Hello friends, I'm not much of a joiner, but what a great forum! I'm 12 weeks into TSM, without very much happening and I wonder if this is due to my many years of heavy drinking. With some effort I've gone from 10 units/day average to about 8 units/day. I'm 70 and I started drinking in my teens like so many others. I first used alcohol as a social crutch, but gradually found I couldn't get by without it at the end of my day. I've always been fully functional (FFA?) and recently discovered TSM. It hit me like a lightening bolt as being exactly what I'd always hoped for, a way to curb my alcohol intake to "normal" levels of perhaps 1-2 drinks/day! I asked my GP for a prescription to Nal, but she wouldn't hear of it and instead sent me to an addiction counsellor. This very nice lady rountinely prescribed Nal and abstinence to her patients and I asked her to support me with TSM and gave her the book. She remains cautiously skeptical but is supporting my TSM effort.

Has anyone had a similar experience of a quite lengthy delay before the Naltrexone begins to curb the craving and break their dacades long pattern?

Best regards to all here.

Welcome David. Personally, I am 45 and a thirty-year drinker. Unlike you, I had the "honeymoon period" when I started naltrexone with an immediate, substantial decrease in my consumption, followed by a couple of weeks of increased consumption. So, I cannot speak personally about your experience. From everything I have read -- and I've read the book twice and have tried to read every post here -- the longer you have been abusing alcohol, the longer it will take for you to see results with reduced cravings/consumption. However, since the positive reinforcement you used to receive in your brain from drinking is still being blocked by naltrexone, extinction should still occur, although it may take longer in your case. And there is nothing in the literature that says extinction won't work for people who have been drinking for several decades. I wish I had more information to offer you. It's inspiring to me to see someone your age still working to "drink like a normal person." Welcome to the board and I wish you the best!

Nick

Hi David,

A warm welcome to our community.

I think I can safely say that I meet your criteria above! I have been on TSM for almost four months and, sadly, I have not seen any progress to date. Having said that, it is quite likely that my 'progress' has been hampered by my taking a benzo medication for anxiety. I have also been drinking heavily during the last twenty years.

All the very best on your TSM journey.

V.

Dear Nick and Virgil,

I'm just learning how to respond here, so I hope this is the correct method and all the viewers may see it. My most sincere thanks to you both, Nick and Virgil, for responding to me! Although I'm an old-timer, I enjoy a wonderful and generally healthy life, perhaps like many others here, Still, I desperately want to REDUCE my routine alcohol consumption, but not necessarily to ELIMINATE my entire alcohol consuption. Now, perhaps I can explain that seeming paradox to people here who may understand:

Fortunatlely, I've always been know as a "happy drinker" for most of my long life. With family and in social situations, I'm usually one of the standouts known for extra imbibing, funny stories, and always good wholesome fun. Over many years of time that has simply become a part of my identity, or my Irish "schtick," and I've always been a welcome guest to yet another party. Very seldom do I do or say things which I would later wish to retract. (Late night email seems to be making that more difficult, but that is another whole topic.) If, in company, I do or say such things, my dear wife will soon take me to task and correct me. Incidentally, she is rated somewhere between a light-drinker and a non-drinker.

But today, I know I drink way too much, mostly in private, because that is simply my comfort zone. NOW, were I to quit drinking altogether at this late stage in life, in a social setting/party I would seem odd and make people very close to me unnecessarily sensitive to my drastically changed situation. (Wow look, the old skipper is having COKE?!) Believe it or not, somehow I actually quit 100% , cold-turkey, for at least two years several years ago and that was exactly how I felt the negative vibes in social company. I felt, odd man out, as everybody was trying to be "sensitive" to my special needs. This was not me. I need to tell the jokes and help stimulate the entire group from the young to the old. I love it when people call later and remark about "what a fun time we had at the party!"

So, where am I going with this thread ..? Well, I'm an engineer with a very deep background in both science and physics. The Sinclair Method sounds to me like the holy-grail for we who are addicted to alcohol and wish to control it I would like to tell of my lifelong experinces with alcohol in order to further PUSH the Sinclair Method for others to try. I BELIEVE: Alchohol is simply another human addictive like tobacco, caffine, etc., although "simply" much more dangerous. "Group grope sessions" or finding religion methods all ring hollow to me personally as prescribed alcohol antidotes. I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS THAT CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS SINCLAIR METHOD, that as the elder, I wish to try it out in private and hopefully be able to prove its efficacy to so many needy people, both rich and poor. Regards to all!

I relate totally to what you are saying David, and share your hopes and optimism.

I'm neither the life of the party nor an engineer proper, but I'm in my mid-fifties, a habitual - occasionally enthusiastic - wine and beer drinker (with an affection for single malts tempered primarily by my pocketbook!) yet I worry about the long-term damage. I worry as I get older about cognitive losses and wonder if these are age-related or related to alcohol. My slightly older brother dropped dead less than two months ago and I wonder what damage might I be doing to my own heart. With a strong process design background, and with dog training an integral part of my life, everything about TSM rings true for me. It's a protocol I can live with, the reasoning makes sense to me, and the possibility of an outcome where I can enjoy fine wine without being a slave to finishing every bottle, or finding a bottle to suit every single day ... well I'm on board to see how it goes, and I have high hopes!

