Hello Ives,

Your graph looks nice and accurate. I am no good friends with Excel, but I should be able to make something like this. Problem with me is, however, that I have only been compliant since two weeks really. Before that, I was using Nal during the day, but when I didn't sleep at night, I broke the compliance to drink to sleep again. Since I got the tip to break the dosis in two (take the second dose of 25 mg at night), I kept compliant and since then, it is going better.

I sleep better now (also on holiday now) and have not used alcohol to sleep for 6 days in a row! Also, have had two days when I only consumed 2 units. They seem to fall much heavier then before though, as if they count twice . Although it is holiday, I don't drink at lunch when my mum does, and I only start at dinner, so I try to postpone it every time, which is easier, because I have to take the pill first. I order a sparkling water first, and only after that a glass of wine. It is much easier then I thought it would be!

And ten glasses if you feel like crap? Rather take 5 and feel better the next day, the buzz will not come anyway...

Week 0: 72 (week before starting TSM)
Week 1: 63
Week 2: 57
Week 3: 69
Week 4: 50
Week 5: 73
Week 6: 43
Week 7: 57
Week 8: 56

Just checking in. Still chasing the buzz and still getting nothing. On Sunday, I spent the whole day drinking, starting at lunchtime, and it just made me really tired. Yesterday I also drank a lot during the daytime (had Labor Day off and nothing to do) and ended up going to bed two hours earlier than usual after a total of 8 drinks. Rather than giving me energy and making me want to stay up later, more and more often now drinking is just sedating me and making me want to go to bed.

Went rock climbing with a friend today after work, which is a new hobby I've picked up. Turns out it's a lot of fun and a great way to get out of the house for the evening and get some exercise in the process. Now I'm home, tired, feeling pretty good, and there just isn't enough time left in the night to have a ton of drinks. I'll inevitably have a handful, but tonight will probably be the low mark for this week.

Here's an updated graph.

[outdated graph removed, see newer posts]

Ives,

"Still chasing the buzz and getting nothing." - me too. However I'm stuck with trying to binge my way through the Nal. Nearly all of my consumption days are done in 2 to 3 hours with me not getting the buzz and just giving up - i'm drunk but it's a sickening kind of drunk. It seems after one of these days I just give up for a couple/few days and rack up some AF's.

Boredom is a terrible thing to waste - so we fill it with drinking - however not getting the buzz anymore makes for an unfulfilled event. Adding activities (rock climbing yea!) should help with these periods.

Drinking for me is all about the rush. Once I get the rush I was committed to maintaining it as long as possible. But since Nal has denied me the rush drinking is seeming pointless having no benefit whatsoever to me. Are you having any similar thoughts/feelings?

Rich

Just popping in to report that after 60 days of TSM, I finally went a whole day without drinking.

I had about 9 drinks the day before, and felt it yesterday morning. Yesterday, I did a lot of thinking about how pointless it has become to continue to drink, considering I'm not getting anything out of it other than a hangover. When I got off work, the craving was there, but I was able to resist, knowing that there is no reward waiting for me if I go down that path. I got home, had dinner, then went to the gym for an hour and wore myself out. Got home from the gym and didn't take the pill. I grabbed a glass of water, took a melatonin, and read a book until I got sleepy. Waking up feeling normal is a very strange thing.

Obviously every day is different, but it would be nice to get a streak of these going. We'll see.

Congrats Ives, it took me a bit also. I'm having a rough couple of weeks, but I'm still here, poppin and counting. No giving up! (and nice graph also)

Ives, choosing to power through and make it an AF day is fabulous. I'm still not quite there yet but it seems more tangible.

Guys, I'm still getting some benefit from the alcohol. And I'm diligent about the 1-hr protocol. I don't get quite the buzz I used to but still get enough of an escape that it's enticing. I was doing well with mostly single-digit days but a few double-bottle days (wine) have crept back in. And I feel worse about those now, of course.

Still, overall, it's progress compared to where I was and I'm grateful for that.

