"And if THAT doesn't work?"

Lick the pill and put it back in the bottle (an hour before you drink)! LOL!

No, I don't think it'll get that bad. But I am starting to hear my "inner Guapo" whispering...

I'll give this a week and update my thread.

Edit -

Just saw Shannon's post here:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ ... heck-study

Just a lick would save money, too!

Interesting about the gaba. But I'm not sure how I'd get it prescribed. Maybe I can pick up some neurontin when I'm in Mexico next month and give it a try.

Water today seems to be helping with the SE's. Don't know if it's placebo effect or what.

TO - I tried Nal plus Gaba - and it made no difference at all to my drinking. It did make me sleep though!

Hugs, Maggie

If you don't have a doc that could help you on that, maybe at least run it by a pharmacist first, just in case.

Check Find a Physician, there have been some added to the list:

http://www.cthreefoundation.org/find-a-physician.html

The one's that are "Verified" actually know how to prescribe per TSM. If you don't see any there PM me, I've got a few that haven't been added to the list yet.

T.O.

Although I am going through the change and dealing with the highs and lows of that, I did realize that my moods were very short tempered on the nal (but I was ill-tempered once very drunk). The longer you are on nal that does goes away, but I cannot tell you when it will.

If you do end up going down to a 1/4 of a pill, please stay there for a few days and then try 1/2 for a day and back to 1/4. I think playing with the dose and confusing your body may help. If you can tolerate that 1/2 of pill for that day, then try for 2 days or alternate 1/4 with 1/2.

These are only suggestions, and you need to do whatever works for you, but please do not give up. I would rather see you stay on 1/4 of a dose until your body cannot tell the difference, than you quitting.

In theory, if you block the receptors long enough your brain will give up.
Sinclair stated 50 mg for TSM, but I do not have access to his research see if he started with a lower dose and worked up from there. If you do not feel that "ah feeling" with that first drink or that relaxed feeling, I would have to think your receptors are covered. And there are those that can take a lower dose and do just fine. Maybe your body processes the nal differently than most people, and 50 mg may just be too much for you right now.

If you do decide TSM just isn't for you there are other ways to overcome AUD. To me this just seemed like the easiest way without that many side effects (with the lure that you can still drink in the future), but it isn't working out that way for you. Maybe (if you haven't yet) check out to see what others are saying on MY Way Out, for I believe it is a forum with people posting about other methods and/or other drugs.

I feel your frustration and hopefully we can offer suggestions that may help.

Keep posting,

Jaba

Took 12.5 mg at 5 PM last night and was still able to stick to my self-imposed drinking quota with no problem. This morning I feel like my old self again. So that's a tiny piece of good news.

The bad news is: I've never been good at arithmetic. I was patting myself on the back for keeping it to 4 oz/night x 7 and computed that as 18 US drinks per week. When it's actually 28, I realize this morning. So definitely a ways to go for me. But to stay on the positive side here, before starting the combo of nal and that CBT book that focuses on dealing with alcohol addiction, I was drinking 1/3 to twice as much per day.

I think I will try your idea, Jaba, of a couple days on 12.5 and then try 25 mg again and switch back and forth a little and see if the SE's go away. Because they basically ruined my Saturday yesterday. And enough already. I have work to accomplish. And I have to be able to maintain an fairly even keel emotionally speaking for the sake of my bipolar husband.

On a slightly different tack here, I'm also wondering if I might be able to stop myself at 2, 1.5 oz drinks instead of adding in that additional 1 oz 'chaser' at the end. But maybe 'forcing it' like that isn't the idea of this self-treatment and I should be more patient and see if it happens naturally over time ? Is that the general consensus?

I definitely still get a feeling of relaxation that kicks in about half way through sipping drink #1. But I no longer get that euphoric feeling of inner peace and happiness we all know and love. I think it's that 'rush' that is the dopamine from the alcohol kicking in?

T.O., I think it's totally valid at this point to question whether you need that last drink. Hold up at that point and ask yourself if you really want it. Maybe do that with each one after the first, it's kind of an exercise of calling a different part of your brain into action, as the brain so often is on autopilot. So even if you end up taking the drink, you've "interrupted" the normal process and you're letting another part of your brain have a say in things.

Good idea. I'll give it a shot. I might also try 3, 1 oz drinks spaced over what seems to be turning into about a 1.5 hour evening drinking period before dinner.

T.O.

I had to "force" down my intake to be able to function. Those nal overs were brutal and would leave me in bed for at least 2 days, so I felt I had no choice. At first I thought I was doing myself harm or would delay my progress, but in the end it really gave me the strength to realize I had control over alcohol and not the other way around.

But, remember everyone is different.

I think most people here believe to drink like you normally do and the nal (with time) will do the rest (force nothing).

As long as you wait that hour after you take the nal is all that really matters, so play around to find what works for you. You are very early in this process, but far enough along to where the side effects should have dissipated. That makes you and your situation unique, so finding what works for you will be even more important to your overall progress. The main thing is to never give up hope, and tomorrow is another day to figure out what will work.

As Maggie says, just keep plodding along and things will happen!

Do not be surprised if you ask yourself if you really want that next drink and you say no but drink it anyway. It doesn't mean a thing except your brain isn't ready to let go. (I had a heck of a time with that one and its probably why I had the bad nal overs.)

Just continue to track and hopefully you will figure out what is best for you,

Jaba

The mindfulness approach is just another way to chip away at it, delay the start time, limit the number of units, drink slowly and mindfully, water in between drinks, that sort of thing. Eventually the Nal would handle that for you (from what I understand) but you might get faster results by bringing a different part of your brain into the frey. You don't need any more than one drink to move the extinction process forward a notch, so unless you really want that next one, see if you're ok with leaving it in the bottle. That's the jist of the whole technique. Supposedly Dr. Eskapa is going to cover it in the rewrite of his book.