Hello fellow TSM followers and friends,

Here's my progress so far on TSM. I'll try to give daily detail these first few weeks, but will probably move to weekly summaries later on.

For the full rundown on my 25 year long alcohol habit feel free to read my story over in the Introductions board. Now that I've got that bit of my past off my chest, it's time to move forward.

After abstaining from alcohol for all of January this year (some of you here may have heard of "Dryuary") my drinking picked up again slowly in February and then much more dramatically in March. During the last two weeks of March and first week of April, I was averaging over 75 units per week, including a huge binge on April 2 where I drank one and a half "fifth" bottles of scotch (25 units total).


*****Week 1*****

I got 90 naltrexone tabs from AllDayChemist which after a two-week wait, were delivered on Friday, April 3. I immediately took one 50mg tablet and resumed drinking an hour later. I finished the bottle of scotch from the previous night along with a couple other shots for a total of 9 units. The 50mg tablet was a mistake, I should have ramped up from 25mg. The result was a long, torturous night of vomiting. It was one of the most miserable nights of my life since my gallbladder operation 10 years ago

Saturday, April 4 - had a hangover for a couple hours but felt OK starting around noon. Took 50mg Nal and went to father-in-law's house for dinner. Two glasses of wine and three bottles of hard cider. No cravings for more alcohol afterwards. Some slight nausea, but no more vomiting.

Sunday, April 5 - No hangover from the previous day. Easter brunch at my sister's place. Three glasses of wine, two shots of rum, one glass of bourbon spiked punch. 6 units. No more nausea from 50mg Nal dose.

Monday April 6 - Still no cravings for alcohol, took 50mg Nal dose and an hour later had 8 shots of scotch over the course of about 2 hours. Hung out with wife and chatted about home improvement projects for a while, then went to bed.

Tuesday April 7 - No hangover. Cravings started to kick in pretty bad around 7pm. Immediately took 50mg Nal and then later, 10 shots of bourbon and scotch between 8:30 - 11pm.

Wednesday April 8 - Moderate hangover. Decided to go for my first AF day in almost a month. Some mild cravings around 8pm (they are always worst for me between 7pm-9pm) but distracted myself with some video games and the cravings were gone by 10pm.

Thursday April 9 - Felt good in the morning but not the "more pleasurable than normal" that some TSM followers get after AF/Nal-free days. Tried some exercise and other recreational activities with my wife but didn't notice anything unusual. Cravings picked up around 9pm, took 50mg Nal at 10pm then 8 shots of scotch from 11pm-midnight.

Baseline - 75 units/wk, 0 AF days
First week on Nal - 50 units, 1 AF


*****Week 2*****

Friday April 10 - Felt terrible this morning, worst hangover since Day 1 of starting Nal. Wondering if the previous night was a bad way to followup an AF day. Hangover was gone by 2pm, cravings returned 6pm. Took 50mg Nal immediately then 75 minutes later drank a fifth of red wine and 8 shots of vodka.

Saturday April 11 - Moderate hangover, not as bad as Friday. Went to a rock concert with my wife in the evening, took my 50mg on the train into town, then had 8 beers over the course of 4 hours. Got home from the concert by midnight, still had cravings, 3 shots of scotch before bed.

Sunday April 12 - No hangover but I did sleep in until 11am. An uneventful afternoon until cravings got bad around 7pm again so took 50mg and then an hour later, 8 beers during the span of three hours.

Monday April 13 - Felt very good this morning, not really sure why. Even got into work early. Had moderate cravings around the end of my work shift as usual (7pm) so took 50mg, then drank 8 shots of schnapps from 8:30pm until 11pm. Asked wife her general impression of my first 10 days on Naltrexone, she reports being "much less annoyed" by my drinking which is a very small step but an important one I think

Tuesday April 14 - Feeling really good this morning for the second day in a row, time to do a writeup here...

Your progress in the very beginning is similar to mine and it is encouraging to see you drop in the 50 range after the first week. That is really great news and just keep following the golden rule. You will see more progress as time goes by.

Thanks for the encouragement Angelgirl! Yes it is still very early for me on TSM and my nightly cravings are still really strong, the main thing I notice on Nal is that I'm not feeling the need anymore to "go for broke" after the first few drinks. Like, there are actual unfinished bottles of alcohol in the cabinet now which was a sight unseen back in February and March