Hi,

I have read a ton of information on TSM (book, on-line, forums) and am anxious to get started. I'm hoping to have a prescription tomorrow - assuming the dr. is open minded to the method.

I don't think my drinking has reached the units of many that I see posted but my craving is irresistible. Over the last several years, I would openly drink 1 mixed drink and a half bottle of wine on regular nights, then add in a few more on weekends, and add in a few more if socializing with a group. Then add in the increasing amount of drinks that were sneaked in - probably an extra shot or 2. My husband usually drinks with me but stops and doesn't seem tempted after a few. I am always fighting myself and am so tired of it. I do not want to drink during the week and have to battle myself every night and usually lose. I am miserable before the 1st drink. Have been fighting this battle for years now and realize that will power will not work. This method seems like an answer to my prayers and while I plan to follow it to the end, I am also hoping that since my al units are not extremely high, that the effects will be felt sooner.

I've searched the boards for someone with similar circumstances... maybe I've missed somebody????

Reading over my post - it seems as though I could almost qualify as a casual drinker - trust me - I have done damage with my drinking and I know I am out of control and the path will get worse. It would be much worse if I just gave in and didn't try to use willpower every DAMN day.

Would love to hear words of advice - everyone on this board seems so honest and has done a real service in documenting their struggles and rewards.

Thanks for reading -

Virginia

Hi Virginia,

Just wanted to wish you a warm welcome to our community!

As regards advice, you would appear to be doing everything humanly possible at this stage of your journey. BTW, I like the title of your thread. Hope is what still keeps me going.

Please keep us updated as your path unfolds.

All the best.

V.

Thanks for the welcome. I can't wait to get started. I'm tired of fighting the same fight over and over again.

Hi there
You are welcome. I can identify with you re drinking pattern and with the battle with willpower. My units are uk and when i got the info about conversion i realised i was on the lower end of the scale here but i know its about my relationship with drink and recognising i was on the road to no where if it continues.
good luck

Hi Virginia and welcome.

As I'm sure you know, problem drinking is a progressive issue. "Sneaking drinks" and "battling cravings" are hallmarks of a problem drinker as opposed to the "casual drinker" you reference. Yes, there are some people on this board who pre-Sinclair were over a hundred units a week. But there are others that were around 30. I think focusing on the numbers alone can be misleading. The real issue is what you describe -- the grip of alcohol on your life -- and it is something that will only get worse, never better, the longer you drink. Also, I'm the guy who wrote about "tolerating life" during AF days. That to me has been the most pernicious aspect of my drinking habit because it is so subtle -- it took me YEARS to recognize how much alcohol has taken away my motivation and generally clouded my outlook on life. In a way, the borderline drinkers -- 30 to 40 per week or so -- are in a more dangerous category than the fall-over drunks who urinate on themselves, because our issue is less easy to identify. (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm not in that category but people in that group KNOW that they have a problem and need to address it; the more moderate drinker can fool them self longer that they don't have a problem.) But regardless of the degree of the problem, we all want to kick this dark influence on our lives. And GREAT NEWS -- TSM works. There are a handful of people on the board who are vocal about their frustration with TSM (and even they tend to cite improvement, just not enough or soon enough), but I have reviewed well over 100 people who have posted on this board and our previous site, My Way Out. And only one or two of them have reported that TSM isn't really working for them at all; several have concluded they are flat out "cured" and the VAST majority report that they are drinking at greatly reduced rates with far less cravings. Your lower consumption numbers probably make you a better candidate for success with TSM because your consumption is closer to those of the test groups in the clinical studies that document the 80% cure rate rate after 3-4 months minimum. From the experience of several of the members here with higher numbers (more than 50 units consumed per week, all the way up to over 100 per week), TSM is working, but not at the 3-4 month (minimum) cited in the book as the time necessary for the cure. You should read up here on "what to expect while on naltrexone" and check people's progress reports. You will find that improvement, although almost inevitable, will not be linear. Many of us have an immediate reduction in cravings the first two weeks and think we are cured. This is the "honeymoon" effect and probably will not last. But follow the golden rule, naltrexone one hour before drinking + drinking = cure. And there are side effects for most of us BUT they almost always dissipate within a couple of weeks. For me and many others, severe nausea after the first 25 mg that went away after the second or third time I took it. I also had MAJOR sleep disruption (sweats/nightmares/wild dreams/restless sleep) but it went away after about a week or two on nal. If you are sensitive to meds, you should definitely start at 25 mg and may want to stick with 25 mg for the first couple of times until you get acclimated to it. If you have no side effects with 25 mg, you should increase to 50 mg right away. 50 mg is the standard dosage that all of the successful studies are based upon and will keep your opiate receptors blocked for 12 hours. Anyway, WELCOME and good luck. If you have more questions they almost certainly can be answered on this board or ask them here and someone will respond.

