Curi, what a powerful, eloquent post...I can feel your joy, and relief, and thank you for adding so much to the forum!

This forum seems to be off to a GREAT start in 2012, w/ some newly cured, as well as some major breakthroughs for many TSMers, cool!

Chrissie

Hi Curi - just wanted to thank you so much for checking in with this post. Great stuff.

Congratulations on regaining control, and best of luck to you in 2012!

-H

Nicely written Curi! And congratulations to you on your magnificent success! You truly are enlightening to others including me!

Most of us here will agree that AA is bogus. However, if it helps suffering alcoholics then so be it. All we can do is treat ourselves and share TSM with the world at large. You are becoming an ideal mouthpiece for the cause.

I am finally getting there too after 11 long months! It does work. THANK GOD!!!!

Science is my Higher Power,

Ketchikan1

Great post Curi! Congratulations!

Hello everyone!

My days are so full that they fly by, I often think of you all and want to post but I never manage to get enough time to post here.

Naltrexone is still working beautifully for me but I've stopped recording my units because I've run out of space in my signature. I'm still drinking very reasonably, sometime just a dl of wine, sometimes 3 or 4, depending on the occasion.

I'm always careful to eat before or during drinking though because I know that hunger makes me drink more, I've always known that about myself, and I see it so often in others. Drinking on an empty stomach or without food leads to over-drinking, as if I were trying to satisfy hunger with alcohol, as soon as I eat something, even if it's just chips or nuts, my desire to drink is significantly reduced.

So if any of you are finding it hard, please look at how you eat, if you can't eat 3 meals a day, eat small snacks regularly throughout the day, try to always include protine as it helps stabalise blood suar levels, and prevents cravings for alcohol but also junk food and sugar. Try to eat a fistfull of nuts, or a hard boiled egg, or some cold meat, smoked salmon, a drum stick, hummos, sushi etc... every few hours and never, ever drink on an empty stomach, I really think this helps control our drinking.

As well as that, make sure you are not dehydrated, thirst makes us drink more too, dark or strong smelling urne is a sign that we are not drinking enough water.

Tirdness is another big trigger too, if you are having trouble sleeping, try taking Melatonin, and avoid bright lights and stimulation an hour before you want to sleep, darkness (or low lighting) and quitness makes our brains produce melatonin, the more of this sleep hormone we produce, the better we sleep.

I hope this helps.

Best to all and Nal On!

Curi

Hey Curi! So glad to hear things are still going well for you.I think your advice is really sound. I know that sometimes I specifically have put off eating (even though I am hungry) while drinking because I KNOW that eating will kill whatever buzz I have. It's like clockwork for me. So it's a very useful tip even I don't ALWAYS follow it lol....

Thanks so much for the eating tips. I almost always drink on an empty stomach and find that once I have eaten dinner, the desire to drink goes down.

I can't believe it's been another 2 months since I posted! I have been reading from time to time and I even have a few unfinished posts to you guys in drafts, but by the time I get back to finish them, they are no longer pertinent or too much time has passed.

Still taking 12.5 mg of Nal 1 hour before drinking. Still always making sure I'm not hungry before I start drinking. Still drinking 2 to 3 times a week, except for holidays. I usually consume 1 or 2 dl of wine (there are 7.5 dl in a bottle), on a big night I might drink 5 or 6, about once every two months or so.

No side effects and no hangovers, just tired if I have more than usual.

In recent weeks I've found myself wondering why I even bother drinking. I started TSM because I wanted to get the monkey off my back (for those who don't know me, I had been sober for 3 years and chose to start drinking again with TSM). For a long time I drank (on TSM) just because I could, it felt great to be "normal", I wanted to shout: "look at me! I'm drinking like a normal, responsible grown-up"

Recently though, whenever I feel like having a drink (I never crave one) as soon as I start drinking it, I think: I don't even want this.

I've gone from drinking because I can to drinking because I feel I should as though it were an obligation. Like I feel I should drink because that's what people do...

I hasten to add that I'm not complaining, on the contrary! I'm just recording how I feel.

There was one night about a month ago, when I drank on an empty stomach, I had taken my Nal but I was hungry, I drank faster and more than usual, then I suddenly felt the effects of the alcohol, but, to my great surprise and delight, I didn't like the buzz, I didn't like the feeling of ... ? ... loss of control ... ?

Such a massive change to my pre-Nal drinking days, how I chased that buzz back then! I used to take me a bottle and a half at least to catch a buzz, I think if I drank that much now, I'd end up in hospital with alcohol poisoning!

Second to taking Naltrexone 1 hour before I start drinking, I think food has been the biggest contributor to my present moderate drinking habits. I know I probably sound like a broken record because I keep banging on about eating, but it is SO important! especially protein.

Just as we get into the habit of taking Nal before we start drinking, we can get into the habit of eating something too.

Actually, for those of you who suffer from side effects, eating before taking Nal really helped me with that too, so, a double bonus. I felt the side effects of Nal for a very long time (not as bad or as long as EL but pretty bad) - nausea, spaced-out, lethargic, I found that eating before taking Nal helped, and reducing the dose helped even more. I was very sensitive to Nal, maybe you are too, if you are feeling bad SEs, try lowering the dose, if it doesn't work out, you can always increase it again. Conversely, if 50mg is't working for you, try 75. Either way, be patient, give yourself time to adapt to Naltrexone, it works!

Nal-on!

Curi!

Great to hear from you Curi! I agree that food is key. I try to always eat before drinking because once I take nal/start drinking I usually don't want to eat (nausea or love of booze, lol). I sometimes will force some snacks down my gullet while drinking but it's really crucial that I get a foundation down there before I even take the nal. However, word to the wise - NOT a super heavy, greasy, spicy meal. It could just be because I have acid reflux problems but my god, the combo of a very full stomach, nal, and a couple drinks almost always results in vomit :/
Lesson learned lol!
EL

Hi everyone!

Just a little update, even tought there's nothing new to say. I'm still taking 12.5 mg of Nal 1 hour before I drink, still drinking 1 - 3 units 2 or 3 times a week, and of course I'm very happy about that! In fact, if I'm not mistaken. I've been drinking like that since last September, except for holidays when I drink most days, but usually still the same amount. I have had nights when I've had 4 or 5 units, but they're the exception, not the rule.

I still make sure I eat and drink water before I start drinking, this is second nature to me now.

I've been reading Stanton Peele recently, I started a thread about him here. viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2930

I'm considering trying drinking without Nal to see how it goes, if his theory is right, there's a good chance I will not return to abusive drinking. I've not fully decided yet and if I go ahead with it, I'll journal my experience here. I think confidence in my ability to moderate and manage my drinking, is key, if I don't believe I can do it, I probably won't. I think AA has done a lot to destroy my confidence in myself and in my ability to moderate but thanks to TSM, Stanton Peele, CBT and other people out there on the net, my confidence is coming back, and hey, if it fails, I always have TSM to fall back on, so that's very reassuring!!

Anyway, that's where I'm at. Started TSM on June 24th last year and have been in control since September, I'm not going to declare that I've gained control, it's not important to me, but if it's important to the forum for stats or something, then I will.

Nal-on! Have confidence in yourselves and your ability to do this, you can do it and TSM helps!

Curi