Same goes from me Greg as all the lovely people ahead said. It really is worth it. I am no expert - day 3- but it definitely works. You have got to find a GP here in Aus to prescibe it and the sooner the better. Then you can see for yourself. IF you live anywhere near Wollongong south of Sydney I can give you a GP name. And as said before it maywell stop the craving for all those other things at the same time. Don't ask of look for someone prescribing the Sinclair method - just go in say you need it and say you will do whatever they want. OR order it from OS. You mentioned earlier customs may intercept it as they are outrageous here - but you have to give one of these options a ago. Take NAL 1 hour before drinking (etc) and see what happens. I can see no reason for you not to do this. It may just be the step that turns your life around. SO stay positive and get the NAl. KEep in touch. We all want to help you through this.

Thanks to all of you for being so kind and supportive, and I'll be sure to keep checking into this site to keep in touch with you. I'm not always depressed and gloomy, thankfully, and I do believe there is light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not an oncoming train, as the joke goes!). And yes there are always things that can be done to improve life, and always people worse off than myself.

I've made an appointment to see my own doctor this coming Friday afternoon. There is no point in me just talking about my problem or this method; as they say in AA you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk (sorry to anyone who hates AA cliches, I feel the same but this one does sum up my procrastination very well). The last time I saw my doctor he insisted upon hospital-based detox before he would consider any medications, which sort of goes against the whole Sinclair Method, but if have to do that then I will. I can't see why the SM wouldn't work after just a week in detox, and the detox could possibly allow me to start the method at a somewhat reduced alcohol intake from the start. I will definitely pretend to want Nal for abstinence instead of mentioning the SM as there is no point in engaging in a medical argument with my doctor at this stage. And thanks cash, I'll keep your offer in mind if I get nowhere with my GP. I live in Goulburn by the way, and spend part of my time in Sydney, so as you can see I'm near Wollongong.

I don't know what else to say, as I'm a bit overwhelmed by all your support. Thanks again so very much to you all.

Hi Greg, Well Done You! I think you are very brave to make this step and hope very much that your doctor is caring and not judgemental (rare beasts - but they are out there!). Congratulations on taking this decision. Keep us posted. Take care - Shasha.

Greg, I am delighted you have an appointment!

I agree if you have to do a week's detox it won't be the end of the world- it would be nicer if you didn't because the honeymoon period is a kind of detox in itself, you can reduce at a safe rate, but whatever, the important thing is that you get started, not the method you end up using to get you started.

I am very happy for you, I know you will begin to feel much much better very quickly.

I think you can see by people's response to you here that you have an awful lot to offer the world, and that was just after we had read a few posts- just imagine how people are going to react to you in the real world once you get going! There will be no stopping you!

Roll on Friday

It totally pisses me off that these MD's treat you like your body and life is there property. Once all the cards are on the table, face up, they should ask, "what is it you want to do?". I fear we are going in that direction with paternalism. My MD has been great with me although he is not willing to tell me to drink on Nal. He knows exactly what I am doing and says, "you did not hear that from me". Yet on my last visit, he became very curious when he saw how well I was doing and said that he has a family member who may benefit from the SM.

Be persistant and if that doesn't work, make yourself a royal pain in the ass. This is yor life we are talking about!

There was a recent thread on MWO, that made me feel quite annoyed (threads on MWO do have that effect sometimes) the poster suggested that people were not being all that responsible by just ordering meds of the net, and not engaging the help of their doctors.

My own experience with doctors during the last 2 decades has been quite negative- I would no longer trust any of the doctors around here with my health any more than I would trust my neighbor's cat.

However I will play their game for the time being if that is what it takes for me to get well.

Once that happens I will take a time and effort to inform them how wrong they were.

Well I went to my own doctor this afternoon and was told he would be willing to prescribe naltrexone only after I undertake traditional detoxification, most likely in a hospital setting. There was no point in arguing because he knows my alcohol history and wants me to have liver function tests. I can't fake the tests or lie about my alcohol intake. Since naltrexone would only ever be asked for by patients having a serious alcohol problem, there is probably not much point in me seeing another doctor either. Detox from alcohol in Australia is done over a week or so, in an inpatient or outpatient setting, by substituting one of the benzodiazepine drugs (usually diazepam/Valium) for alcohol and then tapering off the drug according to an alcohol withdrawal scale (AWS) that the supervising nurse or doctor uses. I asked Dr. Eskapa about detox a while back, as I knew I would probably be faced with this, and he did advise me to work closely with a doctor if undergoing detox, and to be wary of benzodiazepines. Fortunately the procedure is paid for by the Australian Government, so it doesn't cost thousands of dollars, and there is almost no risk of becoming addicted to the benzodiazepines used in the process, as they are tightly controlled and there is no further prescription of them beyond detox. Of course there is always a way of obtaining any drug, but I have undergone outpatient detox using these drugs before, aswell as being prescribed them in the past for anxiety, and I have never found them to be euphoric. In fact, I have found the main effect to be a quite deep depression the next day, and an aversion to taking any more.

I am not sure of the dates of starting or finishing the detox yet, but it may be a week or two away. I'll keep posting in the meantime...if I suddenly "vanish" for a while then I'm probably in hospital somewhere!

I want to wish everyone all the best, and I hope the SM is working well for you all. I shouldn't be too far away from joining you on the journey!

Take care my friend. We will still be here.

Greg, our love and prayers are with you - you WILL get this monkey off your back!

Greg

You are a step closer to joining us, this is not an overnight thing as we all know, but you will be with us soon.

Do try to keep in touch- I hope you can do the detox at home and that it is over quickly.