Rmph. I'd rather read about others than write about myself. To recap, I started TSM the same day as SpringerRider (I think Jan 16). Around week 9, I got very ill and rsince then required two surgeries with long stints on opiate pain meds. I'm well on the way to being good as new so that's behind me.

I took the first dose of nal Sun. -- 25 mg since it had been awhile. Good idea; I was a little queasy. Twenty-five on Mon then back up to 50 on Tues and feel just fine.

I would never drink off-nal intentionally, but I had no choice for a few weeks as I am a hopeless daily drinker. I did get some nal days in between surgeries so it was not a total loss. The good news is I seemed to retain some benefit from my first two months on nal. I had spiked up higher than pre-nal levels (pre around 8-9/day; went up to about 10 avg) then had a sudden drop but never got the chance to report it. I went down to about 45 that week, even with many triggers (travel is huge for me). I seem to have stayed right around there -- even less most days. I'm at about a bottle of wine a day, which I count as 5. Some days I will have a vodka soda or two to avoid opening another bottle of wine. I hope that I didn't lose much ground but then I'll never know, as I won't know when I would have been cured, as we all are unique. Still, I have a twinge of envy when I see SpringerRider's progress. But I'll just keep taking my nal and drinking and one day soon I'll be there.

Lena, Don't feel envy. You had a special set of circumstances to deal with and you did what was necessary. I know it is an obvious thing to say but you know you will get there and time lost is often time gained in some strange other way that isn't understood until later on. I wish you mega success and admire that you dealt with these surguries and chose to keep right on going in spite of it all. How's the healing coming along? Well I hope. Wishing you the best. Tater

Lena, you are such a cheerleader for all of us. I'm sorry to hear of your surgical set-back. Hope all is well health-wise. It's great to hear you retained some benefits, though - and you just gave me a neat idea for how 'not' to open that second bottle of wine. Once it's opened, I don't drink to the bottom any more - but I almost always have 1 or 2 more than I like.

Vodka/tonic - great idea! Thanks.

It's not vodka tonic or I might guzzle that because I enjoy it too much. Just a generic vodka/sparkling water, sort of like, well if you must drink, then this is what you get. A lot of folks around here feel vodka in the cabinet is an invitation to day drinking. I think that may have been one trigger I extinguished now that I think of it because I have started to then thought I don't want vodka ruining my blueberry juice. Wow, that doesn't sound like me.

That's a good sign, Lena.

...you really are amazing. So many setbacks and you are still able to give others hope. Thank you for all that you do.

It will be your turn before you know it.

Oh great. I started a thread and misspelled Weekly. And the typo Police (you know who you are) did not alert me. Since it's a week now, I guess I'll update.

First socializing last night in a while. Gallery show, and they served a micro brew named for the artist. I didn't monitor my drinking because they were topping off glasses all evening (and I rarely drink beer) but I made it home in one piece (no driving) and feel fine today. I was not watching out of the corner of my eye for the beer to come around.

The week was uneventful with a bottle, 5 units, a day, more or less. I'll start a log this week. Craving is where I left off, around 5, which is great.

That is funny! I thought it was a deliberate play-on-words!

Bob

Lena, again giving hope to all of us on the benzo's too! Great that you are feeling better and back on tsm!

Excellent good news to see you're back on NAL , all the best , go for it !

Hey Lena, I want to know how you have been feeling and doing lately. Sorry if I seem nosey but I want to ask how your recovery from the surguries is going and how your feeling about TSM. You are one of the people I remember from getting started on all of this and I want to kind of check in with you sometimes. It makes me feel more grounded. Just give me a little summary and then I can move along in my own journey. Sorry but you are one of the people I look to. Even with the pause, by the way.