I started The Sinclair Method around June 2011. At the time I was drinking at least two bottles of wine a day. At least. Once introduced to the Sinclair Method, I did my best to follow the "Golden Rule", and continued to drink daily. During that time I would visit this site regularly, taking inspiration from others that were experiencing success. I did, however, note that there were not many "long-term cured" members active on the forum. Understandable, I concluded; There's no need to keep visiting the hospital if the problem has been resolved. But sometimes the Sinclair Method claims seemed too good to be true. I wanted to know more about what I might expect over the long term, and from people who had been through what I was going through. I decided that if I did ever reach the cured stage, I would make an effort to come back and update the group. This post is such an update.

This is how my experience with the Sinclair Method unfolded.
1. Unlike many here, I went through mainstream health services. I asked my GP for assistance with alcohol addiction. He referred me to a health services provider that specialized in drug and alcohol addiction. This was how I learnt about the Sinclair Method.
2. I obtained a prescription for Naltrexone. I started actively following the Sinclair Method guidelines. I experienced no side affects at all form the Naltrexone. I did notice immediately that the usual "buzz" associated with consuming alcohol was missing.
3. I continued for approximately nine months. During that time, my alcohol consumption did not decrease at all.
4. Around the nine month mark I decided to attempt a forced alcohol-free day. I was quite surprised to note that I had virtually no cravings at all. Wanting to continue the Sinclair Method to give it the best opportunity to extinguish my dependency, I resumed the Sinclair Method - drinking every day, but only after taking 50mg Naltrexone approximately one hour before.
5. Around the twelve month mark I decided that it was time to put a stake in the ground and become abstinent. Either I was cured, or I wasn't. On my first alcohol-free day I immediately noticed that I had no cravings at all.
6. For the next seven months (June 2012 - December 2012) I was completely abstinent and experienced no cravings.
7. It was the festive season and my wife at the time actually did encourage me to drink, simply because she enjoyed socializing and wanted me to participate. I knew that one of the claims of the Sinclair Method was that one could drink like a "normal" person - that is, in moderation. I decided to test this, and resume drinking after renewing my supply of Naltrexone, and, or course, following the golden rule.
8. I continued drinking for the next three months, through to April 2013. My drinking returned to my initial levels. I was unable to drink in moderation - like a "normal" person.
9. On 1 April 2013 I become abstinent again. I have been abstinent ever since. Today is my one year anniversary. I have no cravings and intend to never drink again. Ever.

My claims and conclusions
1. I believe I am cured of my cravings for alcohol. That is, the cravings I used to experience that would drive me to seek out and consume alcohol have gone. Completely gone.
2. I believe the Sinclair Method is responsible for extinguishing my alcohol cravings - although I acknowledge it's difficult to be objective about it.
3. I believe there was more to my excessive drinking than just the cravings, such as habit, social expectations, etc.
4. I believe that with the cravings eliminated I can deal with the other issues myself. The way I have chosen to deal with these things is abstinence.

Some observations
1. I am certain that the Sinclair Method does indeed undo a major component causing alcohol addiction.
2. I believe there are other components as well.
3. I suspect that there are many people on this forum claiming to be cured when they are not. I may be one of them. My year long abstinence would suggest otherwise, but I'll be more sure at the two year mark.
4. If you have the option of abstinence or moderate drinking, and moderate drinking is still significantly more attractive to you, are you really cured?
5. There is a lot of anecdotal "evidence" posited in the discussions on this forum. I really do feel a lot of this is misleading, and potentially dangerous. We should always take wih a grain of salt any claims made by other members who say things like "I did something this way and it made me feel like this, so it must be better." Such anecdotes are usually not worth the spittle they are sprayed with. One of particular concern is forum members telling others to alter their Naltrexone dosage. Naltrexone is a very serious drug, and the book "The Cure for Alcoholism" is based on robust science. In it, if I recall correctly, they said the studies were done only with a dosage of 50mg. To modify your dose ONLY on the recommendatioon of an anonymous forum member seems to be unwise to me.

Well, that's my update at the one year abstinent mark. I remember wishing more of the long term cured would come back and post about their experience, so here is mine. I hope someone finds it useful.


