Post TSM

[YouKayBee]

Most of the time TSM'ers don't have much to say, or at least don't post.

I thought I'd write a short post about my post TSM experience.

I say 'post TSM' because I no longer use naltrexone or The Sinclair Method (TSM), this is because if you don't drink you don't use naltrexone.

I started TSM 3 years 3 months ago, after 6 months the brutal cravings I experienced whenever trying to abstain, plus the absolute drive to drink myself into oblivion were annihiliated. I was de-addicted. I carried on moderating for 2 years, during which time I had weeks and months of AF time, sometimes I'd have one glass of wine in a 2 week period, if I wanted to abstain I could, if I wanted a wild night out and get drunk I could do without consequences.

Just about 1 year ago I came to the conclusion I no longer enjoyed alcohol, I was drinking 'just because', I even had some 'boozy nights', I hated the effect of even one drink, felt really stupid and self-conscious and also felt horrible the next day.....so after a phone call with L0op (RIP), I went AF - I already had best part of a week under my belt, and I now have 51 weeks and 3 days of constant AF time.

Prior to TSM I'd done just under 6 months AF on 2 occasions, and numerous 4, 5, 6, 7 week stints but it was always white knuckling until 3 years ago. My drinking dropped by half overnight with TSM, and declined from there on in.

It's not easy being AF, for non-TSMers when a TSMer goes abstenant it means you don't take Naltrexone - it's done it's job, and you only need to take it if you drink ie no alcohol = no naltrexone required.

I don't take any other anti-craving med or anti-depressants. My recovery is one without any other mind altering drug bar caffeine which I do keep an eye on and moderate! Life is however difficult and I do often feel 'depressed' however I've had enough of meds to last me a lifetime, I took anti-ds in the past and they only masked how I was. I'd rather just keep myself going, one foot infront of the other.

I have had my moments but with the crippling drive to drink gone it is manageable and considering the effects alcohol had on me, my behaviour, my body I have decided I simply do not want to risk going back to addiction, and that is one massive reason for me not to drink - I daren't risk it and not wanting it is a massive help. Sure I do want to go get a drink when I've had a hard day, and it's hard not to have that outlet but having every morning, every minute of every day sober, for me, is a great trade in.

I tried a couple of AA meetings, I used to go to AA fairly regularly and do believe there's a lot of wisdom in the rooms, but it didn't feel right for me. I also tried a 'free' church, one that encompasses all faiths, doesn't have to be from any particular religion and preaches from a variety of sources and angles (Christian, buddist, Islam, Paganism, Quaker) there I found myself a nice place to spend just 1 hour a week where I could sit and contemplate, reflect, and think without any pressure or many rules.

Baclofen didn't work for me, it was as bad as me drinking, took my life from me in a different way, my drinking got me a criminal record, behaving like a lunatic, into some very sad and dangerous places. I'm lucky to be a live and fairly unharmed although the legacy of my drinking will affect my life for a long time.

So long as I stay AF I know I'm ok and an AF life is possible. I can drink if I want to, I have some naltrexone - if I drink again I have to take this to prevent readdiction however if I don't drink then it's not needed.

Simples.

[guapo]

Post TSM

"Most of the time TSM'ers don't have much to say, or at least don't post."

Regarding naltrexone, I don't really post much, because it has worked very well. In other words, there's no trouble or issues, just a life that is free of the burden of drinking stupidly as I did previously.
Most of the time TSM'ers don't have much to say, or at least don't post.

I am to the point now that I just don't really care much about alcohol, I drink sometimes socially, never more than two as a rule, and most the time it just doesn't really matter.

If that's not success I don't know what is. Plus, the problem I thought was impossible to control, isn't a problem at all anymore.

So am I happy about it, of course, and I know it's going to continue.

That should be encouraging to people that want to follow this approach.

