My NAL Trip

[seeking1]

My NAL Trip

Hi, all! Doing great, Brightlite, thanks for asking.

So far my nights have been four drinks, two and 1/2 drinks, 6 drinks, AF. Last night was AF. I am tapering off benzos in addition to starting the NAL (benzos for sleep). I took half my usual benzo dose plus some OTC last night and slept 5 hours (great for me)! I think it's not going to be as hard as I imagined to kick the benzo sleeping crutch and just focus on Al and Nal.

Thank you for your support! How's everyone else doing?

[brightlite]

My NAL Trip

That sounds like a good plan Seeking. I don't know too much about Benzos. I usually sleep pretty good, unless I am on night two AF...then I toss and turn. I guess I just ride it out...only to do it all over again. I really don't have to want to take anything else to sleep. I do have melatonin and take that sometimes and I think it really helps.

It's 4:30pm.....almost bewitching hour. I took my Nal and I know that I have some Pinot in the fridge. I will have to fight the airlines/airport tomorrow. I'll be visiting relatives and will need to keep my wine consumption in check. I hope that I can do that and I'm hoping the Nal will help. And, my alkie brain says....that I might as well drink tonight, because for the next few nights it will have to be one or two glasses at the most if at all. At least it should be warm and I will get some pool/beach time and relaxation hopefully. Maybe I'll surprise myself tonight and only want one or two glasses, I guess we will see. The craving is not bad at all right now....so I'll wait a little longer and see what happens.

Hanginon, plainvanilla, 8....keep posting.

[seeking1]

My NAL Trip

Brightlite, you will be in my thoughts. Just remember that even if you have more than you set out to, you're doing the right thing. It's all extinguishing triggers, and if you're triggered and drinking, your body is working it out. Keep us posted!

[seeking1]

My NAL Trip

Update:

I am not sure how to calculate units, even after reading the book and many posts about calculating.

What I AM sure of is that I will get my life back.

Normal week, pre-TSM: 50 glasses of wine, sometimes AF days, sometimes none

First week on TSM: 20 glasses of wine, 2 AF days

I am feeling self-respect and hope. Lots of anxiety and sleeplessness, but these are to be expected as I rein in my years of self-medicating. I think that in a few weeks I will be sleeping normally as I break my reliance on benzos and booze. I'm sleeping now after 3 or 4 glasses of wine, which I wouldn't have thought possible a week ago. I hope that I will come to sleep naturally on AF days once my body stops relying on one outside chemical or another.

Guessing I'm going to spike this week as my body tries to get its endorphin high (last night was my biggest consumption so far on TSM but still would've been a slow night for me in the past). But I'm ready for it to be good, too! I'll keep you posted....

[Chocolate Mousse]

My NAL Trip

Hi Britelite and seeking

Well i am on my 4th week now of Nal. I guess i am asking you both this as you both drink wine. the only drink i consume is wine and was very worried when i read about TSM not seeing such good results with wine drinkers, have any of you got any info on this??

[brightlite]

My NAL Trip

Hi CM, Seeking, Hanginon, 8,

I think the verdict is still out on the wine drinking vs other AL beverages and extinction. Although Virgil had some reports which I wasn't really understanding. On the TSM website there are a few wine drinkers that have been cured. I almost think it is how much you consume and the frequency that matters, even though many say that is not what matters. I definitely think beer drinkers have a better chance as well as someone that only binges on the weekends. I don't really have any proof...I guess I could start a poll.

I usually drink a bottle of wine 4 to 5 times a week, with a day or two of AF. I did have a very short honeymoon period, but still drink my bottle of wine most nights. I am about 2 months taking Nal, so no real improvement yet. This week, I'm going to try a few more AF days and maybe the drinking days will start to be less. I don't really know at this point. I really just need to go AF, but I can't seem to get past day 5. I'm always amazed at people that go 30 days AF....that's a lot of will power.

