Excellent graph! Good luck on the TSM Journey, Dave. Glad you're giving it a go. We're here rooting you on!

A honeymoon like that is not nothing but a good sign Dave. You should be well on your way... Good luck to you.

Dave,
Just caught up with your thread after all these weeks. Ha, I feel somewhat vindicated as I predicted many weeks ago that you wouldn't be able to down as much beer as you normally do once you started Naltrexone. Also, since you have been a successful athlete and businessman, your competitive nature and "desire to conquer" will serve you well. I'm reminded again of rtw18k who had great results from TSM. He's now into his 7th month or so. Before TSM, he would daily drink four double-screwdrivers and two bottles of wine; would black out frequently; and would do dangerous, dumb things. He did this for some thirty years! Since day one, he's only had more than two drinks on two occassions (and those were three drink days). He chooses to drink almost daily (he plays golf almost daily, too) and seems like he's about as happy as one can be on this earth. Instead of being his enemy, alcohol is his well-controlled friend now.

Also, just ignore the "honeymoon" hype. It's minimal if anything, and just means you have to put a bit more effort into it if it does arise. Regarding irritability, that's a side-effect of the drug, or a result of withdrawal. Either way, it will certainly pass.

Thanks guys, I will keep on with the updates.

Second week : I had my annual holiday within this week and where I normally would have drank at least 20 units a day for the 3 days, I was rather limited. Funny thing is , I felt satisfied with the amount I drank. I am finding that I getting the effects of the alcohol more clearly if that makes sense. I will try to explain, befroe I started TSM, getting the effects of being drunk was getting harder and harder, but my physical side was certainly getting the effects with slurred speech, lose of memory and impaired body movement. I Just was not getting that high, so I would drink more and more which was a spiraling effect. Now after a few beers I get the effect of alcohol, but it puts me in a really calm state of mind and I can really think clearly. It is not that it makes it more pleasureable, doesn't, I suppose it just makes everything more clearer...

Anyway, with the 3 day holiday, my total for the second week is 51 units. By comparison, this would have certainly been a + 100 unit week.

March 29th - April 4th.


Monthly.

That's exciting. I also definitely, definitely feel the effects of alcohol stronger when on Naltrexone, though I'm technically not drunk. I shared a few weeks ago that, once after just two beers, I was driving and became very confused in an intersection as though I had just had about 10 drinks. "The Cure for Alcoholism" mentions this effect on some people, i.e. that the effects of alcohol on the body are heightened whereas the euphoria is decreased. That's one way it gets you to drink less. Either way, remember the point isn't how it makes you feel on any given day, but how it fundamentally transform's your brain's relationship with alcohol over time. I'd say you're going to be part of the "80% cure rate" based on your experience so far.

Hey Barry,
That is what I was trying to explain, sometimes I feel I have been in Japan too long and my English skills have dropped! LOL.

I also forgot to mention that I have no side effects from the 50mg of nal now. I am sleeping better, I am more alert at work and just feel better all around. My wife thinks my skin and eye color is getting better too.(She was a little concerned that I was a little too yellow in the whites of my eyes. I could not really notice it when looking in the mirror, but she definitely says that they were)

I can already notice that the craving for a beer is much less now already, I am not constantly looking at the clock to see when I can get home and crack that first beer. I certainly hope I am in that 80%!

You might even be in the 5% of "super-responders" (I just made that stat up, but I believe there is such a thing). Maybe you'll find that "sweet spot" where you still enjoy drinking while, at the same time, have no cravings and have complete control. I have the latter, but not the former. I assume you know that the yellow in your eyes is built up bilirubin that your liver couldn't get rid of because of all its fattiness. Totally reversible if your drinking drops to low levels.

On the other hand, I think you should prepare for life without alcohol. Here's why. Your "cravings" are getting less and less, and you drink less and less. TSM tends towards zero and NOT towards some perfect "middle ground." You may be at the middle ground now (i.e. where you have a desire to drink, quench that desire in a pleasureable way, yet drink at safe levels), but if you continue on Naltrexone, which you should if you're getting yellow in your eyes, then your desire to drink and ability to throw them down will near zero ("the asymptote tends towards zero"). You've had dramatic early results, despite being a bit of a pessimist about the whole thing, as I gather from previous posts. This means it's likely not a placebo effect or the power of suggestion.