Callum

Just as a side note, I think I probably need to reiterate that the above relates to my individual experience. I am not for a moment saying that The Sinclair Method cannot result normal, moderate drinking. I'm just saying that, for me, it did not.


c

android...thanks for your post. I agree wholeheartedly that alcohol abuse has several components and that TSM handles only part of them. I also like the idea of "forced AF days" as a way to test out any effects of TSM. Regarding the idea of whether or not someone is "cured," I've argued before that it is quite nebulous to pin this down. There are also circular arguments applied akin to Evangelical Christianity's notion of being "saved" -- "You said you were saved, but then you committed adultery, so you weren't really saved." "You said you were cured, but you took up drinking again, so you were never really cured."

I'd be curious to hear how your life has improved (or not) due to long-term abstinence.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad to hear that you're doing so well.

While not cured yet, my definition of cured would be to be totally free of the craving. If I can have alcohol around me and not have a craving to consume it, I would considered myself cured. If I then had a few drinks after abstinance, but then went back to abstinaance without the craving, that would still be cured, IMHO. I have never been abstinate, but in the book The Alcohol Deprevation Effect is discussed quite a bit, and apparently with abstinance only, the craving never goes away. That would be NOT cured, even though one is not drinking.

I too would love to hear more about how your life has changed.

Sure, abstinence on its own does not undo the learned craving. In my case, abstinence is my choice because 1) I believe I have addressed the cravings through extinction using the Sinclair Method, and 2) I don't seem to be able to drink moderately, even though the cravings are gone.

Life changes:
1. Liver function: Before I started TSM had some elevated liver enzymes related to alcohol consumption. Liver function is now completely within the normal ranges
2. Weight loss: Dropped from 103kg to 91kg, which is my ideal bodyweight. Whats that, 225 pounds down to about 200 I think.
3. No more lost productivity due to hangovers. Ever.
4. Never, NEVER, wake up in the morning wondering what I did, or alternatively, cringing at the things I said/did the night before
5. Blood pressure. I'm 51, and my blood pressure is 118/78-ish. Absolutely perfect and a little surprising for someone my age, especially since my ethnicity has a predisposition to high blood pressure / heart disease.

To be honest with you, it's about the perfect outcome. I couldn't have wished for more. Perhaps it would have been nice to be able to drink socially as well, but it's been so long now I don't really miss that either.

c

What I mean by the above is that being a non-drinker does impact my ability/desire to socialize. If you are with a group, and they are drinking, as the night progresses the drinkers listen less, spout more crap and can become obnoxious. SInce I'm usually the only one sober, my tolerance for this behavior wears pretty thin pretty quick, so it's about then that I call it a night, which is usually pretty early.

If I were a moderate drinker I'd be less intolerant - because I'd be one of the group. That's what I mean by "Perhaps it would have been nice to be able to drink socially ..." I don't say that because I miss the affects of alcohol. I do not.

c

Don't any of these people have to drive? Do they all just sleep over or something?

Lol. To be honest, I don't think it takes many drinks to turn the average person into a bore. Perhaps that's more that my mindset has changed than anything else.

Android,

Thanks for coming back and sharing your pre and post cure experiences. It's a great success story. I am curious as to how you define cravings. Were they physical or mental cravings or a combination of both? My cravings are purely mental. I continue to struggle with the random thoughts that pop into my head throughout the day. I am currently forcing AF days Monday through Thursday (attempting to increase that to five days a week with Sunday being the fifth day) and as the week progresses the pressure builds until I succumb. My units are way down and my AF days are way up, so all of that is looking good. But the cravings continue and that is troubling to me. I was sober in AA for almost 18 months and the cravings never left.

Regarding the advice from other members, I do think that is one of the purposes of this forum. However, it should always be given in the context that is relative to the experience of the member that is giving the advice. Kind of in the vein of "this is what I was doing, it was or wasn't working for me, so I either kept doing it or this is what I did different to try and change the outcome." In my case, I did increase the dosage for a period of time and that worked for me. I do believe that it mentions the possibility of increasing the dosage in the literature. But when I did it I was very careful and methodical in doing it.

Thanks again for sharing. It was very helpful.