Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

[wxyz]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

Hi Lena,
I have the book and have read it form cover to cover but I feel like there's something missing. I SWEAR I will stay on Nal for 4 months NO MATTER what the results are. I want to kick drinking sooo much that I will faithfully adhere to this program- I just am having a lapse of faith (which will not deter me from keeping with this).
My main question is that the book just says to take Nal but doesn't specify any particular level of associated drinking protocol- should I continue to drink as I usually do? -or- should I moderate and have a "happy hour"? I really wish there was more clarity regarding that.
My current plan is to kick this aweful drinking-- I'd really like to be completely free in the future- and I have NO problem taking Nal the rest of my life if it means that I have my life back. That would be a small investment for a HUGE return.
Thanks so much for your response to my post and telling me to take care of myself- it means alot : )

[aurora borialis]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

I'm not Lena but I'm telling you take it one hour before you drink. And keep doing that. You will find great results like me.

[A Work in Progress]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

lenaleed;538305 wrote: WIP -- Okay, one more post. You are an academic; imagine how valuable your input would be if you actually had read the book?? Really? - Lena

Ha! OK, ordinarily I would be embarrassed about discussing a book I had not read BUT: my excuse is that I was (and am) so annoyed by the title that I refuse(d) to pay money for it. The title appears to prey on the same vulnerability to exploitation that you acknowledge, yourself... it makes the author sound like a huckster or fraud, not like a serious scientist. Also, we've had one or two people show up here on MWO, presenting themselves as new members needing help, but it was quite obvious that all they were doing was promoting this book, and very clumsily. That kinda put me off, too.

Thanks for being patient with me, in my rampant ignorance!

[houtx770]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

Hey all -
Rv9 gave a website on one of these threads w/ references to the clinical trials & reviews of the success of Naltrexone...there are 112 of them that printed out on 13 pgs... What am I missing between what is a clinical trial and a scientific study? They seem pretty significant to me -

My gyn looked at me in total shock today when I told her I was a heavy drinker. When I started talking about nal & showed her the paperwork, she had never heard of it and was not willing to prescribe anything she was not fmiliar with. She said she would look into it & advised me to consult my MD. She asked if I got drunk & how much did I drink. She was totally shocked...and I am not "that bad", I think, whatever that means!! I am bad enough. I told her on average 1 -2 bottles of wine (basically 3/4 of one of those big ones) almost every night. Not always - but frequently. She asked me if I often got drunk...jesus, I thought to myself, this woman really has no clue beyond the vagina. LOL (Not really -)

I shed a few humiliating tears. She was really very too over the top - in her Asian/thoughtful/megahyper Type A way...flash forward, I told her I had an addiction specialist waiting in the wings. That's on the books for Friday. Looking forward to it. Meanwhile, went out and walked/jogged 3 miles then hit a basket of balls at the driving range and enjoyed a glass of Merlot after...wondering when in future days I should take my nal...at what point?...and will I get a dull/no pleasure feeling when I do these things?? These are things I do on a regular basis and enjoy...hoping I will disregard any pleasure receptors being blocked and just keep on doing them out of habit...yes???

No question - yes, for sure!!

[wxyz]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

Thank you Potato! (love your name). I am proud to say that I've always been able to take Nal at least 1 hour before. I hope I can experience the same results you have one of these days.

[lenaleed]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

Gosh, you guys are cutting into my cocktail hour (WIP: humor attempt alert).
WIP -- I see no ignorance from you whatever; I see brilliance and earnest motive to contribute to constructive dialogue. Will it help if I double my offer (to $30) to contribute to a nonprofit if you feel sullied after having bought the book and read it? Yes, the exploiters are out there but as I said Eskapa ain't one or he's pretty darned inept at it. Eskapa explains in the book what he means by "cure". Hint: Read the book. If I keep defending the freakin' book I am going to send a bill to Eskapa but I doubt he can afford me but it drives me nuts that an academic would challenge a piece of work he or she has not read. OK I'm off my soapbox for the night.

wxyz -- I'm not Potato but she's been doing Sinclair longer than the rest of us so listen to her. I do. And Eskapa says all over the book to drink as you usually do. Just keep yourself safe. No driving, Hear?

