I don't like the questions where newbies ask: what happened to them all? Why do we have only X number on the cured list, but 6 million people registered? Is the TSM BS? Is this all a scam? Because it is dangerous to assume thus.

Geez, -why do you suppose they are gone? Alcoholism is a dreary hell. If you escaped from a prison a la "Midnight Express" would you be anxious to return there to tell everyone how much better it is on the outside? People you never met? Or would you spend every precious minute of your new life breathing the air and being thankful for what you have now found? No question: You'd run from that prison and never look back. We shouldn't. But we do, and I probably will too, so I write this now in case I fail to later.

I have not had a day without multiple drinks since 1979. Beer was my thing, long ago. Wine for the past 15 years. Eventually, as my comsumption increased, I had to give up on the bottles and move to 5L boxes as the transport (and disposal) of so many bottles became understandably problematic. When the transport of the 5L boxes became troublesome, I realized there wasn't going to be a happy ending to my story. I was consuming at least 25 liters of wine every 2 weeks with my meals, and over the winter I took to having an "appertiff" of brandy or ouzo, thus newly introducing hard alcohol into my diet. I knew it was bad. It did not matter. Those are my bonifides: I am one of you. I could not stop myself from drinking, and the thought of not doing so, or living without, -was absolutely terrifying.

I bought the book. And I was so afraid for the 2 weeks that I had to wait for my Doctor's apointment that I'd be in the 18% who had no luck. It was, after all, too good to be true. Which is what my Doctor thought too, -but with a wry smile he wrote the script.

I have been on TSM for only a week now, but the results are incredible. I will say it: They are too good to be true. But they are. I guess I am a fast responder ( Iam definately genetic) but I am having one helluva Halajuela moment. I can't wait to see my skeptical doctor in 3 weeks! Already I leave drinks half finished without caring or minding, I'm not in a hurry for that first drink, I can even think about one day soon experiencing an alcohol free day without panic! After 35 years! Instead I know that day will come, and without pain, panic, or trial. What I worry about most these last few days is what to do with all of my time. Which is probably why I am writing here, because I am bored. I can see the future for the first time in years, and I cry, literally, for the hope I see.

If I never come back (though I plan to), I want to leave a record that it's because this worked, at least for me, and I am grateful. We leave here because we are cured I suspect, not because the method failed. It is criminal that the TSM is not more widely known.

Thank you Clarion! So good to hear that you are feeling some freedom after only one week!

Thanks for thinking ahead to those who will come after.

Sounds like a great first week. I hope it continues just that quickly, to a rapid cure.

Hi Clarion,

Your progress sounds awesome so far. Many people experience a "honeymoon period" where drinking drops precipitously, then climbs back up. I did for sure. Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones, and you will head straight toward the finish, but if not, the honeymoon period is usually a good sign for your long term success, so DON'T get discouraged.

I know you can do it. Keep it up!

Yeah, I am thinking I probably have a "honeymoon" period, but I also agree that just having a "honeymoon" means it bodes well for TSM working for me. My drinking is not radically less (though down) yet, but I have never left a glass half-empty in my life. Now I find I do without thinking about it. When I see it in the morning sitting on the table it amazes me!

Wow. Just read your story. 35 years without a day off is pretty remarkable. You must have really good genes to even be alive. Still, I can see how you would just break down in tears of hope when you think that, finally, your life might change. I know that feeling of being in a rut where you think, "Well, I guess this is it and nothing new is going to happen and I'll die this way," only to have something show up in your life that radically changes it all (for me, too, it was TSM).

The "boredom" thing is not something I ever experienced, but I can see how it could be a real problem. For me, the first thing I did to occupy my sober time was take up reading again -- I hadn't read a book in 9 years last January. Depending on what you read, this AS WELL can just further the Personal Renaissance -- I read some great marriage books, several "manosphere" books (e.g. The Rational Male by Tomassi -- great book), books on the Roman Empire, the Spartans, Samurai, spirituality, etc... I'm a much, much stronger person because of all the reading and working out, but none of it could have happened while I was still drinking every night. I also started exercising at night -- at a local gym at the time (now I built a garage gym). I'd either swim or life weights or do something nice and "clean fun"-like. It really did take awhile to start to form new habits / routines (mine was after a 9 year run, 35 years would be even tougher). 15 months later, and I never, ever experience boredom. I've got too much stuff going on (relationships [wife and kids], hobbies, exercise, reading, not to mention myriad tv shows I haven't watched). I'll never run out of stuff to do.

In some ways, drinking actually MAKES for boredom for me, because it severely limits my activities -- can't read, can't workout, can't play hard games, can't concentrate, etc...

RE: Why is no one here? Do they just get cured and move on? There was a debate about this last year, with one side arguing that the number of actually "cured" is quite small apart from the controlled clinic in Norway (or wherever) setting wherein "The Cure for Alcoholism" got its data. I'd venture that a pretty large fraction of people that start out here actually are NOT cured, primarily because they give up, don't have the personal motivation to really quit, or any other reason (I also recall arguing that Americans, the British, and Australians that make up the bulk of this website are not as strong in fortitude and character as northern Europeans that experience the 80% cure). Unfortunately, there's just no way to actually tell and, you know what, it doesn't even matter. What matters is only ME and YOU and how we do with Naltrexone. It may simply be that a small remnant of lucky ones is able to escape the scourge of alcoholism.

I'll take it.

FWIW, I believe there are a fair number of people who don't want to quit getting high. When they realize that naltrexone blocks the high, they quit taking it.

There are also a lot of people who are cured and then move on, as the OP says. We can be sure there are some because they sometimes swing back for a visit.

There are no numbers, though. It's only an Internet forum.

I find this a fascinating topic. In the book a hypothetical person asks "Well, why would an alcoholic take a pill that deprives them of their high? It will never work because no alcoholic will do that"

The Doctor goes on to explain (I am paraphasing) that alcoholics don't have fun drinking any longer. They just can't stop. They drink because NOT drinking is unthinkable. It is not a rational decision for them to drink (actually no longer a decision at all). But taking the pill IS a rational decision. And so, being rational, the pill is taken.

This was so true for me. Perhaps because I never stopped drinking I never went on a ADE caused binge (where perhaps most of the bad stuff happens) so I've never had a DUI or lost a job or spouse or anything else terrible. But I couldn't quit, and I wasn't having fun, even though nothing really bad had happened (yet). (Well, all the other bad stuff like constant nightmares, hangovers, ED, and such). I still wanted to quit, and knew I was headed for a very dark place, but I could not stop or cut back. Just the opposite, every year I was drinking more despite my best efforts at control.

So I guess if you don't want to quit getting high TSM is certainly not going to work. But then, why is one trying it in the first place? Why would they be here?

Short version: Because some people think that "You can still drink!" means that TSM will turn them normal.

It is interesting, isn't it? When people return to drug use after having been clean a while, the reason they most commonly give is that they missed the high. For some people, in some circumstances, getting wasted is the best option for happiness that they can see.

I wouldn't have followed through with TSM in my youth. I wanted to get blasted. It was later that I realized I was caught in a trap.

That's my point. It is not that you would not have followed through with TSM in your youth, but rather you would have never started it, right?

So I still do not understand who would start it who didn't want to quit, unless they have a spouse demanding it or something...