Diver, Thank you for continuing to post your struggle. Hopefully, when you do ultimately have success, your long struggle will encourage others not to give up. I guess the good news is, you still get 2-3 AF days in a week. That's a big deal. The bad news is you haven't seen a lot of progress....But maybe that bad news is really good news....You haven't increased your intake, which you might have if you weren't trying TSM (and baclofen).

Hang in there.

Gotthegene,
Thanks for your words of encouragement. I have seen some progress, such as no more blackouts and eliminating morning drinking on the weekends. I am really thankful for having a least a bit more sanity in my consumption.

I am hoping that the combination of Nal + Bac = Indifference to Alcohol.

Diver

Ditto what GG said (don't give up): to me, your AF days during the week show that the weekend drinking really is habit at this point...that said, I also have found "habit" to be the harder part of drinking to break. I'm still addressing some of those habits, and others that are linked to my alcohol habit (such as night time eating). But man! not having alcohol hit me like a freight train anymore helps SO much...sounds like you are reaping those rewards too, and I hope your new drug regimen gives you the help you need. Maybe you can brain storm on ways to start derailing the weekend drinking, such as delaying it by even 30 minutes, or forcing yourself to do some specific activity for a set length of time during at least part of the usual drinking hours???

Chrissie,
Thank you for your thoughtful response, I definitely will not give up. I have seen numerous benefits so far from religiously taking Nal one hour before imbibing. I will never go back to that dark place that was my life two years ago! I think that you are right, as far as the habit goes. I have been trying to start my weekend drinking later however I seem to just drink faster then. Also the fact that the NFL season is wrapping up should help, since it has been my tradition since I can remember to start drinking as soon as the games start on Sunday which for me is 11:00am.
I am now up to 100mgs of Baclofen per day which is divided up into four doses.

Diver

Hi Diver,
just checking in after a prolonged absence myself. I am sorry to hear that you're not doing amazing, but it does seem like there is slow progress nonetheless. And like you say, it's better than two years ago. I would caution against ever drinking without nal. We all know it's terrible and I don't know if you've ever done it, but for me a few weeks of sometimes forgetting and I went back to bad, bad patterns - and the thing is, now that I'm taking it religiously, it doesn't seem to work as well. And some damage has been done to my relationship so...yeah not good.
Hang in there and be persistent!

Hey there Diver,

I've read through your thread and see the struggle you've been through for the last two years. I do think its great that you are able to go 3 days AF. Now if the balcofen works for you perhaps you can reduce your weekend intake more and more. I know what you mean about the football games. Its such a trigger in my house too. The thing is my husband just has one ore two. Wow, how does he do that??

Well anyway, keep on trucking.

Nal on