This might be a stupid question and I am very new at this, but here goes. Nal has the same effect on everyone, right? It blocks the opioid receptors...so if you don't get the initial buzz and if the more you drink you still don't get it, why would you continue to drink the same amount night after night using the nal.? You know what is happening, you read the book and you are getting no benefit from drinking too much. And, especially if, as in my case, the craving has gone away.
If you have enough of a problem with drinking to want to use this method, then seems to me you have a real problem and want to stop or cut down to normal levels. Isn't that what everyone wants? To drink normally?
I guess I just don't understand things fully yet - hey, I might never understand, never claimed to be smart!
Susie

Nal blocks the dopamine/opiod reward pathway, which for most people is the major one affected. however AL also works on other pathways, eg GABA, to a greater or lesser extent, which seems to be the reason why Nal doesn't work for a certain %age of people

people can continue to drink to excess for any number of reasons - relaxation, escape, habit, etc. - even after Nal is blocking the dopamine buzz

Susie,

Nal does block the receptors; however you can drink through the medicine (I have done it a couple of times and I do not advise ever trying to do it) and get a drunk, but it feels different...like something is missing. Your brain will play tricks on you to consume more looking for that "ah" feeling, or buzz that is missing.

If you are like Ocean, and are physically addicted to alcohol, you will be able to cut down on your drinking without going through DTs and most likely have a TSM experience like the book claims (this is just a theory of mine).

Most people want to stop before they are physically addicted and/or see themselves heading that way. We have no control over our intake, and most of us have a hard time having an alcohol free day, we have to work for that "cure" for it will not come easy, and/or it will take a lot longer.

And there are a few people that the nal. does not work on.

Susie,

you are by no means not "smart" it just takes time to figure out whats it going on here. The book is saying one thing, but we are realizing another. The book simplifies how easy this process is, for nothing is that cut and dry, and everyones experiences are different in drinking as well as TSM.

Thanks Badger, again you beat me to the punch...short and sweet!

Jaba

I agree with All41. Eskapa actually had LOTS to say in his book about the success of TSM for those who are not full-blown alcoholics, but feel that they may be on their way to it or have a genetic predisposition to become one. That is why I am doing TSM... I can see that if I leave my drinking unchecked, I'm going to have a huge problem. My occasional binges have highlighted that fact completely and I want to turn this bus around before it's to late. I AM ready! Here's some of what Eskapa said in the book:

From Eskapa's book:












Let's all just keep on keeping on!!!

A little help: You're Not Ready means, primarily, that you're not ready to give up that "orgasmic high" that we get from drinking. You still value it. You still want it. Which means 100% of the time that you will not always take your pill. You will rationalize and tell yourself that it's Friday and you had a tough week, so just for tonight I won't take it. And TSM never works when you do not follow the Golden Rule. Never.

Secondarily it means letting go of destructive lifestyles. If you really like to drink, then you hang around with other people who really like to drink. You all like each other because you all really like to drink. When you stop really liking to drink, -those peoples/places/associations have to go away. Are you ready for that?

-Not if you still love drinking.

You're Not Ready = not ready to completely let go of the alcoholic world you live in and created for yourself. That beautiful, warm, glowing, luminescent, alcohol-enveloped life of yours. It's still too fun, too safe, too rewarding to let go of.

You have to be ready to take the pill every time and never again experience that high, and to begin life anew, free of the messes and entanglements of alcoholic buddies and associations.

Two simple tasks:

1. Always take the pill.

2. Once the pill has got you and your drinking under control, assess your life and remove primarily alcoholic activities and replace them with fun non-alcoholic activities.

Simple, that is, if You're Ready!

Clarion, I love it. Your post says it all, thank you!!

Thanks Clarion,

Even though that may sound like a AA type response, I think there is a lot of truth in what he posted.

Some of us have the willpower to be around that environment, or with friends and family, and some of us don't. I have said before that I would have a heck of a time doing this if my husband was a drinker, for I know how weak I am. I have had times when I was literally drooling when I was reading about the mixed drink Newlife had...if that isn't sad, but reading that made my brain physically desire that drink for it sounded really yummy!

Being able to drink in "healthy limits" has a lot to do with TSM, but very little if you are not going to impose those limits on yourself.

This reminds me of by-pass surgery for weight loss. My sister had this done, and by the 3rd month she told me she could still eat an entire pie it just took her all day . So you put yourself through that surgery and you are still eating crap, instead of eating health...it made no sense to me, but she had a problem with food.

MinneMom,

We are not saying (at least I am not) that it will not work on people that are not full blown alcoholics, we are saying it may take longer for those who are not. Clarion was just saying it is more than just taking a pill, it is about lifestyle changes and the willingness to put in the effort it takes for that change.

Let's discuss this because I think it is important. Two scenarios:

1. On a fairly regular basis you have social obligations with your work. On these occasions you tend to drink too much and it is (or could) having a negative effect on your career. Being work related, these social functions aren't really all that much fun to begin with.

2. You love to go out with friends and you always have a blast when you do. Painting the town red is the best. It's always great fun. The not fun only happens the next day with the hang-overs, call-outs, lost productivity, and the ever present "I said/did what?!"

In the first scenario taking Nal will be a great help. You won't drink as much, and (being work) they weren't all that much fun anyway, so you are very likely to not stop taking the pill.

In the 2nd scenario the book makes it sound like you can have your cake and eat it too. But you can't. You want to have just as much fun, but stop before the fun ends and the other stuff begins. The problem is, after you've taken the pill the "fun" is nowhere near as fun as it is without the pill. Dilemma: Do I give up the fun, or do I give up the hangovers/aftermath? I think most choose not to give up the fun and stop taking their Nal. Nal is not what allows you to stop drinking. Nal takes away the fun of drinking, which allows you to stop drinking.

As the book says, most alcoholics no longer enjoy drinking. It is easy to give up the fun when you reach this state. When alcohol has become a horror. But if you've yet to see the horror of where alcohol leads, you are going to need a great deal of discipline not to start skipping dosages.

I think TSM works for light and hardcore drinkers equally. I just think hard core drinkers are more likely to faithfully follow the Golden Rule.

And if you don't follow The Golden Rule, it isn't TSM.

If someone here decides they miss the fun and begins to skip dosages (and then shows no improvement), does that mean TSM doesn't work? Does it mean it doesn't work for them?

Or does it mean nothing, because the protocol wasn't followed?

And I'll leave off with this: Did you ever know an alcoholic who was completely honest about their drinking, which by extension would mean their adherence to The Golden Rule?

P.S. I only attended one AA meeting, and that was many years ago, and I fled in terror. I was never exposed to their lingo, so the "You're Not Ready" didn't come from there. It came from here, after reading between the lines.