Week 0: 72 (week before starting TSM)
Week 1: 63
Week 2: 57
Week 3: 69
Week 4: 50
Week 5: 73
Week 6: 43
Week 7: 57
Week 8: 56
Week 9: 47
Week 10: 59

No AF days since the one a couple of weeks ago. I am noticing that I no longer experience much, if any, anxiety about whether I will be able to get enough to drink each night, or how long I will have to wait to start drinking. The prospect of doing something after work that runs late and doesn't involve alcohol actually appeals to me.

I had hoped tonight was going to be one of those nights. I had a date lined up for dinner (the second, first went well) and was hoping it would snowball into a fun evening hanging out together...instead she opted to go home and turned down my offer of a third date. Even if I know deep down that it wasn't going to work out, rejection sucks. What a terrible, negative emotion to feel. What would have otherwise been a two-drink evening is going to end up being five or six by the time I get myself into bed.

On the plus side, dating is a lot easier for me now. Now that I'm getting out, doing more activities, and being more social -- and keeping my wits about me rather than continually trying to drink as much as I can get away with -- I'm meeting single girls a lot more often, and it's easier for me to come up with ideas for fun dates because the availability of alcohol and the subsequent problem of transportation no longer factor into it.

I really feel like getting involved in a relationship with someone who isn't much of a drinker would be a very positive thing in my life at this stage. I know at this stage that I'm capable doing AF days. I can resist the compulsion if I have something to occupy me and the drive to actually make it happen. The company of a girlfriend and not wanting to drink [like an alcoholic] in front of her would be exactly that.

Ives,

Your comments above are very positive (well not the one about getting turned down - that sucks!) but your anxiety over getting that drink is going down, the prospect of doing something that doesn't involve drinking and wanting to find a healthy relationship are huge moves in a positive direction. Those changes and the feelings they bring to you are motivating. These things you are doing show that the grasp alcohol has over you is weakening. You are becoming the creator of your future and are leaving alcohol out of the planning process.

"I know at this stage that I'm capable doing AF days." - Nice! I would recommend doing just that - It's a great feeling when you get an AF (or more - especially in a row). You just feel so different physically and so much more clear mentally.

Rich

Week 0: 72 (week before starting TSM)
Week 1: 63
Week 2: 57
Week 3: 69
Week 4: 50
Week 5: 73
Week 6: 43
Week 7: 57
Week 8: 56
Week 9: 47
Week 10: 59
Week 11: 55

Holding steady at an average of 8 per day. I got ahold of some cannabis last weekend, which was probably a bad thing. Naltrexone blocks the buzz from alcohol but does not affect the high provided by cannabinoid compounds. I found myself drinking, getting stoned, drinking more, smoking more, and ending up drinking more than I would otherwise. The combination of alcohol and cannabis is even more addictive than either by itself. The good news is that I'm out and I don't have a good way to get more. The bad news is that it's legal where I live, and soon will be legal to buy from a retail store, and I doubt I'll be able to stop myself from buying it. (It's good news, really, it never should have been criminalized to begin with, but I do much better in life in pretty much all respects when I stay away from it.)

I've had several instances where I did not follow the golden rule. Either I washed the pill down with the first drink, or started drinking within about 30 minutes of taking the pill. It doesn't seem to matter. Since I take naltrexone every single day, I think I just have a baseline level of the blockade in my brain at all times. One weekend, I even drank without taking the pill, starting at about 1 PM (watching football) and I still felt like I had taken the pill. I did end up taking it a couple hours later, right around the time of day when I usually take it. I have not had that happy euphoric drunk feeling once since I started TSM three months ago. It seems to work all the time for me as long as I take it every day. I'm still trying to follow the one-hour rule as often as possible.

I'ts been about 20 years for me since I had weed and booze. Once out of college, potential work testing stopped any desire for weed. I do remember, even back then, knowing I couldn't really mix the weed with booze, because of the amount of booze I would consume. I would go from barely legally drunk, to blackout city, once weed was mixed in.

I often wonder what I would do if it were legalized in my state. Probably not happening anytime soon.

If it were legal, I ponder the following.

It is a pretty accepted fact that it really never works well, to try and substitute 1 drug for another. (Weed for beer, etc.) Experts preach that you will then become addicted to 2 drugs. Maybe so.

However, I ponder the potential of weed as a substitute with the added tool of Nal. It definitely puts a twist on it.