I just stumbled on to a TEDx talk by Claudia Christian this afternoon, googled the book she mentioned, "The Cure for Alcoholism" by Roy Eskapa and found this site because someone mentioned it in their review of the book on Amazon.

I will be 55 years old in less than a week and have struggled with alcoholism, off and on, since about the age of 15. Last night I had another bad night. I've been far too lucky, far too many times, for far too long, and I'm scared that despite the insanity of some of the things I do when I'm drunk, I still can't stop or control myself.

I did a 30 day rehab in my early 20's and it stuck for a while. I tried AA meetings but I was really shy at that age and just couldn't make myself go. I've tried AA once or twice more since then, but it's been years ago, and the meetings I went to didn't make me feel very welcome. A few years back I realized there are things about the program I just really despise, so I've been floating around out here desperately wanting to stop drinking but feeling like I have nowhere to go for help.

Despite my feelings about AA last night scared me so bad I am very strongly considering seeing if I can find some AA meetings I can actually tolerate going to and seeing if there is a way I can work with the program because I do believe that being with people who are struggling with the same things you are struggling with is helpful and gives you the support and strength you need not to drink. I am desperate at this point.

But I joined this forum so I can learn about The Sinclair Method and see if it is something that might work for me. I understand the method advocates continuing to drink while using Naltrexone and that drinking may increase for a while, but that a lot of people eventually just lose their desire to drink and eventually just quit. This is what I want to do. I want to stop altogether. I think my liver would probably appreciate that at this point, and I just don't want to be a drinker any more.

Hi there and welcome. I think it would be really good for you to read Eskapa's book - I will post a link to the PDF copy for you. Your drinking might not go up - everyone is different - mine went down initially then back up but not to pre-Nal levels, although I never drank huge amounts (of course that is all relative though). Many people find their drinking goes down initially (called the 'honeymoon period') and supposedly if this does happen, it bodes well for your success. I am not sure how true that is though. The book also says that the 'cure' time (none of us like that word particularly) is around 3 months - many of us take way longer than that - for me it was 11 months to the day. The main thing is to take the nal EVERY single time at least an hour before drinking. That is pretty much non-negotiable in my eyes! Will you be able to get the Nal from your GP? Or will you have to order it on-line? IF you get it from your GP, they might tell you to take it daily - that is not TSM way - and is a waste of Naltrexone really.

Please read the book - it explains all!

Hugs, Maggie

https://www.dropbox.com/s/60fs7gmvbyzs1 ... m.pdf?dl=0

Thanks for the response Maggie. And thank you so much for the PDF link! I just checked with my library a while ago to see if they have this book, they don't. They allow you to request books for purchase so I've done that, but having the PDF link is great, Yeah, I most definitely would take the Naltrexone every single time I drank. I've also read it's really not good for you to take it every day any way because it damages the liver. I would prefer to bypass my GP, they have no idea of my issues with alcohol and I would just prefer to keep it that way at this point. I'll have to look into getting it online, I don't know anything about doing that yet and know I have a lot of research to do and a lot to learn in that area. Thanks again for your response.

Naltrexone in the dose that TSM uses it, does not damage the liver - it takes dosages of 300mg and up daily to do that - and lets be honest, AL damages the liver far more than a 50mg dose of Nal does!

If you do decide to go the on-line route (and lots here do), there are others here who can give you info about where and how to get it. I was really lucky - my doc was very understanding, and also trusted me to take it TSM way! Now he has seen my success, he has said that he is going to see if other folk would like to give it a try! He had prescribed it to a couple of others but one didn't follow the Golden Rule (EVERY time) and the other didn't stay on it long enough. To me there was no alternative - hence saying, have faith and patience.

Hugs, Maggie

Check out the latest episode on this podcast: http://www.alcoholism-recovery-radio.com/

Listening to this interview got me to start looking into the Sinclair Method.

I'm new here too. Welcome!

This is the other Sinclair Forum, fyi:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/

I whole-heartedly agree with you Maggie, I'm sure alcohol is far more damaging to the liver than Naltrexone, not to mention the damage alcoholism does to our relationships, pride, etc. In the grand scheme of things, I am not terribly worried about that aspect. I just remember reading somewhere that it damages the liver, but I'm sure it's minimal compared to the damage alcohol does.

I have still not begun to investigate all of this. I am still in physical pain from literally falling down drunk the other night, and at the moment I just can't focus on anything while I'm hurting. But I appreciate all the advice and will get started digging into it all when I've had a chance to heal just a little bit, hopefully within the next couple of days. It's hard to want to do anything when you're hurting.

Namaste,
Debbie

Thank you Deuce, I will do that.

Thank you Bardo, I will look into that as well.

50 mg of Naltrexone is a fairly weak dose. Plus you only take it when you are drinking and as you progress with TSM the less you will take it because your drinking will become less frequent.