Good luck to all....post your progress.

[GettingBetter]

My NAL Trip

brightlite;807004 wrote: I think the verdict is still out on the wine drinking vs other AL beverages and extinction. Although Virgil had some reports which I wasn't really understanding. On the TSM website there are a few wine drinkers that have been cured. I almost think it is how much you consume and the frequency that matters, even though many say that is not what matters. I definitely think beer drinkers have a better chance as well as someone that only binges on the weekends. I don't really have any proof...I guess I could start a poll.

Ooh, please do - that would be very interesting.

[crown86]

My NAL Trip

Brightlite

From what I read on the tsm site they say binge drinkers take longer. I know there is debate about wine...Wine was never my thing so I am cluless there. I know as far as alcohol goes I was drinking a bizzare amount. I would buy 2 half gallons of Crown or Candian Club and 2 30 packs. That would last 4-5 days...On day 5 I still had beer left and mabye a little whiskey...LOL not enough in the house that I was comfortable..HAD to go buy more. Damn if I wasn't doing my best Nick Cage imitation from Leaving Las Vegas.

I kind of look at it like alcohol is alcohol but I have no idea scientifically. Christ, I even take Naltrexone if I am going to have an O'douls or any non alcoholic beer - it has .05% of that poison called alcohol.

[PlainVanilla]

My NAL Trip

Apologies for butting in... Wine drinker here and TSM worked almost exactly as advertised for me. Just a data point.

Humans are complex so there may be a multitude of factors at play of which wine may be one for some while not even relevant for others. Wine is a beverage that is very amenable to heavily reinforced routine - I drank with dinner and all evening. It's probably easier to arrange one's day to avoid "party" situations but it's mighty difficult to rearrange one's life to avoid eating! So it may be that wine drinkers possibly need to pay a bit more attention once extinction is underway to give themselves the opportunity to *not* drink, or drink something else instead. But at only four weeks, you are likely months away from thinking about that.

[seeking1]

My NAL Trip

Hi, all.

I have only my own quite new experience to go on re: wine, but I had a marked drop in my consumption of it in the first week (from about 50 glasses to about 20 glasses that week). I'll let you know as I work with TSM in weeks to come. I did notice that white wine was "easier" to drink than red (I usually go with red but had white two evenings ago).

[brightlite]

My NAL Trip

Seeking....that is sooo wonderful! Yes...maybe you should switch to white wine and limit consumption at that. That may be the ticket for you.

Since I drink white wine...and love the taste of it, unfortunately...maybe I should switch to beer (which I don't really care for) and see how that goes with the Nal.

I don't know....I know I still have the cravings, but they are not as bad, however if all I had to drink was something that I didn't really enjoy..maybe the Nal would work better.

Anyone have any thoughts on that line of thinking?

[crown86]

My NAL Trip

Brightlite

From everything I read in the book the cure to alcoholism and the tsm forum..everything says drink as you normally would...If wine is your thing then it's wine you need to extinguish...for myself it was hard liquour particually blends and scotch...I took Nal waited an hour and drank like usual and let Nal do it's thing

[brightlite]

My NAL Trip

I guess I'll just keep taking the Nal before I have my wine and just keep trying to reduce my consumption. Thanks for the input again Crown.

[Chocolate Mousse]

My NAL Trip

Thanks PV and Britelite

thanks for the info PV as it helps knowing that the wine drinkers here are being 'cured' aslo. :thanks: Yes you are right, i do have a bit to go yet.

[crown86]

My NAL Trip

brightlite

I don't think there is anything wrong with some will power thrown on top of TSM..my opinion. I know for myself after the first few weeks I began to use some will power, which prior to TSM was a complete joke. I found the will power peice got easier and easier. When I came to TSM I was truly desperate...I HAD TO CHANGE but simply felt it was almost impossible but I still wanted change deep down. When I found TSM the drunk in me was like HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY you can still drink in fact you have to drink to cure yourself. With my tolerance obliterated and not getting as drunk initially as I used to I threw in some will power.

