Bardo must have been typing at the same time... What he said!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but for me the Vivitrol injections have worked. I have been receiving them monthly for approximately 1 year. I am not a good pill taker, so when I heard about the injections, and found that my insurance would pay for them, I found a local doctor who was on board. I have gone from a very heavy drinker to a 2-3 drinks/day 4-5 days a week. In the process and with the combination of my daily 40mg Prozac, I have lost 55 lbs, toward my goal of losing 65 lbs. I don't have to remember to take the pill, the insurance company even calls me to remind me to re-order the injection to be sent directly to my doctor. My goal was not abstinence, and is not today. I still enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail after a hard work day.

That's fine, but it's not The Sinclair Method and thus not aimed at extinction. You are on a Vivitrol program of your own design in the sense that you are still drinking while constantly blocking all endorphin receptors. I'm happy you're happy, but it's confusing and misleading, however unintentional to newcomers.

Movergal - I think it is great that the vivitrol has worked for you in the way that it has. It doesn't matter one jot if it is not actually TSM to the letter - I think it is wonderful for you that you have found an answer for you! I have been on TSM since January and am still not 'there'. Way to go you !!

Hugs, Maggie

Good Morning All,

I have some good news. My PCP agreed to prescribe me Nal. So starting Nov. 30th (when my next Vivitrol injection would be due) I will instead be getting the pill. I can then begin TSM officially.

I appreciate all of the help and will keep you posted on my progress.

Have a great week, K

Hey, that's super news. You and I are a little different in the sense that we have been abstinent or close to in your circumstance. As such we aren't starting this with any ongoing drinking consumption. Most here are coming down from higher numbers.

A concern outlined in the book is the alcohol deprivation effect. Put simply its been proven that abstinence in alcoholics creates an increased consumption/compulsion when drinking resumes. So this is a grey area for us. What exactly will happen when we pick up again is a bit of a mystery or if Naltrexone neutralizes the intensity of this effect. I've been researching this for a few months and the few individuals who share our circumstance seem to be very much in control when they resume drinking. Or, put differently I have yet to read a horror story. All in all we have to be very careful. Speaking for myself, I don't intend to spiral out of control into a binge. If that begins to occur my contingency plan is a return to aa for example. You should take this time to research outwardly, but also some serious inward analysis.

I last evening took my initial 25mg dose without alcohol to slowly introduce the medication to my system. Repeat today and then my first glass of wine Tuesday in 11 months. There have been some typical side effects, but not so bad. I'll be updating my intro thread likely in the coming week.

Lastly, the threecfoundation is another great resource. They, too have a forum:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/

Well wishes.

That's great!

I think that's better then doing the injections. In either case Naltrexone will indeed block the receptors but practicing TSM has been proven to work for 80% of the people who do it as prescribed. I think the reason why they shun the injections and the injections have worse results is because of the many people that used the injections they were not prescribed a regimen that would lead to the physical, biological process of extinction. So in other words they were told by their doctors to get this injection and DON'T drink. Not many doctors are going to give you a drug and tell you to drink on it.

You have to drink while on Naltrexone or else it's useless. So if you get the injection AND drink then you will be essentially practicing TSM. But my personal unscientific off the record gut feeling is that TSM is more empowering in that you are the one who is responsible for your future, you control it and you participate in it by planning for when you want to drink, taking your pill and then observing the results. Moreover they have shown that taking Naltrexone if you don't plan to drink is just a waste of the drug and in fact could be blocking out positive learning experiences through the opiodergic system of endorphin release and so on.

Good luck!

I think Vivitrol is the same as Nal, it just costs a helluva lot more, but it is sure fire. You just have to "drink as you normally would". All endorphins will be blocked. Just as with Nal, it won't work if you don't drink.

Mate, I'm not sure this is true. Vivitrol which provides 30-ish days of opioid antagonism would be exactly the same as an every day drinker taking 50mg Naltrexone every day for 30 days - and there have been plenty of us on TSM that have done this every day for much longer periods.

It's true that the book claims it is good to not take Naltrexone on AF days, so as to not affect other activities that involve the production of endorphins, but many of us treat this as a side issue, especially when in the depths of despair that accompanies alcoholism.

Now, when you're ready to have AF days there is definitely a benefit to avoiding Nal on those days - but they are not required for TSM to work.

c

Extinction works just fine with Vivitrol.
You just don't have the opportunity to be selective by not taking it on AF days.
I would not expect too many of these in the beginning anyway.

Don't worry to much about selectiveness; you don't unlearn deeply ingrained good behaviors that quickly.

I think it is actually good to start off with Vivitrol:
Never any compliance issues.

Later, when AF days become frequent, Naltrexone becomes preferrable.