Over and out

[tee111]

Post TSM

I Used TSM from in the summer of 2012 for about 5 month an with great success. My units halved right from the get go. At the time my drinking hadn't became as bad as it ended up becoming and I really wanted adstinence which never really came. I still craved most of the time but could never make it past 3 or 4 beers. Looking back, that wasn't bad going and for those 5 months I was living risk free.

Here's the kickers and I think its why TSM doesn't get the credit it deserves. You absolutely must follow the golden rule to the letter. One hour EVERY TIME before drinking. For some unknown reason around the holidays I think I ran out and I shit you not after a week without NAL I was more or less back to square one and what I couldn't work out was that even after another month back on it it just didn't seem to be doing the job it had been before.

I ends it giving it up and within a few months I was drinking probably twices a as much as before I had started.

The sinclairmethod site used to be good but the last time I was on it it was absolutely dead.

[YouKayBee]

Post TSM

tee111;1683572 wrote: I Used TSM from in the summer of 2012 for about 5 month an with great success. My units halved right from the get go. At the time my drinking hadn't became as bad as it ended up becoming and I really wanted adstinence which never really came. I still craved most of the time but could never make it past 3 or 4 beers. Looking back, that wasn't bad going and for those 5 months I was living risk free.

Here's the kickers and I think its why TSM doesn't get the credit it deserves. You absolutely must follow the golden rule to the letter. One hour EVERY TIME before drinking. For some unknown reason around the holidays I think I ran out and I shit you not after a week without NAL I was more or less back to square one and what I couldn't work out was that even after another month back on it it just didn't seem to be doing the job it had been before.

I ends it giving it up and within a few months I was drinking probably twices a as much as before I had started.

The sinclairmethod site used to be good but the last time I was on it it was absolutely dead.

Thank you for this.

Your experience confirms what I've said all along you MUST without fail use Naltrexone every time - I didn't always stick to the one hour rule BUT there was always plenty of Nal in my system EVERY TIME I DRANK.

I cannot emphasize this enough.

I've stopped the car half way down the motorway to check I had nal with me and if I hadn't I'd have either gone back home to get some or simply not drank. That's how important it was to me, and also how stubborn I am!

Yeah the site is pretty quiet which I put down to low numbers using TSM, as well as plenty of successes who don't have the time/interest to post.

Otter has said that receptors increase or become more sensitive(can't remember which at this exact moment) with TSM, also I have read and heard in many places, that the bits in your brain which drive addiction multiply whilst in the addiction, but never go away, when you pick up again they are there ready to get going and multiply again - which is why in AA they say that when you pick up again you go back to previous levels of drinking and worse fairly quickly, so I'd guess your situation was a combination of the 2.

I'd also hazard a guess that craving elimination was coming, but you'd not quite gotten there. It was one morning 6 months in that I suddenly became aware that I no longer had them, I couldn't put an exact day on it, I just knew it wasn't there any more.

I've come back to posting here because it's more active, more going on which I think is down to it's diversity. We have lots of people using lots of methods, to get to the same end point.

[tee111]

Post TSM

Ukblonde was a big believer on here she seems to have dissapeared.

[guapo]

Post TSM

I'd like to hear someone that's doing TSM long-term successfully, it's been a year for me, but only successfully for the last six months

[YouKayBee]

Post TSM

guapo;1683631 wrote: I'd like to hear someone that's doing TSM long-term successfully, it's been a year for me, but only successfully for the last six months

I did it (after cure point )for approximately 2 years, but obviously not currently on it.

Cure point being the point at which I realised the cravings had disappeared(approx 6 months after starting).

[francophonerobert]

Post TSM

Post TSM

YouKayBee;1683652 wrote: I did it (after cure point )for approximately 2 years, but obviously not currently on it.

Cure point being the point at which I realised the cravings had disappeared(approx 6 months after starting).

Hello, YouKayBe

I want to try Naltrexone. Any recommended source? I can't get it through my VA doctor. He doesn't believe in Baclofen, Naltrexone, Toparimate, etc.

thankfully,

francophonerobert

p.s.