Sex is a good comparison. Sex drive is like craving. You want to have a sex drive because, without it, you will eventually upset your wife and she will feel unwanted. Plus, you know you like sex, so you want to keep the drive going. However, you don't want the drive to be TOO high because that's just a curse -- you've got other things to do in life than just pursue and achieve sex. Next, when you actually are having sex, you want that to be pleasureable because, well, it feels great, plus, it temporarily satisfies the craving. The "sweet spot" of sex (at least for a married man), is to continue to have a healthy level of desire for your spouse and the ability to be aroused enough to "perform," while really enjoying it, and while temporarily satisfying the craving; at the same time, you want to be able to have self-control so you don't fly off the handle when your wife says, "not tonight," or you don't go pursuing prostitutes and such if your wife is unavailable. Side note: I often wonder if what drives us men to have sex is to have the moment AFTER sex when, however briefly, we're satisfied and have no more desire.

For an alcoholic, alcohol becomes like sex, water, and food -- it's added to the list of "things I must have and will do anything for." This, of course, is just a perversion of our biological drives brought about partly by the endorphin system (this idea is explained well in "The Cure for Alcoholism"). Alcohol was never meant to have been added to the list, but it's a quirk in human evolution that allows this and other addictions. However, it's a false drive -- your body doesn't need alcohol, quite the contrary. So, while you'd never be able to take a pill to extinguish your desire for sex, water, or food, you CAN take one that extinguishes the desire for alcohol.

The next part will sound a bit crude, so turn your eyes if you're squeamish. You know that moment (for men) when, right after orgasm, you have that refractory period in which you have absolutely no desire for more sex. I mean none. You could throw a naked woman on a man, and they would be like, "Meh." Sure, you could physicaly move your hand and all and start messing around again with your spouse or that fictional woman, but you pretty much never do. It takes awhile to get the drive or desire back (a few hours or so). That's biology's way of getting us men to do stuff other than have sex. If we didn't completely extinguish our desire through sex, the world would be a different place. To sum up --- within a span of seconds, a man goes from having the highest desire for sex ("This is the greatest thing ever!!!!!") to having zero desire for sex ("Meh.") once an orgasm is achieved. It's actually an amazing biological phenomena.

I'm sure you see the point I'm about to make. The Sinclair Method is basically getting you to the post-orgasm point in terms of desire, and keeping you there permanently. I can't really explain the physiology and neuroscience behind it (perhaps nobody can yet), but my experience of TSM is so analogous to post-coitus. Once you reach that point, unless you put in great effort, you will not drink.

Dave,

Glad to see it is working for you. For years I have been looking in my eyes for the yellow. I have not noticed, nor has my wife. My wife only noticed the red, usually the next day.

We do have alky friends that my wife has commented about the yellow eyes. I have noticed it also. 1 more of my many examples/reasons to why I am here typing and taking Nal.

BarryB,

Now that is one hell of an analogy. Good stuff. However, there is viagra and ciallis to fix the post-orgasm "Meh". I have tried it on a few occassions. I suppose the most useful use for me in the past would have been for ED induced by alcohol. I never tried it for that.

I learned after the first experiment, that If you have no problem with the first erection, don't take it, if it is a normal evening or morning at home in a house full of kids. The only time I would recommend it is if you had a hotel weekend/vacation, with no children around, and pretty much planned on staying near the hotel or condo all weekend. (That or if in 10, 15, or 20 years, we simply need it for the first one. )

OK, an observation for me. I am finding it hard to take an AF day since starting nal. I think it is the fact that I am drinking less on my heavy days and I am convincing myself that it is OK to drink everyday. Where as before, I forced myself to have AF days due the ever present health concerns. I think I am going to have to force in a few AF days to see how I feel.

Dave,

For me, after years and years of daily drinking, there was not such thing as a voluntary AF day. The only way for me to get one is to "force" it. I have to plan a bit for those. My habit expects me to booze everyday. I didn't actually get my first AF until after 5 weeks on TSM.

But yes, "Force" or "Plan" an AF day. The morning after an AF day I feel victorious. (Lots of small battles to be fought.)