I hope it works for you, for me, for your family, and for everyone who needs a bit of "process engineering" to put alcohol back in its proper place.

Hi David,

I don't see anything paradoxical in your statement above. On the contrary, it makes complete sense to me. Indeed, your objective is exactly the same as mine. I do not wish to abstain from alcohol, merely (!) to reduce my intake to what is considered to be a safe level. That's why I abandoned AA in favour of The Sinclair Method.

All the best.

V.

Hi David.

Yes, your post came through loud and clear and resonated with me on so many levels. First, I too am very gregarious and am frequently considered "the life of the party" when with family/friends. And during my varied stints of short-term sobriety, there is no doubt that not drinking had a huge impact on my personality. I can be a bit tense and/or uptight, which is one of the reasons I enjoy alcohol so much. More than once when I wasn't drinking in a social setting I heard, "Hey, why the bad mood?" or "you don't seem like yourself" or "why are you so quiet?" And one of the reasons I was absolutely horrified by a life of complete sobriety before discovering TSM is that I feared, quite frankly, that my personality without booze simply is not as fun or as light-hearted as it is when I have a couple under my belt. TSM appeals to me so much for that reason -- that I will be able to continue to toss back a few, however at safe levels and without the addiction.

I also wish very much to spread the word of TSM to so many of my friends. We boozers tend to hang out with other boozers and I have several high functioning alcoholic friends who definitely need to get more control over their drinking. Some are in complete denial about it while others know they have a problem but are currently helpless to make the big change in their life. To date, I have only superficially told them that I am trying TSM. They are interested, especially when I tell them about the control and clarity I now have when I'm drinking. However, like most people, they are skeptical that TSM will really work. I want to put an end to any debate about the efficacy of TSM by getting cured myself. That way, I can trump any counter-argument I hear with, "Well, the proof is in the pudding. I was abusing alcohol my entire adult life, was beginning to see some real negative consequences, including regular blackouts and hangovers and withdrawal symptoms, and I have been completely cured of them because of TSM." So I totally share your objectives -- I'm counting on TSM not only to save me, but several of my closest friends as well. And once it does save me, you better believe I will not stop talking about THE CURE, to anyone and everyone who will listen.

I'm glad you are here and I really hope this works for you.

Nick

Dear All,

Still at 8-10 units/day, but very hopeful ...

I am so heartened to read your various responses to my earlier question about whether or not this will work for me! I cannot thank you all enough! I pledge to be a continuing member. I believe that we here are all different, and also that we here are all the same. If I might suggest a new perspective, as science, I don't belive for one minute that "alcoholism" is a human character defect as it seems to much of society. Nor do I believe for one minute that "alcoholism" is a 'disease.' Instead, I believe it is a quite serious human addiction, which is learned over some extended period and that some of us are much more susceptible than others, probably due to some basic genetic characteristic -- (oh, you're Irish, huh? -- indeed, and I laugh and write books read by many!).

Consider, for a moment, our other most prevalent American addictions: Is coffee, or cigarettes, or food, or gambling, or smoking pot, or chocolate, or oxycontin, or even the dreaded heroin addiction a flaw of character or a disease? I believe that such is not so. Instead I believe these are all but acquired human ADDICTIONS with different degrees of damage and negative consequences for each of us in our individual lives. I also believe we here must strive to hold up our heads and never accept any disparaging or negative labels such as: 'alcoholic,' 'drunkard,' 'rummy,' 'boozer,' etc. Let us all REJECT such stupid accusations. Let us hold our heads high and be damned proud of ourselves. We are decent people, each with many proud accomplishments and all seeking a solution to acknowleged addiction! Furthermore, WE are pioneers in exploring a 'miracle' cure for alchohol addiction, which pervades the earth. If TSM can be shown by us collectively to have great merit, then we will have individually accomplished much in our lives on behalf of mankind.

My best regards to all,

David

Thanks for those insightful thoughts, David. I too reject the disease model of alcohol addiction as it presently understood by the medical community and the rehab industry. On the other hand, I find it comforting that technically it is a disease in the sense that we have a pathology in the brain that affects our ability to stop drinking without treatment. Character defect? Absolutely not. Disease? yes, but we here now know that it's CURABLE!! TSM will restore our brains to their de-addicted state, and continuing to take naltrexone every time we drink innoculates us from becoming re-addicted.

I, too, have always been highly skeptical of the "disease" label for alcoholism. When I was in my twenties and I just drank on the weekends, I certainly was not suffering from a "disease." My addiction to alcohol was obtained very gradually, occurring over many years. At what point did I acquire this "disease"? I know of no other disease that is gradually obtained over a decade. BTW, David, it is hard to express tone over the internet. Personally, when I use terms like "boozer" or "drunk" -- both of which I throw out casually -- I am using them in a tongue-in-cheek, very light-hearted manner. The notion that we heavy drinkers suffer from some character defect is so outdated, naive, archaic and patently stupid that I don't even feel the need address it. David, I think this may be a product of our generation gap. No one has ever suggested to me personally that people suffering from alcohol addiction have some sort of character defect that has caused their problems.