By the way, I am an alcoholic of long standing (20 years/ 12 drinks a day).

[YouKayBee]

Post TSM

francophonerobert;1685172 wrote: Hello, YouKayBe

I want to try Naltrexone. Any recommended source? I can't get it through my VA doctor. He doesn't believe in Baclofen, Naltrexone, Toparimate, etc.

thankfully,

francophonerobert

p.s.

By the way, I am an alcoholic of long standing (20 years/ 12 drinks a day).

I don't have a recommend for an online pharmacy, it's a very long time since I've used one and the experiences with spam ever since have reinforced this. I was lucky enough to be able to get a private prescription followed soon afterwards by one on the national health service.

I'd advise finding a supportive Doctor.

[guapo]

Post TSM

Prescribed by a United States physician, naltrexone is reasonably priced. Most enlightened psychiatrists would be fine with it. It's not mainstream enough to be on most physicians radar however. Trouble is, psychiatry is a severe shortage of physicians, but it would be possible to find mine with some effort

There's a few naltrexone friendly therapy centers, at least one in Florida, and one in California, but that's about all I know of.

[YouKayBee]

I almost drank today, but I didn't

Nope I didn't.

I'm very preoccupied with a relationship in my life, also under a bit of stress from other things in my life. Following an exchange today I was really fed up, it was really making me feel bad. I thought it would either be food or alcohol, and if I did and didn't have naltrexone then I didn't care - that's how bad I felt.

For anyone who isn't familiar with TSM it's a technique using naltrexone that eliminates the physical cravings for alcohol, you take 1 tablet before you drink, everytime you drink and the drive to drink diminishes over time. If you do drink you must always take the tablet, otherwise readdiction is fairly rapid, I've not been taking naltrexone because I've not been drinking, and if you don't drink you don't need to take it.

I do have almost 15 AF months under my belt.

So I took 5 minutes to have a look for some naltrexone and I did find some in my house.

What happened next was that someone presented me with opportunity to drink alcohol. Drinking tended to be me blocking stuff and people out, I played safe and said "No but you go ahead", they had a glass of wine and the smell reminded me that I really do not like the taste of alcohol, it made me feel sick to think about picking up the glass and drinking it, my stomach turned and the idea passed. I was also thinking about the possibility that after all this time I'd have one stonker of a hangover tomorrow if I did drink, that and the unknown of how it would feel to be drunk after all this sober time, well it all combined with the nauseous feeling - and I actually did wonder if those thoughts were also responsible for me feeling sick.

Anyway the important thing is that it did pass.

Simple as that.

[Lostinspace]

That's awesome that you were able to ride out the craving, YouKayBee. Stress in our relationships with others can definitely make it appealing to drink just to stuff down the feelings. But it's also great that you made sure to find some Naltrexone anyway, just in case you did end up drinking. You've come way too far to let a bad exchange with someone throw you back in the direction of addiction. And yeah, after 15 months without alcohol, you probably would have had one hell of a monster hangover. Now you can enjoy the weekend without that unnecessary misery

[skullbabyland]

That's so awesome, UKB. So happy that you were able to counter the drinking thoughts with looking for the naltrexone, waiting it out, and examining if it would make you feel nasty. And so encouraging that you concluded that it would! Happy for you for this, and for your 15 months.

[YouKayBee]

Thanks for your support skullbabyland and lostinspace.

I've now passed the 15 month AF point, I've not had a single alcoholic drink in all that time.

[cureforalcoholics]

Thanks to the long-time TSMers who come back and post about their experience - if you are a successful TSMer please do that - it really gives so much hope to people who are trying to find a light at the end of the tunnel. In regards to availability - I'm in Canada and it is available with a prescription here.

There are 3 links on this page to .pdf documents that are useful to bring to medical professionals if they don't know about TSM:
http://www.cureforalcoholics.com/wha...hod--tsm-.html (the three links are under point #3 on the list).

Cure