Hey Skylar:

Maintaining an accurate log of your drinking is essential, so figure out a way to mark it down on a sheet of paper that you later enter in a journal or a spreadsheet.

Keep in mind that this is usually a long process. Some are lucky enough to see big improvement in a matter of months. For others it can take well over a year. So prepare to hang in there! Slow and steady...

I'd echo Tiller's advice about the importance of tracking your number of drinks weekly and monthly. I didn't do that for the first few weeks, but would estimate that I was about in the same boat as you, 70-80+ drinks a week. The next two weeks I was in the 30s and 40s, and the past two weeks in the high-20s. As everyone on here says, the timeframe is different for everyone, but I think if you keep taking it an hour before drinking, you will notice improvement. Good luck!

Thank you everybody for the advice and great support. It really helps to put my mind at ease to have people who have come before me to ask questions and give support on this journey.

Mon, 8.
Tues, 10.
Wed, 10.
Thurs, 11.
Fri, 11.
Sat, 11.
Sun, 12.

My drunken mind keeps trying to out drink the Nal. I'll often drink into my 8th hour after taking Nal. Yesterday, I decided to take a 25mg of Nal at the 8th hour. I know this is working because I don't wake up in the morning and think about nothing except drinking. I spent yesterday with the in-law and I didn't spend the entire time just thinking about my first drink of the day; hell, before Nal, I'd have bought a Steel Reserve and chugged it before we went to my in-law's house so I wouldn't be white-knuckling it for half the day. I do have to wonder how much better I'd be doing if I didn't keep trying to out drink the Nal. So, from now on, if I want to drink past the 4th hour, I have to take half a Nal.

73 units. Not bad.

Monday - 8 units
Tuesday - 12 units
Wednesday - 12 units
Thursday - 11 units.

It's been 3 weeks. Yesterday, I had to take 2 and half Nal because I drank all day because I took a half day at work. My cravings are increasing. But my units are still manageable.

Skylar, your #s are WAY down from pre-TSM...it sounds like a good plan to take more Nal as needed, and I'm glad it must not be causing too many side effects.

Thank you for your comments and support, Christie. Except for feeling a bit hot, I hardly have any side effects anymore.

Drinking is growing ever more tiresome. However, I still can't break the compulsion to drink. I'm taking a lot of Nal now. On Saturday, I took 2 and half. Yesterday, I took 2. I can't help but to drink all day on the weekends.

Monday - 8 units
Tuesday - 12 units
Wednesday - 12 units
Thursday - 11 units
Friday - 12 units
Saturday - 15 units
Sunday - 16 units.

Units are going up. Honeymoon is over. 86 units.

It's certainly a rollercoaster. I'm starting to drink too much again. Somedays, I think to myself, I can probably do without drinking today and I put off drinking for a few hours, but I always give in, but never without Nal for the 1st drink of the day. Sometimes I'll take 2 and a half Nal a day (weekends), sometimes I still drink into my 7th or 8th hour without taking another Nal (weekdays). I wonder if that's why I'm starting to drink more again.

Obviously, I need to enforce more discipline. Certainly, I need to write down my units the day after every day. So, starting from yesterday, a Monday, I had 10 units.

Hey Skylar,

That will pass. I'm going on my 3rd week and it has lessened for me. I too get that wave of nausea if I think of beer, but I seem to force myself to drink it. I tell myself, physically, you don't want it but it's always beatened out by the psycological addiction. I was going to try to change my Wednesday habits last week but wasn't able to. I'm going to give my all this week. Not so much so that I feel like I'm depriving myself, but a little elbow grease can't hurt.

You hang in there!

ttyl

Jeanie

Go, Jeanie! Let us know how it went today.

One thing good about the Nal is that, for whatever reason (eating less, drinking less), my acid reflux is much better than before. It's still there, but quite mild.

13 units last night. I drank into the 8th hour.

12 units last night. Drank into my 8th hour. It's sad seeing this, even more so making myself think about it, but I hope that this is going to make me more accountable with what I'm doing.