This is VERY interesting!!! maybe this is the reason for my frustration due to lack opf perceived progress after more than one year. I have managed to control alcohol cravings very successfully using TSM but the HABIT is still with me and once I decide to have one drink I go overboard because my system demands more of the stuff than I knoew I should consume. based on your suggestions I need a different approach to deal with the HABIT (other than TSM) since the cravvings issue can be deemed a success. Any suggestions on how to deal with breaking the habit? Iam interested inremaining a normal, social drinker that can consume one or two glasses of wine or a scotch and stop for the rest of the night. If continuing with TSM leads to abstention, so be it. I won't be upset but my goal is to be a drinker with control of my habit.

Thanks ~Q~ for the insight!

Flaco - I totally agree w/ Q (& many others) that "habit" is a big part of our drinking...Nal knocks down the effects of alcohol such that it is no longer impossible to overcome the "swept away" feeling, but then it is up to each of us to derail what we may have been doing for a LONG TIME. For me, as a long time nightly drinker, the first logical step was to start having some AF days. This was painful at first but got easier and I've learned there are other "fun things" to do @ night... I usually go for AFs every other day, at least. At this point, I've got NO COMPLAINTS w/ TSM or what Nal has done for me, but I'm still definitely "mopping up" some habit problems.

Are you having some AF days? Are you tracking your units?

Thanks Chrissie, Yes I have at least 5 AF days per average week,(except holidays and vacations) and really no difficulty sticking to the AF days. Cravings are not a problem anymore. But I guess I like the "buzz" feeling from alcohol, or the escapist excuse to gt away from the daily routine and stress. Maybe ifthere were a harmless pill that generated that feeling i wouldn't feel the desire to drink.
I go through the motions of "puring myself a drink" when I get home from work on work days and essentially pur myself some club soda with ice in a scotch glass and it has helped me deal with the routine of getting ready for my stress-reducing daily drink. So far so good on that... but on weekends I really feel like I want to "reward" myself for a hard week and relax and escape and that is where I have no control. One drink leads to many more.

I will begin tracking units beginning this week ands set goals. i am competitive so maybe competing to get lower numbers wekk after week will be the driver to overcome the bad habit.

You sound very much like Nalwayout, who seems to do fine all week but then over does it on the weekend. "Too much" on a given evening is now a lot less units for me than before TSM...and for you? Maybe you can allow yourself to continue to drink too much on the weekend, but set a goal of 5 or 7 per night or whatever, and then try to knock it down a unit a week, or so. Rather than trying to fix it all at once and then get down on yourself. Is there a certain # you'd consider acceptable for weekend nights? 'Cause you've definitely come a long ways!

Sounds like you do great during the week; have you developed new habits or activities to replace the role alcohol used to play at that time?

now that I plan to start tracking my units I plan to set monthly goals. Don't know what my ultimate goal per week is yet, though I have read that 14 "units" is considered "normal".. so. maybe that is my long term goal to be accomplished gradually. My weekly consumption has dropped to less than half tahn what it used to be prior to TSM which is very good but I still think that what I consume on weekends can't be goos for my liver or gastrointestinal system, among others.
I have read some posts on trying to do strenouos exercise or things ou really enjoy on non Nal days and assuming Nal stays in my susystem 24 hours I do accomplish that by playing tennis every weekday during the summer and spring. Now days ar too short for that. But I havent replaced drinking with any other "strees avoidance practice" or stress mitigating practice; namely indoors. Need to find something, I guess. Actual cravings were reduced,I beleieve, solely from Nal use. It's the habit I'm having a hard time kicking.

Thank for your suggestions and support. i do feel I have made great progress but am concerned with health issues if I don't reduce alcohol consumption to "normal" leveles (14 units/week?)

I did a really stupid thing last night: I drank through the Nal.
I was out with colleagues discussing a project at a restaurant. My intention was to have a beer. The guy next to me said, try this wine. Well that led to 3 big glasses and I came home irritated by the direction the project was going, and downed more wine and a bit of Cognac. About 6 units in all.
Really smart, huh??! Now I've got a whopper headache, remorse, self-loathing abounds. I really thought I was making progress. Shows how foolish and naive one can be.

Gonna get through this and it will be easy to be AF today. I can't see drinking everyday waiting for extinction to happen. I like Chrissie's idea: AF every other day.
Meanwhile, I am really, really disappointed in myself.

