Last week I was totally frustrated about my 13 week NAL progress. I counted my units for the week and once again my units were nearly the same. I had just come back from a business trip and I over indulged big time, but I followed the golden rule.

Out of sheer frustration, I logged on the website to possibly see what I was doing wrong and re-read member's success stories. I really really needed this to work. I experienced extreme side effects on Baclofen and AA is helping, but I continue to drink. I know the drug works because I have two friends on it and they could care less about drinking. However, they are not doing the Sinclair method and I don't want to take NAL everyday like they do.

My normal routine is to take a pill at 4pm and start drinking at 6 until bedtime. I really looked forward to having those drinks, and buying time until the "miracle" cure magically happened. I couldn't get more than 1 AF day in all that time. The crazy thing is that before I started the medicine, I would easily get 1 or 2 AF days in a week. So in my opinion, NAL was causing me to drink everyday and I was frustrated about it.

So I read a post that mentioned it was possible to drink out of habit. They suggested to try and force an AF day or have a drink later in the evening or at bedtime. So that is exactly what I did. What did I have to lose.

The first day I was able to abstain until 10 pm. I started doing things around the house and just got busy. It was so late, that I only had a glass. The second day, I lasted until bedtime and again had only a glass. I had cravings, but I could make the thoughts go away easily. The next day was Saturday, my day to drink from morning until night. However, I did not have a drink until I went out with friends around 8. Today is Sunday, 7:30 pm my time and I have not started drinking yet. Don't even feel like it.

This is a huge deal to me. My numbers are way down this week. The medicine is definitely working and I discovered I was drinking out of habit. My next goal is to try an AF day. I am so excited to discover how my numbers will look in the next couple of weeks. I'm grateful to everyone on this board and appreciate all the support that I've been given. I just wanted to share this good news with everyone and I will post my progress in the weeks ahead.

Habits are tough to change, but they're changeable. If the actual addiction is broken, that's a huge deal. Hooray for you!

I had soda instead, because there was a habit there.

Whatever works.

Thanks guys. Sunday was an AF day, I can't believe I did it! Also it just dawned on me that yesterday I was making a peppercorn sauce for my steak and the recipe called for Cognac. I used the Cognac and put it right back in the cabinet without drinking any...go figure. The NAL most definitely makes it easier to abstain. I'm excited to see what happens in the weeks ahead. Seeing some results makes it easier to hang in there until I can obtain mostly AF days.

Some people quest for that Holy Grail of Indifference longer than others, but whenever it's found, it's great.

It's been more than a month since I've logged into the site so I wanted to give a quick update.

5 months on NAL and I am doing great in so many ways. My drinking averages are going down each month and I've not experienced a blackout since starting the medicine. I had 4 AF days a couple of weeks ago and it was an awesome experience. My end goal is to remain abstinent, but until then, NAL is helping me not to get stupid and crazy drunk. I have been focusing on eating right, exercising and getting out of the house. I ran a 10k last weekend and hope to increase to a half marathon in the next few months.

Some observations I've noticed:
- I no longer drink in the morning or afternoon.
- I only drink while cooking dinner and before bed...I hate insomnia.
- I was feeling a buzz at the beginning of my drinking so I cut my pills for better absorption (thanks Melissa1928). My units started to decrease as a result.
- I follow the golden rule without fail.
- I try and go AF at least once a week.
- I can now stop at 1 or 2 drinks when out with colleagues or friends.
- I always remember the night before.
- I have not missed a day of work since starting the medicine.

Again, I want to be abstinent and I pray that it will happen with NAL. However, life is no longer depressing or bleak which is a great blessing to me. I could be focusing on my units not being where I want them to be or that I'm still drinking almost everyday. I choose to look on the bright side and I attend AA twice a week. This medicine is changing my life one day at a time and I am very grateful for that.

Try waiting 30-45 minutes until taking the second drink. I found much less or even no desire, so often times never even had the second (with Nal).

Drinking 2 or even 3 bottles of wine was routine for me, now its rarely more than 1 glass, sometimes 2, but NEVER while alone

Took 8 months to get here, but it has worked

I only drink while cooking dinner and before bed...I hate insomnia.

Ah...sleep will probably be your final hurdle. That's a big one. It was definitely in the "Top 3 Reasons I Drink" for me. The only way to come out on the other side of that is to have a few restless nights. Now that I'm fully soberfied, I looooove going to bed at night. I exercise every day and then take my Benadryl about an hour before bed. I do some spiritual reading or listen to music, have some water, and can usually fall asleep within 5 minutes of lights out. If I can't, I enjoy just laying there thinking or, in rare instances, will get up and enjoy reading on the couch in a quiet house.

Find whatever it takes to remove alcohol from your sleep routine, and you will be ready to put the nail in the coffin of your habit / addiction.

While inducing drowsiness, alcohol impairs deep sleep, does it not? Everything I've read suggests that alcohol is the enemy of restorative (REM) sleep, which has also been my experience: The last few years I would sleep deeply and uninterrupted fewer than five times a year. Now, consuming no alcohol, I sleep deeply even through the four-hour expiry of my narcotics. There is a direct inverse correlation for me (and according to the literature, most people) between heavy alcohol usage and quality sleep. I have had a few lucid, alcohol-free intervals (sobriety as long as two years) over the past 20 years, and in each case I was rewarded with restorative sleep. Of course, I may be older and also losing sleep-capacity as many people begin to do in middle age; this, of course, is unrelated to booze.

I'm a big believer in a nighttime ritual (such as Barry describes) and also of investing in sleep's luxuries: a deep mattress pad, high-thread count cotton sheets, fancy natural fiber pj's, a good music source in my bedroom, and a repetitive schedule. I refuse to address troubling matters after dark, be they professional or personal. Girlfriends bridle at the idea that no, I'm not going to "work something out" at 9 p.m.

When I now put my head on the pillow sober, seemingly wide awake, with a book and my favorite classical station, invariably I am groggy by the third page. I never, sober, remain awake beyond the 20 minutes I program the radio to play before shutting down.

Pre-industrial peoples rarely slept through the night straight. They'd go down at 9 or so and wake in the early hours for a spell, then return to bed until the sun came up. It was called First Sleep and Second Sleep. People would even socialize in their nightclothes. Some have suggested that the eight-hour, uninterrupted sleeping schedule is a byproduct of industrialization, in-home and street lighting, and an unnatural conviction that we need to adapt our bodies to the requirements of 'productivity.'

It actually takes me more than an hour to finish a drink. I am hopeful that I can get to the "no desire" point. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on the reduced intake. It gives me hope.