[Solice]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

SpringerRider;538253 wrote: I have several friends and emploees who JUST DON'T drink. None expressed religious reasons or other external factors; they just don't find the activity enjoyable and as one said, it seems like a lot of risk (health and driving) for something that doesn't really do much for him. These people are just naturally not interested in drinking. I know that sounds almost like a foriegn language to us, but maybe that is where I will end up. And that will be just fine with me.

yepper, that's where I want to be.....

[aurora borialis]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

I am not the kind of person who doesn't usually say anything to anyone. But for me this has worked and I realize with the amount of people who have viewed the site, that might seem not believable. But I am here to declare that my life is awesome because of the Sinclair method. Tons has changed for me. For example : the last time I made a phone call I regret was the beginning of dec 08. I never have cravings prety much ever. I never think about getting drunk. I can't remember the last time I even thought about that. I never drank and drove in the first place so there is no change there.

[SpringerRider]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

potato;538364 wrote: But I am here to declare that my life is awesome because of the Sinclair method. Tons has changed for me

Put me down for what the pretty lady said! I can't say it better.

[vicmatoria]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

OK, I've been reading this forum without commenting for a while, now. It seems to me that there are people out there that swear by the "scientific and clinical" studies that Eskapa, Sinclair, and others have done. Then there's the skeptics.

This is how I see it. Researchers always have a hypothesis that they are trying to prove. They design their research methodology to try to get at the "truth" framed within their hypothesis. Then, maybe, the "hypothesis" doesn't prove out. So, what do they do????? They look at the data from a different angle in order to prove their hypothesis to be true. NUMBERS are easy to MANIPULATE using alternative methods of analysis.. (OK, my study didn't prove significiant using analysis method A, so I need to use analysis method B to prove significance).

My point, folks, is that the whole game is truly a game, ususally a game of smoke and mirrors.

For those of you who have read my posts, you know that I have a made a personal and subjective decision to follow the Sinclair method. BUT, that doesn't mean that I've laid aside my knowledge of and skepticism for, "proven scientific methods". (I'm just an alcy trying to get better).

For every study of human behavior (I'm overstating here) that "proves" causes or cures there is an equally compelling study for the opposite or contradictory theory.

I am totally thrilled by the intellectual/thoughtful discussion going on, here. Just beware, that "scientific" in the social sciences holds an entirely different meaning than it does in the "hard" sciences, such as physics. Those DAMN humans make EVERYTHING SO DAMN COMPLICATED!

for what it's worth,
Vic

[vicmatoria]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

PS...
I am NOT accusing the Sinclair Method people of manipulating their data. I am simply GENERALIZING about social science resiarch.

[SpringerRider]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

vicmatoria;539441 wrote:
hypothesis. Then, maybe, the "hypothesis" doesn't prove out. So, what do they do????? They look at the data from a different angle in order to prove their hypothesis to be true. NUMBERS are easy to MANIPULATE using alternative methods of analysis..
Vic

Okay Vic,
I don't generally like to expose this much about myself, but I will do so just to make a point. I worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for six years. I was there to do "studies" of a particular nature. Though we like to believe every game is rigged, most scientific studies simply follow the data. That is not to say that politicians don't spin the results, but most scientists dryly pursue the truth.

Believing that the numbers are manipulated is actually doing what you are accusing the statisticians of doing. It allows you to pick an d choose the results that fit you. I.e. ?I don?t trust the facts so I will just believe what I want?.

The work that I did was peered review and scrutinized at every point. I was equally excited when the results favored my hypothesis as when it didn?t. In science, failure is knowledge. Knowing that something isn?t true is just as important as knowing that it is. As Einstein said, ?I am not interested in being right ? Just knowing what is right?.

There is quite a lot of data on the efficacy of Naltrexone. The studies have been peer reviewed. The results were not skewed to favor any outcome. They are what they are. What you choose to believe is entirely up to you but no one is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

Thar just ain't nuttin in it fer us!

[A Work in Progress]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

lenaleed;538339 wrote: Will it help if I double my offer (to $30) to contribute to a nonprofit if you feel sullied after having bought the book and read it? Yes, the exploiters are out there but as I said Eskapa ain't one or he's pretty darned inept at it. Eskapa explains in the book what he means by "cure". Hint: Read the book. If I keep defending the freakin' book I am going to send a bill to Eskapa but I doubt he can afford me but it drives me nuts that an academic would challenge a piece of work he or she has not read. OK I'm off my soapbox for the night.

