Whilst I appreciate everyone is different there is something I dont understand from my experience so far. I started TSM last night and it was an instant success in that I got half way through a glass of whiskey and thought 'what is the point of drinking this?' Whiskey is not really my tipple so that might have something to do with it but it was clear to me that the effect was not what I was looking for. I have suffered a little nausea and 'strangeness' so booze isnt really on the agenda for at least the next couple of days. I am a twice weekly binger. I have been looking through peoples stories on here and it seems that the method is very successful, however I dont understand what is happening with someone who was drinking 10 beers who goes down to 6 or 7 beers, for example. If people are experiencing what I am, ie drinking without getting that feeling of being drunk what makes someone go beyond one beer? Is it something that I will understand when the nal nausea goes away?

Cozmo,

I don't know that I have a good answer, but I'll try to explain my experience. I am one of those people that went from 80+ units a week to 50 ish to now 30 ish over the course of what has now been a little over 9 months. I think part of the issue is that I didn't completely follow the protocol and adhere to the golden rule (NAL one hour before drinking). By not doing that I wasn't getting the full pharmacological effect that NAL provides and was actually getting drunk in some instances. That leads to something called intermittent reinforcement which has been proven to actually make the addiction bond even stronger (I won't go into a lot of detail about that - if interested Google "Intermittent Reinforcement"). So, according to that theory I was actually strengthening my addiction even though I was trying to extinguish it. Sort of like a doubling your IQ or no money back guarantee. Now that I am adhering to the golden rule I am consistently experiencing much of what you experienced last night. The full effect of NAL and TSM. I have also had to adjust my dosage to a higher dose to compensate for some of my physiology. I also think that you can drink through the NAL by either over consuming or drinking for a long period of time (say over 5 hours) and having the effect of the medication wear off.

The second part is what I would call psychological in nature. Having been a consumer for so long, it has proven to be a very difficult habit to break. So that piece is almost rote behavior for me, especially when coupled with certain triggers like the holidays and certain functions. There is simply something Pavlovian for me and alcohol. I too quit at one point for 18 months through AA. However, the mental cravings never left me and eventually I caved on a business trip to Singapore and answered that ringing bell. After that I was off and running again.

The final thing I will add is the concept of a "honeymoon period." I've read of many people that have had remarkable results initially only to reach a state of equilibrium that lasts for some length of time where they don't see any progress. That can be very frustrating and I think in some instances it has caused people to get lax about the protocol or just simply give up. I would caution against that. The success numbers speak for themselves. If you are rigorous and diligent about TSM you have a very high likelihood that you will achieve success. Certainly much higher than traditional methods of abstinence. Good luck!

As you say, everyone is different and so there are many different responses in people that try TSM. There are some people who have a very strong reaction to it and are able to quit quickly. For them, alcohol tastes awful, it loses all it's appeal and all the buzz is quickly killed. These are the super responders who are able to go abstinent within weeks. I'm not one of those people. I've been on TSM for 29 weeks now and have seen a slow but sure gradual decrease in my drinking. I have found that I still quite like the taste of wine and I still get a bit of a warm glow from the first drink. I don't need to drink anymore, but I still quite like to drink. Most importantly, what I have found is that I rarely want to carry on drinking. I still want that first one, but then that's enough and I stop.


They might be experiencing it differently to you. Maybe they are still getting the feeling of being drunk...or maybe they keep drinking hoping they'll get to that drunken feeling point...or maybe they are drinking over a long period of time and the Nal has worn off...or maybe they are so programmed to drink in certain situations that they keep going anyway.

As time goes on you'll be able to see what your reaction is. Let's hope that you're a super responder

I love seeing people respond quickly.

That said, things could still change. My observation from watching people here is that beer drinkers often respond quickly, wine drinkers usually respond slowly, and liquor drinkers like you are kinda all over the place. As your subject line implies, this could be your "honeymoon" followed by temporarily re-increased consumption. Then again, it might not -- you might be golden in weeks.

FWIW, I had your experience -- "Why on Earth does anyone even bother drinking on nal?" Once the physical withdrawal was over and the mental obsession lifted, I became abstinent because I just didn't see any point to drinking.