, hurting yourself and those around you.
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5. Goto step 2. Wash, rinse, repeat at least a few times.
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6. People now believe you are a liar. You must love the benders so much that you are willing to be sober only long enough to fool people into staying in your life even though you don't plan to stop until you're dead.


The rehab movement in this country tells friends and family that the only effective treatment is to give drunks ultimatums: "Ship off to rehab (though you know it won't work) or I'm out of your life." I don't know your husbands and I can't speak for them, but for me, asking for help would have been getting on that slide at step 1. If your husband is willing to take nal, but says he wants and needs no help, it may just be that he doesn't want to be put in that pipeline. Now that I've tasted a bit of success with a real therapy, it's much easier for me to admit what was always painfully obvious to everyone around me.

Lynn, thank you so much for sharing your story...very encouraging and heart warming. 8 months, and then voilá! Your belief and patience really paid off.

Chrissie