Again, welcome and congratulations on discovering TSM. It will almost certainly work for you.

Take care,

Nick

Nick, excellent post you said it all! Anyone confused just starting would be served well to read this! This is were this board is so valuable to anyone using tsm. Knowing there is somewhere to go for answers and support and people who can attest to it's success, even if the cure is still over the horizon.

Hi Viriginia - my drinking habits are very similar to yours (I may even have started a bit below where you are at)...I drank 3/4 of a bottle of wine a night, a little more on weekends. I was already a year into coming to terms with the fact that I had a problem when I found TSM and, even though the program will work regardless, I find facing up to that fact helps you stick with it.

Cravings and Netty all have similar levels...check out their progress reports. The program actually seems to work a bit quicker when you start at lower levels, so please take this as a sign that you are in good company and have found your way to the right place. Many of the more high-volume posters here just happen to have higher drinking units...but that doesn't mean it's not meant for those of us who are at a lower level of addiction (currently - it will get worse if you don't tackle it now).

Good luck to you. I can tell you the program has worked miracles for me. I am (I think) about to begin my 4th AF night in a row this week...without thinking about it, without trying.

Nick and Happy,

Thank you for the detailed responses. It is very helpful and hopeful.

After reading some of the boards on finding a doctor who is willing to go along with the treatment, I became nervous about my dr. app't. Plan on bringing the book with pages flagged and will just flat out beg if I have to. If it doesn't work, I'll order on-line. Just do not want to delay the process.

My current drinking rules that I can't wait to get rid of....

No phone calls after 3 drinks
Going to bed and avoiding conversations because that's when the crazy, emotional side comes out - of course, I fail this frequently
Faking cheerfulness in the morning with the family to show that I'm not hungover (really hate morning anyway so this may be a dead giveaway)
Justifying the drinks because the kids are stressing me out - whatever, they are fine and easy to care for and are pretty independent
Sneaking to add more vodka to my vodka tonic when my husband makes them

I'm sure there's more rules that i just follow without thinking about them...

Well, I'll post after the app't and hope it's a good one...
Thanks again -

Virginia

Almost no one has heard of Dr. Eskapa. Conversely, every doctor in the world has heard of the New York Times. Moreover, Jane Brody is as mainstream as they get. Print out this article and give it to your doctor, emphasizing that the COMBINE study, cited in The Cure for Alcoholism (p. 50-51), concludes definitively that naltrexone is useful in dealing with reducing alcohol consumption. This story is what got my doctor to give me naltrexone, but only after one week of thinking about it.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... one&st=cse

Also, you may want to tell your doctor that you want to use naltrexone as an anti-craving medication (lie). He/she will almost certainly give it to you, if you go this route. BUT, since using nal as an anti-craving drug is fruitless (and often does more harm than good, per the multiple clinical trials) just say or do what you have to, in order to get the prescription. And then once you have the drug, follow TSM as explained by Dr. Eskapa in The Cure For Alcoholism, which is naltrexone+drinking=cure. I know, it sounds preposterous, but until the world wakes up, you do what you have to do.

Good luck!

Nick

Hello Virginia - Welcome!

I can so relate to some of the things you mentioned, like adding more liquor to a drink that someone else made. How come I'm the only one who knows how to make a good drink? The one about the kids stressing you out was/is a classic for me. Let's face it - kids stress EVERYONE out, but most people don't use alcohol to deal with it. About your doctor, I'm kind of torn here. My first reaction is to not even mention TSM, and just ask for Naltrexone to deal with alcohol cravings - it's approved for that purpose, but prescribed along with abstinence. We know that you must drink in order for it to work, but most doctors aren't OK with that approach. Bottom line is to do whatever you have to in order to get the Nal. I've chosen to keep my psych in the dark about TSM for now. If you really feel your doctor will be open-minded, then maybe you want to go for it, but prepare for a battle. I don't have the strength for that yet, especially because most of my cost is covered by insurance - I can't afford to risk losing that. Whatever happens, we all wish you the best of luck getting started, and we're glad you joined us!

Happy - how great it must feel to have several AF days in a row with little effort! I've only had a couple at a time, and even those required some discomfort. What I have to remember is that I wouldn't have been able to skip a single day before TSM. Slow and steady or slow and rocky - I'll take slow as long as I get there!

Cheers all!