D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

[drink2much]

Hope this is the right place on the forum to start a thread similar to 8s; and Cravings; I find it really useful to report in and keep in touch with how everyone is

I am four weeks Plus 3 days AF

After years and years of drinking 6 days a week always every week.

I started of on TSM (cos it sounded easy), 8 or 9 months ago, but it really didn't seem to change much, in fact I was drinking more than ever; till I got desperate and took antabuse; and stopped drinking.

A few days later I stopped the antab.

And I am still sober. But there is lots to deal with.

Did the Nal (TSM) cure me enough to get me to take antab; and having taken antab I'm suddenly cured.?

Well, temporarily cured.

It is weird. Having spent a rare month sober, I see so many things i didn't before; I feel things I never felt; I have anxieties and fears and - also - to be honest, I have a huge black vacuum in my life, since AL used to be my best mate.

Learning to live sober is going to be a long process. Any advice?

That's assuming I can keep it up. No great cravings. I threw out all the booze the other week and felt light hearted about it

Looking forward to finding my way around these boards and this community, and to catching up with anyone else from the TSM board.

D2Mx

[SKendall]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

Welcome, you have found a great place with compassionate peeps. Try the newbie's nest for many of you who are new to this site.

Good luck, my friend.

[Virgil]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

drink2much;805688 wrote: Looking forward to finding my way around these boards and this community, and to catching up with anyone else from the TSM board.

Hi D2M,

Great to see you at MWO!

As you know, I used to be a regular poster on the TSM forum (under the same username as here). I was unsuccessful with TSM and decided to try baclofen but I reckon I'm at least six weeks away from hitting the 'switch' to which you'll find many references here at MWO.

A very warm :welcome: from me.

V.

[crown86]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

D2M

I know exactly what your saying about being sober and how weird it feels....I have not been drunk for 2 months and the first month was really weird. The second month things are starting to fall into place very nicely. The more time not being drunk it just becomes a way of life I think just like being drunk all the time was. The best part is there is no crazy depression no hangovers no fights with loved ones etc.

The first month was so strange because I had been drunk for soo long. I drank when my girl left, the sun shined or it rained. Anything could set me off. Now all the same BS and stresses of life are there but they are actually easier to deal with sober.

With time the weird feeling of being sober all the time fades into just a way of life I think.


Congrads on the month sober.

[christyacc]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

crown86;805967 wrote: D2M

I know exactly what your saying about being sober and how weird it feels....I have not been drunk for 2 months and the first month was really weird. The second month things are starting to fall into place very nicely. The more time not being drunk it just becomes a way of life I think just like being drunk all the time was. The best part is there is no crazy depression no hangovers no fights with loved ones etc.

The first month was so strange because I had been drunk for soo long. I drank when my girl left, the sun shined or it rained. Anything could set me off. Now all the same BS and stresses of life are there but they are actually easier to deal with sober.

With time the weird feeling of being sober all the time fades into just a way of life I think.


Congrads on the month sober.

Hi Crown.

You mentioned that you haven't been drunk in 2 months. Does this mean you are still drinking? If so, did you do anything in particular to reduce? For example, meds, etc. Also what were you drinking then as opposed to now, amounts I mean.

I am always interested to hear people success, how they got there, etc.

Thanks!

Christy

[crown86]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

Christy

You can see my progress on the thread my naltrexone journey...I used tsm...I was drinking 20+ drinks..all any form of straight liquour on the rocks Crown being my favorite...TSM has destroyed my love of whiskey to the point I get sick if I drink it so I don't drink it any longer, Wine was never my thing but had a glass with naltrexone and it also made me quite ill...thank god based on all the threads I have seen on TSM and wine.

When I drink now it's beer, only because thats all naltrexone hasnt extinquished fully yet. But when I do drink beer I can never make it past 3-4 in an average 3 hour period. I am fully in control at this point and can stop or not drink when I want...the bottle no longer controls me. Sometimes , which is becoming very rare beer still tastes good, but for the most part beer is starting to taste like crap...meaning I decide I want one and drink it, it doesn't taste good so either I don't finish it or don't open a second one.

I follow TSM very strictly to the protocol - if I want a beer I take naltrexone wait an hour and the drink. I will have 4 tabs on and around me for the rest of my life. 2 in my wallet 2 in my glove box of my car.

My orginal goal was abstinence and decided on TSM because I simply could not imagine abstinence. I was in AA for like 10 years all sober when I was young - didn't need it then. But I had soberiety defined and drilled into me as abstinence so for me it has been a struggle mentally to say I am sober when I have a few beers every now and again.

I had to define what sobriety meant to ME and only ME and accept it. I would love to get rid of beer permanantly and feel that in time TSM will kill this also. But if this is the best TSM is going to work I am 100% satisfied. Alcohol no longer runs dominates and destroys my life. I don't fear picking a drink up with Naltrexone because i KNOW I will not go over the edge. Without it I would be a mess in a few weeks. As time keeps going by like I said above not being drunk is a way of life.

Prior to TSM I was a damn mess. Half sucidal and drinking myself to death. You can read my story under drowning in crown royal lake. I had a doctor tell me if I didn't quit I would not see 45...I am 42..and that didn't stop me..I didn't care.

[eight days a week]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

Hello dear D2M, how lovely to see you posting here, and making your own thread. And what a good idea - I think we all need support and advice, and it's such a support to have a thread to offload how we are feeling whenever we need, I find

You are doing tremendously tremendously well, and have shown such strength! :goodjob:

I was abstinent for four months last year, and I found the general anxiety and everything else eased day by day and week by week (apart from my clinical GAD, and the heart condition they didn't know about then) and I'm sure it will be the same for you

I found also a big trick to be filling life with different activities removed from my drinking habits. Art, going for walks, watching TV (I don't even do that much when I drink!)...anything different that opens up a new persepctive on what the world has to offer.

I also wonder if you've considered something like Campral? I know clinical studies show mixed results, but quite a few stories I've read here say it helps.

I've also heard here and in many other places (not least rehab) that it takes the brain up to six months or longer to chemically re-balance itself. I think supplements can help that, personally, but there's no quick fix. The main thing is you're on your way, well on it - already over a month? Fantastic!!

eight

[drink2much]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

Thanks guys.

I guess I will have to find something else to fill my evenings. . . I agree that it is going to take a few months for my brain to adjust to being sober instead of drunk every night. I don't feel "normal" yet - whatever normal is. Maybe I wouldn't know normal if it came up and bit me.

The cravings seem to have disappeared completely, but I still suffer from anxiety quite a bit, and possibly depression and I need to find a way to cope with that.

D2Mx

[eight days a week]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

Have you looked at supplements like L-Theanine and others for the anxiety, and 5-HTP for the slight depression, D2M?

[eight days a week]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

P.S. There seems to be a whole section on here that I haven't even got to yet - Holistic Healing. If I understand it right there are all sorts of natural supplements discussed there that will help

As for the evenings, have you thought of night classes in something? I used to study Tai Chi (which is wonderfully relaxing and calming in itself) at an evening class, and would love to again. When I was abstinent I did all sorts of things in the evening, came home tired and happy, and most importantly wasn't at home where I'd normally have a drink!

[craving]

D2M'S PROGRESS - anyone here from TSM?

hi drink2much good to see you here :welcome:

Nal did cause a lot of good results with a lot of people. I would not be suprised if Nal cured your opioid receptor addiction. The "cure" really just depends on how much your GABA system is addicted. I sorted that with Baclofen that deals directly with what Nal could leave out.