Thanks Melissa. It's good to get encouragement

'If I get no further improvement with Nal I think I could rest easily at this point'

Hi Ruthy

your quote above speaks volumes I am delighted for you and your progress , I hope I get to the rest easy stage sometime . All the best.

J.

Thanks J. I'm sure you'll get there. How's it going for you? Do you log your units?

Congratulations Ruthy! Keep it up.

(There's no way I'm flying without my anti-anxiety pill though!)

Hi Ruthy

Must start to log my units , they are the same for the last 13 weeks though ,no change as of yet , but I am very optimistic . I am thinking of increasing my dose to 75 that's seems to work well with some people .
All the best.

J.

Glad you're still feeling optimistic Jokerman...and do start keeping a tally as you might find it useful. However, the numbers aren't everything and it's also important to notice the other changes that are occuring too. Changes in our speed of drinking, reaction to the booze, the thoughts in our head, the fixation/craving level...how are these things? Have you seen a difference in the way you feel about alcohol? Are you coping with emotion any differently?

From reading lots of threads on here, it seems to me that people fall into a few different camps. There's the fast responders who reach cure really quickly, the group who have an initial good response (honeymoon) and then settle down into a longer peiod of gradual extinction (that's me), your group who seem to have a slower and steadier tappering off with lots of people increasing their dose and the others who start out on here but who then go quiet and we never hear from again. As long as you don't end up in the last group, we'll see your name on the cured list in time. As I'm forever reminding myself, it's a marathon not a sprint.

Ruthie, so happy to read about your progress and being able to partake in life and manage your drinking at a level you feel comfortable with. Kudos, too, for having reasonable expectations about your consumption at social events and then not getting too overly worried if you don't immediately bounce back.

I always find inspiration in your posts and wish you continued success! With five months on the program, I, too, am in for the marathon and not the sprint and will be curious to see where I am in another five months. It is a world of difference from the cold-turkey/detox/withdrawal/relapse spiral that has been my world the past 8 years.This is an approach I can live with.

Sheryl

Hi Ruthy , I do notice that with beer I seem to drink slower , and I think there are other differences that I cant really explain . My dreams are unbelievably weird I am still very optimistic and hope to see some good results soon. I will up the dose to 75 in about a week and will let everyone know the results . wishing you continuing progress , J.

Sheryl, thanks for your words of encouragement. We've been at this for about the same amount of time and I think our rate of progress has been pretty similar. I too wonder how things will be in another five months. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Jokerman, I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress as you increase your dose. My dreams can still be fairly weird and vivid at times.

As I sit and think about Christmas coming up with all the social events that brings, I know that I feel very differently than I did this time last year with the holidays approaching. I was at a party at the weekend virtually sober (only 2 drinks in 5 hours) which I enjoyed, danced at, mingled, chatted to people, remembered all of and woke up the next day hangover free and with total clarity from the night before. Last year I would have been one of the drunkest people there, wouldn't have remembered what I'd said and done and would probably have ended the night in tears as I was always a very over emotional drunk. I've still got a bit of a way to go but I know that I definitely prefer the person that I am now.

This. Totally this. This should be stickied somewhere.

Although, in fairness, some of the folks who vanish may be quietly cured.