Coming up on 24 hours ALCOHOL FREE! \ / Granted, it was because I slept a lot yesterday due to quitting a psych drug that didn't agree with me, but I have to say I didn't have much in the way of craving. Also there was no alcohol in the house (heavy-drinking partner is out of town all week) and I couldn't be bothered to go get any ... but in the past that would have made me nervous enough to go to the supermarket even if I was feeling bad.

Sleeping overnight was predictably crappy, as it usually is if I suddenly stop drinking (insomnia, brain zaps just as I'm nodding off, tossing and turning), but I feel surprisingly well this morning. Just drank a big OJ. Imagine - something besides wine for breakfast! (I'm exaggerating; I don't always drink in the morning, but very often if there's wine left in the bottle from the night before, it'll be gone by noon.)

I'll probably drink later today but I'm in no hurry to go shopping ... which is a really nice feeling.

Good job Kate! Looks positive from here

Kate, I've only been doing this for 4 months now (after a failed previous attempt a couple years ago b/c I stopped taking NAL). I think the ups and downs are normal. Sometimes I'll drink as much as I did pre TSM and sometimes I drink significantly less.

I too get discouraged sometimes with my drinking levels on NAL but I think negatively in general. I'm a born pessimist. So I try to ignore my irrational negativity when it comes to TSM. You're levels are obviously going down so something is happening; and its positive.

Remember, we did not become alcoholics overnight. It probably took years and our drinking levels probably rose very slowly. I personally remember getting drunk on a 3-4 mixed drinks when I was a teenager whereas I am now able to polish off close to a 750 ml bottle of vodka with out a problem. Keep up the good work!!!

How do you keep such meticulous records regarding your drinking levels? I find it hard to keep track of units as I am not always in an environment where I can measure my consumption.

Would this be the first af day since starting TSM? Wow.... if it is. So happy the cravings aren't eating you up inside. Stay the course Kate, you are doing great.

I keep a daily tick sheet or sometimes just keep a tally in my head. If I've had a bottle of wine that's 5, and beers are easy to keep count of. (I rarely drink the hard stuff anymore.) Every morning I update my spreadsheet with the previous day's numbers. I also keep notes of any other medications I took, mood, life stressors (out of town guests, for example), menstrual cycle and just general impressions. I only run charts of my consumption and craving (1-5) levels, though. I find it very helpful to look back if I had a bad week and see what was going on.

Yes, and thank you! My last AF day was in February, when I was drinking at pretty moderate, controlled levels. Things started to get out of control (again) in March and I started TSM the end of May.

Well done, Kate!

Kind of a hiccup this week. Managed 1 AF day (yay!) immediately followed by a couple of "binge-y" days. Last night, my heavy-drinking partner came home from a trip out of town, and that always derails me. I'm happy to have him back, but at the same time it's like "THE BAR IS OPEN." Woke up today feeling remorseful. ETA: I should also note I had a few days of rough withdrawal from Lamictal, which I was briefly (10 days) on for depression/bipolar and had to quit C/T because of bad side effects.

Anyway, this week's chart:

Well done Kate. Stay the course.

Hi Kate, I noticed your Lamictal post. I am currently on it and have found it works great for me. The funny thing is is that it was the first thing my psychiatrist prescribed when I went to him for Naltrexone and alcohol reduction. I had to titrate up on both meds and found that the Nal gave me worse side effects than Lamictal. It just goes to show you that no two people are alike. As a fellow bi-polar, I hope you find what works for you. Also, dont get discouraged and please be proud that you are sticking with TSM. Much empathy, Keek