At first I kinda felt like I should be drinking to cure myself on one hand on the other I wanted booze out of my life because of all the hell and damage it has caused. I had spent 10 years of my youth in AA all sober when I truly didn't need to be there - 15 - 25 years old. I was programmed hard in my mind that sobriety is abstinence plain and simple. I know all the AA philosophies and sayings like " like if you are alergic to peanuts and they are going to kill why eat a little". I wrestled in my head mentally over taking a pill and continuing to drink as a treatment method. I like to think of myself as fairly intellegent and thinking in the begining "who the hell are you bullshitting...YOUSELF". You are nothing but a damn practicing alcoholic who continues to drink.


However, I read the book a Cure to Alcoholism and it made perfect scientific sense. Alot of the studies done were double blind studies from which I understand are some of the toughest. So I kept telling myself what do you have to lose? I began to see improvements and as the improvements came so did the little bit of will power. The thing that I know to me that was huge was JUST KNOWING I could drink if I wanted or had to I felt made all the difference in the world to me. Again as abstienemce was drummed into to me as sobriety and the only way, I had to fight hard mentally inside myself to not beat the crap out of myself for drinking...ah the self loathing gulity feelings that come with alcoholism..LOL Gotta love'm.

As time passed and I stopped getting drunk and I began to feel "normal" again I came to accept what I define sobriety for myself. This to me is not getting drunk and letting alcohol control my life and ruin my life. I said in the begining to myself I am going to go wherever the pill takes me and after 9 months ( I made a 9 month committment to TSM) I would evealuate and find something else if needed. The cure as they call it - not so sure I like the word but because TSM uses it I do I guess - is nothing like I thought it would be. I am not sure what I expected..a normal drinker maybe? Being able to get drunk and be incontrol? maybe weekend only things? But quite honestly it's more powerful than expected meaning I truly do not think or have a desire to get drunk anymore. The thought of being drunk like in the past makes me green.

When the book say it re-wires your brain for me thats the truth and what has happened. I LOVED everything about alcohol..EVERYTHING bars, other drunks and the BS conversation, laughing at black-outs, laughing at my bizzare tolerance, the taste, drinking alone, songs about getting drunk, laughing about passing out on my kitchen floor or lawn and not remembering how I got there, hangovers as a way of life, all and everything tit brought. I figured the negative things just came with the territory.

At the end - the last 3 or so years - all it brought was pure hell on earth with an almost suicidal depression and isolation. This was not fun but I was deep in the bottle I figured I waas coming out feet first and simply just gave up and accepted this fact to the point I didn't give a damn about myself.

With TSM my thinking has done a complete 180. The simple thing of I have no desire to get drunk is the most powerful thing it has done for me..I no longer romanticise alcohol, it's not my friend, my lover, my everything. I can not acuratly put into words how powerful that is for me. TSM got me out of the hell cycles of drinking by WAY MORE than just putting the bottle down IT CHANGED THE WAY I VIEW AND THINK about alcohol. I know if I just quit without TSM I would be right back at some point...I quit for 30 something days before TSM and was right back to where I was. The VERY awsome part now is if I get that crazy desire to drink - which at times comes up but is getting far few and in between - I simply take naltrexone and have 100% confiedence I will not go back to where I was. But the overall thinking and desires and views of alcohol have changed. This is to me what the book says about re-wiring, and it was all on a sub-concious level, which is the part that has kept me in constant amazement..meaning how did this happen..WOW.

Sorry to be long winded but my opinion I don't think will power can hurt and when you get that strong crazy urge simply take the naltrexone wait an hour and drink thru the craving. It sound like in your posts Nal is having an effect on you which is a good thing...most that had the honeymoon etc it has worked for. Hopefully the cravings and desires will come few far and inbetween.