Week 8
My week goes from Wed to Tue.
Very wierd week
23 UK units (40Us) 2AF days

I had fewer Af days but my worst day was 9 units which is well down. It hasn't felt like an effort. Even last night i was feeling low cos my daughter had just left after a week long visit. Usually being back on my own and missing my kids is a big trigger and as i'm off work at the moment i didnt have the restraint of telling myself its mon night you can't afford to drink, wasn't there. So i opened my nice bottle of red fully expecting to obliterate it or myself but i couldn't keep going i had two small glasses and couldn't finish the third. It really is a strange feeling.
I know i have a way to go and no doubt as others here have found may well hit major benders in the future but i really now do have a sense of what the future might be (will be) like.

That's fantastic and I'm very happy for you.

Soulby, please be patient with TSM, and kind to yourself. Your progress thus far is fantastic! It may happen that your drinking levels will spike again - that is common for most of us. If that happens just remember that it's all part of the journey, and not a sign of permanent failure. The fact that you've enjoyed the results/effects you have is a sign that this will work for you!

Week 9

Not a good week- 49 UK units (28 US)
Had visitors for long weekend thus too many nights sitting up putting the world to rights and discussing the meaning of life, relationships etc- which always seems to require copious amounts of alcohol. However mostly it was well paced. There was only one night i lost track of units and had to count next day. Mostly i feel more in control and have more times where the cork goes back in the bottle.
Mind you the weather here in Ireland would drive anyone to drink. It was just announced yesterday that we had the wettest July since records began. I keep reading enviously the stateside posts where there are incidental mentions of bar-b-q's and beach parties etc. While i sit here typing looking out at a dull grey sky, the mountain obscured by mists and my neighbours small sheep (whom we have christened Timmy) who has adopted my lawn as his feeding gound much to the frustration of my Border Collie.
Overall my mood is better since starting SAMe so i'm not beating myself up and of course all those sexy graphs with their quadrilateral coefficients are helpful in illustrating the up-down nature of this progress. Instinctively- if not mathematically - i believe the curve is downward overall.

Soul, your numbers are wonderful. And the weather on the East Cost, New England is about the same as yours! Not a great summer, either very humid or raining!

Hi SoulBy

It sounds like you're making progress - you just have to factor in that you would probably have drunk a lot more over the last week had you not been on TSM - we need to compare to -pre-TSM, not abstinence to see progress!

Nice trend AJ - I suspect the news is even better for you though - click on your trendline and set the intercept to 60 (i.e. your pre-TSM levels)!

Week 10.

36.5 UK Units (49 US) 4AF

Funny week. High units given i had 4 AF days. Strange pattern. Deliberately decided not to start my weekend drinking on thurs cos i knew i would be partying for rest of weekend. But at the party i drank relatively little 7.5 units over a 7 hour period and i had that weird experience of being very clear all night. But then the next night i ended up drinking over a bottle of wine on my own despite being tired and not planning to. Then on sun i had visitors and had my highest consumption in one sitting since starting Nal- a bottle and a half of wine. Even as i write now i feel nauseous thinking about it. I had only taken 1/2 a tab but was drinking over a longer period than usual. I have. for the past couple of weeks mostly only taken a 1/2 tab as this seems to reduce the post binge depression and i tend to drink over a short period. If i am going to start earlier in the day ill take take a full tab.
It is great to see new success stories emerging almost every couple of days. I will have to watch my patience though cos as someone whose pre TSM consumption is nearer that of the participants i know ill be expecting to see results after 3 months.

Hi Soulby - you are doing great -- the 10 week+ mark is particularly hard because the novelty as worn off and you are ready for the cure...you still have a ways to go though. I hit at 4.5 months and our starting levels (as you know) were very similar.

Best advice I can give you is to stay on the board to get you through the waiting period -- help others who are new and before you know it, the time will have flown by and you will be on the Cured list . Keep at it! 4 AFs is great at this point, so cling to that.

Week 11
Bit of a freaky week. 9.5 UK Units. Sadly not declaring myself about to be cured!
Have had badly inflamed Gall bladder so no Al as well as a lot of other no's. Its been reasonably easy so far as im so nauseous a lot of the time. I drank last wed at dinner and that along with cheesecake left me in agony next day. I have gone for one or two weeks before AL free- DETOXing ha ha! But usually ended with big binge. Have big drinking vistors coming at end of week so that will be a test. am Wondering does this mean a wasted week on TSM?

Hey Soulby,

So sorry to hear about the physical issues you've been dealing with, and I hope you recover soon. A week without drinking shouldn't set you back with your TSM progress. If it takes a little longer, so what? The only way you can really screw things up is to drink without Nal. Some here have had to do that when they needed to take pain meds that won't work with Nal. Even so, they are still progressing after starting back up again. You'll get there. For now, just feel better soon!