Hi all,

I'm new here and wanted to introduce myself.

I am 42 and have been drinking heavily for about 10 years. At some point, my drinking became out of control and I started drinking daily. In the past I tried Baclofen, campral, and Antabuse. I had limited success with the first two but I went back to drinking fairly quickly. Antabuse works when I take it, but I have figured out that I can take 1 pill on Monday and start drinking on Wednesday. So I normally drink 5 days a week. I am also in AA and it has helped me to understand that I have a disease/allergy but I have not stopped drinking.

I am excited about trying Naltrexone and I am currently in my second week. Like many of you, I have noticed that I am drinking a lot slower and a little less than my normal 10 units a night (2 bottles of wine). I am planning to stick this out for the long haul as the underlining theme seems to be that "patience is the key."

I look forward to posting my results soon and good luck to everyone!

Hi Rbj

Welcome aboard , looking forward to hearing about your progress , and yes be prepared for the long haul , hopefully you will be a quick responder though . All the best . J.

Welcome!

I hope you read through some of the threads here and hang around the boards a bit. They really do help and the success threads are very inspiring. One thing you will notice is how we all go on about the 'golden rule' Nal +1hr before drinking. To make the extinction process work, you really need to stick to this rule. Drinking without Nal +1hr creates 'intermittent reinforcement' which flips a switch and makes the behaviour more resistant to extinction.

Anyway, good luck! Feel free to ask or say anything here.

Cheers,
Kerri

Thanks Jokerman I will keep my fingers crossed on that one.

Yes I have read many threads about the one hour rule and I have promised myself to stick to it. I think it will be fairly easy for me because my drinking starts between 6 - 8 pm.

Hi, I am new to TSM and this forum. I have been struggling with alcoholism for over 2 years after an (adult) lifetime of normal social drinking. I have no idea what flipped the switch but so be it. My doctor prescribed Naltrexone 50mg once a day, which is how I've been taking it, although I'm thinking I'll graduate to the Sinclair Method after a while. So far, after only a week, it's really helped curb my cravings and the couple times I have drank, it was only 1-2 glasses of wine and I didn't want any more. What a MIRACLE.

First, though, I'd love if someone could explain all the abbreviations, like AF, etc.

Thanks! Trish

Heya, Trish. Welcome. It really is an amazing change, isn't it?

AF = alcohol-free = a day (or other time period) when no alcohol is consumed
AL = not really an abbreviation, just a shortening of "alcohol" which some people capitalize for some reason
BAC = blood alcohol count, usually used when describing legal trouble
nal = short for naltrexone
TSM = the Sinclair Method

I can't think of any other board-specific abbreviations off the top of my head.

You might want to start your own thread. Our custom is for each member to have one thread, in the Progress section, to track his/her progress.

Again, welcome. We're a pretty nice and supportive bunch, or at least I like to think so.