Downloaded this book: Okay, I quit. Now what? Becoming a Re-Invented Alcoholic by Mark Tuschel. Can't hurt reading it especially since I'm nursing this f___ing hangover and don't feel like getting out of this chair. My dog - lying next to me - concurs.

Stupid me, FA

I wouldn't worry about it to much. I pushed on through myself on Tuesday and had about 15 units in all. Its only about the 4th time in 18 weeks I've done it. I felt like dying yesterday. As long as you take your Nal its just another experience to learn off imo.

One thing that I've gotten from TSM is the ability not to drink the next day to take the hang over away. I just feel to sick to even think about it. That's seems to be what a "normal person" would do so that's a plus.

teeM, I'd never thought of that...yet another way to measure success. There are SO many improvements to be noted, in addition to just counting units.

Freshair, that's the nature of the "rollercoaster"...you ARE making progress, and that's what makes the set backs hard to take: to see success and then think it's all gone, but not true. For many, it's definitely a "two steps forward, one step back" journey.

As for self-loathing, this has always been a major "motivation tool" in my life, and in TSM I've really had to face the fact it has NOT been successful. Really, really, I've made progress in that regard, to NOT beat myself up after some disappointment or unmet expectation. Try to be proud of yourself for facing the beast of alcohol, and trying TSM! Plus, you've had the additional challenge of the side effects of Nal...do you think you can go to 25 mg now okay???

Interesting topic...
Now lets see if I an post this before I get logged out.....Grrrr
@ Flaco....Numbers please...I am curious as to the turn off switch not working yet....this is why I am here. I see you are planning to post them. Maybe some thoughts on how you feel after the first drink? TNX
@ Chrissie...Thank you for sticking around this forum even though you are mostly cured.
@ Fresh air....Try not to be so hard on yourself.. Know that you are not alone and that self loathing seems to be rampant among those of us who are battling this nasty problem. Keep up the good work and feel proud that you are working on it.
@ Got the gene.....Thank you for your opinions and for reminding us that we should work with what works for us. In my opinion, if it takes 5 years to extinguish the beast by AF days vs daily drinking, then I think you are far better off. Definitely, less hangovers. Harm reduction!
@Dab..Thank you for starting this thread and
@ Q for the debate material.

It is nice to hear from some active posters in one thread. Keek

Keek, haven't been keeping numbers, thought I'd "notice" the difference based on how much alcohol I purchase. But I am now convinced I need to quantify my progress or lack thereof. Prior to TSM I probably consumed AT LEAST 2 half gallons of vodka at home per week plus any beer or wine I had out for meals, meetings, travels etc. I could drink alone until I passed out starting with a vodka tonic and ending with pure vodka in large gulps.

After initiating TSM I very rapidly gained control of my cravings and decided to only consume on Fridays until maybe Sunday around 6:00pm or so. With few excptions (holidays, vacations, business travels, etc..) I have stuck to that routine but when I do drink on weekends I will start around 1:00pm or so and continue until I fall asleep. However, i don't reach full drunkeness (whatver THAT is!) and pass out, I just stop and go to sleep because I feel tired. I havent' "erased my cassette" in a loooong time. Since this I am still consuming at least a half gallon of vodka or scotch plus any beer or wine (maybe 6 a weekend?) I consume outside the house. Still seems too high for me but what really bothers me is my lack of control or maybe the fact that my brain is demanding more end more alcohol once I start drinking.

The first drink will usually consist of 2 40 ml shots of vodka (80 ml total) and some tonic water and lime. That does not give me a buzz, goes down easily even though I don't gulp it down I feel nothing so I go for the second one. By then I may fell a little buzz but I start enjoying it and want more even though I know I should stop at this good place I am in but "what the hell, one more can't do any harm". I tend to be introverted, analytical and terrible at small talk and large social events so alcohol helps me overcome those flaws when in a group. When alone, it helps me forget the "stressful day" the "stressful situation of the moment" or simply puts me in nice mood. So, if two drinks does that, I guess I must deduce that more than two does it even better. Stupid logic, I know!!!!

I am curious about the biochemical explanation as to why 50mg of Nal at least 1 hour before drinking is not blocking the "pleasure" enzymes (are they opiates?) thereby allowing my brain to demand and "me" to comply with the desire for more alcohol. Isn't the purpose of Nal to block these receptors and not feel the pleasure of alcohol and slowly extinguish those receptors? Please someone explain.

I am 6'5" and weigh 245 pounds, should I take (or try) more than 50mg of naltrexone? I am not utterly frustrated yet, notbready to throw in the towel but after 13 months I thought I'd be in a better place.