gd484 Actually, the whole "have a first drink then wait a bit" worked for me, as well. You have to muster every bit of self-control / self-mastery you can as you go through this process. To me, that seemed like a reasonable request -- I can still have my first drink (the best one, right?), but I'll have to wait a bit for the second. It's a little trick to speed things along.

I've also found that being a better parent is a great motivator in all of this. Yes, they watch. My now 17 year old used to just stare at me while I enjoyed my drinks -- almost like she was licking her lips just waiting (I'm sure she has "the gene," too, if there is such a thing). Now, since I rarely drink (5 times in about 150 days!), I am a much better example to her. Beyond that, I'm able to have calm, rational conversations with her that are really important. She'll be gone from the house in about a year. I learned after my first one left for college three years ago that, once they're gone, your influence is minimal at best (she lived her whole life with drunk dad, so I'm sure I didn't do as good a job as I would have sober).

With the younger two, the parental improvements have been even more dramatic. I'm way more engaged with them at night. I used to just be "zombie dad," now I can play games, exercise with them (last night we ran to the park and played awhile), put them to bed at night, help them with homework (used to not be able to do that, either, because I couldn't think straight, especially math!), and generally provide a calm, strong father figure versus a zombie dad with intermittent emotional outbursts.

My advice is to really start noticing the improvements in parenting that come along. It is probably the best motivator there is, IMO.

Thank you Barry. That was very emotional for me to read. I appreciate your sharing that with me And I look forward to seeing that take place in my life too.

Sideffect2, I do wait 1 hour from pill to drink.

What if you take a pill and no longer want to drink? Should you force it?

My reading of the book says yes, you should force it. The point of the program is not the pill, but rather the process of extinction that the pill enables. The pill does not make you want to drink less. When tested on people who are abstinate, their incidence of relapse was the same as those who did not take it. If you feel like not drinking, it's more likely a placebo/motivation thing at this early stage.

The pathways in our alcoholic brains have become superhighways and we need to close them down and get them back to pathways like normal folks. To do this, we have to take the pill, wait an hour, and then drink. The brain expects what it always got previously, but the pill blocks it, and your brain wonders what's up. Taking the pill and then drinking eventually retrains the brain that the great rushing reward doesn't happen anymore. Keep doing it and eventually you'll have the little pathways that you had back in high school, instead of the superhighways you have now. That's called extinction. That's why the book uses the term "cure" in the title. If you don't drink after taking the pill, you are not re-training your brain. It's not harmful, but it's not helpful either.

Once you've gotten through the extinction (generally 3 to 4 months), then you can stop drinking, and you can also stop taking the pill.

Just remember that for the rest of your life, if you want to drink, you have to take a pill one hour before. Even though you got back to "normal", as a previous alcoholic if you start drinking again without a pill, those superhighways will re-establish themselves very quickly and you'll be right back where you were.

You know, this and another thread made something click for me. Nal does make me not want to drink, but it's because nal makes me feel sick. Barry mentioned in anotheer thread that people in the hospital have thier addictions curbed, but when they regain health, the addiction returns.

So, the advice of forcing a drink, is likely good.

Thank you so much, both of you.

Pharmacological extinction is a scientific fact affecting many addictions, and I too trust the science that Eskapa and Sinclair have documented.

Therefore, for me, the most interesting dynamic at play in our community of nal-users is the relationship of drinking, nal, and the exercise of will to speed and cement the rejection of daily consumption.

I'm quite sure that I have not achieved a true extinction, but in my desire for abstinence, the use of nal to kickstart abstention has been revelatory. Also notable for me is that -- unlike my prior periods of cold-turkey abstention -- with nal I don't have to worry the seemingly impossible task of achieving lifelong sobriety. If I screw up I will only screw up one hour after taking the pill, I hope. Simply removing the pressure of achieving perfection may be the primary benefit of nal, to me.

I'm back! After my first post here, Sinclair method worked just as it was supposed to. I was rarely drinking and when i did it was 1-2 drinks. Like an idiot, i stopped taking the pill. What do you think happened? Lol. So here i am, back again and starting over. Started last night for Superbowl party and the pill worked beautifully. I took it an hour before first drink, had a glass of wine but never got that "rush' that makes me want to down a whole bottle so i stopped after 2 glasses, realizing the high wasn't coming. Amazing. I won't stop this time. Forever my little drinking pill and i will be together.

gd484, despite what others might argue, I think that in your second go-round, you'll be able to quickly resume your
more controlled drinker and stretches of sobriety. I'm among those who, like you, got curious to see what would happen without Nal. My advice is to do what you seem to be doing -- just getting back on the protocol, no shame, no excuses, no guilt. Great to hear about your success.

Hi GD, we all learn from the experiences of others, and right now I'm learning from you. I'm early in the process but I keep looking to the future and how I'll handle "success" when it comes. Anyway glad you're back!

Thanks for the welcome back. Feell wonderful to be back and on the program.