I'm new here, just registered. I just placed my first order for naltrexone with Alldaychemist, I'm hoping the experiences of others with them repeat for me and I should have the order in 10-14 days.

I've given myself more than a few screen-induced headaches over the last couple of days devouring all the information here (and some on the C3 forum) about the Sinclair method and reading Dr Eskapa's book.

I'm heading out right now so I can't write more about how I got here, but I will come back later to do so.

Looking forward to hanging out here with you all, learning more and curing my drinking issue!

Excellent, Valerie! Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your journey with us!

As promised, back to introduce myself a bit more. I had an appointment with my doctor I was rushing off to this morning. I didn't discuss TSM with him. He's a bit old-school, I don't think he'd prescribe naltrexone for me particularly since I've never even hinted at a drinking problem to him before. I did come clean today, when he asked in the course of the regular appointment about my drinking, about the fact that my drinking was close to/starting to exceed generally accepted upper limits and that I was going to work on trying to cut it back.

I definitely have the alcoholic heredity, predisposition. Both grandfathers, my father and my mother all struggled with alcoholism. I was in my 20s when drinking for fun started to become needing one after a tough day and at that time, worried about alcoholism, I decided to stop drinking regularly. I became a special occasion drinker and stayed that way until my 40s. Every once in a while, maybe once a year or two or three, I'd drink too much, get drunk but rarely. Then in my mid 40s, I started drinking more often, Saturday night date nights with my husband, etc. It seems about this age, more of my social interactions started to involve drinking and a weekly pub night became a thing. Mostly it was moderate, 1-2 large glasses of wine in an evening, etc. More often I was starting to drink too much and get drunk or sick.

This last year, things ramped up, I'm now drinking 2-3 times a week, hitting the upper limit of 4 units per session every time. In addition once a week or once every two weeks, I'm drinking more, a full bottle of wine on my own, sometimes 1 1/2, going past the buzz/tipsy into full blown drunk a couple/3 times a month. Those sessions tend to be secret drinking, hiding it from my husband.

I'm fascinated to make the connection after reading the TSM book that this last year of ramped up drinking happened after taking 30 days off all alcohol a year ago. My husband and I decided to do a very strict diet for a month to lose weight, so no booze for me. The alcohol deprivation effect seems to be at play, my lack of control over drinking definitely increased after that period of not drinking. I'm now wondering if the 30 days off actually played a part in worsening the problem.

Anyway, my last night of drinking was last Friday. AF days are easy for me after a night of too much so I'm having too hard a time not drinking right now but the desire is building. Ideally, I'd like to go back to being a special occasion drinker or at most, a one small (not my usually 2 large) glass of wine at the pub once a week or every other week person. I'd rather not have to swear off alcohol completely if I don't have to. I'm still in the place of really enjoying the taste of wine (that's my drink, white wine).

Hubby & I are actually doing another diet right now, so I'm supposed to be alcohol free for the next 10 days still (last Friday was secret drinking, my husband thinks I haven't been drinking anything for last couple of weeks). I can do that, 10 more days. Hopefully my naltrexone will be here by then and I can start the extinction process. I'm hoping to jump into it with moderate drinking only, using the mindful drinking techniques and avoiding any more over-drinking episodes with the naltrexone.

That's my story. My plan. Comments, ideas, support from anyone would be most welcome.

Sounds good, Valerie. I think you're really smart for catching it at this stage and doing something effective before it can get it's hooks deeper into your life!

Start out with 1/2 a pill for the first few days, stick around the house just in case there are side effects that evening or the next day (nausea, etc). Take the pill on top of a bite to eat and a full glass of water. If you're feeling ok after a few days like that, then ramp up to a full pill. Since you're not a daily drinker, it's been suggested that you should take the pill and drink at least 4 times a week for the first couple of weeks, then back to your usual. NB, you don't need any more than one drink per session to move the extinction process a notch forward, but if you really want the next one, go ahead and pour it.

Check Joanna's post for more info on getting started:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ ... hints-tips

Hope your Nal comes soon and best luck on your launch! Let us know if we can help in any way.

Thanks, Joe! I appreciate the advice. I hadn't seen the recommendation to drink 4x a week, that's something I can consider. I'm a little leery of the getting worse before it improves effect, but if its better than just using the Nal 2x a week when I'd normally drink it's worth considering.

Hi ValerieA,
Wow are you lucky or very switched on to see that your drinking is getting out of control, I think that's pretty unusual, most of us have spiralled out of control & struggled with all the ancient dinasour methods to get back to normal, but Nal is the cure. well done you I'm impressed & hopeful on your behalf. I just had some really sad news today, a very dear friend has only a week to live, previously this would have sent me into an alcoholic binge, not now thank goodness. Although I'm so incredibly upset & sad I don't see/want alcohol, I know I can get through it without it now. And I respect myself more for it. Good luck & keep posting, we are here for you.

Whichever way you go, remember to really be present for that first drink, like Joanna said, notice what's there and what's missing. Really reach out and engage your conscious mind in what's going on. Get in the habit of doing that every time and you'll get a leg up on the process.

Another technique that helped me was to take a sip of the first drink, then put it down and walk away. I'd get up to some little task and target 15 minutes or so, just something to break up the habit so my arm didn't act like a booze conveyor belt as usual. That turned into being ok with taking the Nal a little later, then waiting a bit longer for the first drink. I eventually moved my start time from 5pm out to 8 or 9pm over a period of months. The point of that is not only using tricks to drink less, but to actively look for and nurture an ambivalence/indifference to alcohol, wherever it may show up for you.

Boo, I'm so sorry about your friend. What a difficult time for you. I'll be thinking of you.

I'm inspired that you don't feel a pull to alcohol in the face of such sadness though. That says a lot.