Lena, thanks. But it's not just the title of the book... it's the fact that it IS a "book." Scientists don't publish books for mainstream audiences; they do research, and publish their studies in peer-reviewed journals. Books are not peer-reviewed; they are, essentially, soapboxes. The science is NOT settled about this "method" (although it is becoming more settled about the use of naltrexone, in general). I'll wait and see what comes out in the journals... the method that we have, for testing hypotheses and models, is imperfect... but it's what we've got. It works pretty well, if we give it time (and effort! and some funding, too!). As with everything else... over time, a consensus will begin to emerge, when findings begin to show some consistency.

I guess one of the biggest problems for anyone advocating and trying to find genuine data supporting this "method" (other than the problem of getting funding from drug companies, or other funding agencies, for genuine studies), is getting a proper study approved by an institutional research review board on human subjects; there is bound to be resistance against a model that "requires" alcohol-dependent research participants to continue drinking... And of course that is HIGHLY hypocritical, or at least stupid, because the vast majority of alcohol-dependent people DO continue drinking, no matter what they are "instructed" to do!

As for what this little group here is doing... it seems that several of you are getting good results, early on, and that is wonderful! I am very curious to see what this "method" (hard to figure out what to call it) is like for you, over the long haul (6 months, a year, 5 years).

Vic: I think your impressions about "social science research" are just a tad uninformed... It is more difficult to grapple with large real-world variables (such as mood, impulsivity, cognition, and the causative antecedents of behavior) than with smaller, disembodied (but easily measurable) putative components, or correlates, of these variables (such as blood sugar levels, and many others)... but both types of endeavors are absolutely necessary for the advance in our understanding of the things that matter to human beings! They don't exist in any kind of competition with each other; they work together.

[rv9]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

A Work in Progress;539763 wrote: Lena, thanks. But it's not just the title of the book... it's the fact that it IS a "book." Scientists don't publish books for mainstream audiences; they do research, and publish their studies in peer-reviewed journals. Books are not peer-reviewed; they are, essentially, soapboxes. The science is NOT settled about this "method" (although it is becoming more settled about the use of naltrexone, in general). I'll wait and see what comes out in the journals...

AWIP, Sinclair and others did the research and published their results in peer-reviewed mainstream journals. Eskapa took the results of Sinclair's work and put it in a book for public consumption. The book isn't and wasn't meant to be a substitute for research.

If you'd like to download the complete list of published studies, head over to these message boards and you'll find the list as well as a video by Dr. Sinclair in the "What is the Sinclair Method" area. You should be able to download without registering, though you're welcome to do that too if you wish. Note that the test of the list of studies is formated properly only in the downloaded version, not the post in the forum (too much work!).

How's that for pluggin' our new message board, boys and girls? :H

[A Work in Progress]

Eskapa's Book, The Cure for Alcoholism

rv9;539802 wrote: AWIP, Sinclair and others did the research and published their results in peer-reviewed mainstream journals. Eskapa took the results of Sinclair's work and put it in a book for public consumption. The book isn't and wasn't meant to be a substitute for research.

If you'd like to download the complete list of published studies, head over to these message boards and you'll find the list as well as a video by Dr. Sinclair in the "What is the Sinclair Method" area. You should be able to download without registering, though you're welcome to do that too if you wish. Note that the test of the list of studies is formated properly only in the downloaded version, not the post in the forum (too much work!).

How's that for pluggin' our new message board, boys and girls? :H

rv, thanks, and that's a nice message board!

Here's what I have found: these cited studies are nearly all, maybe all, studies that do not involve a model that directly tests the "Sinclair Method." If you will read above in this thread, that's what I have been asking about, and looking for! Standard naltrexone studies are not tests of the "Sinclair Method." Lena gave me a partial cite to one study, by Sinclair, published in a journal, that might indeed fit the bill of what I am looking for... can you tell me which, if any, of the studies in your list are actually studies that test the model, by which I mean a study in which there is a group of alcohol-dependent human participants who are instructed to drink while taking naltrexone (preferably with control groups that are using placebo, and/or that are instructed not to drink)? These other standard naltrexone studies provide, at best, suggestive, preliminary data that support the Sinclair model. I am really interested in this method but have already spent too much time finding, getting full text versions, and reading naltrexone studies. It would be helpful to me and others to have a smaller list of published studies that actually test the method that y'all are talking about!