I've been skulking about on this board for more than four months now, and I decided it's finally time to pop up and say hello. After all, I have benefitted greatly from the TSM experiences of others here, so the least I can do is share mine.

First of all, thank you all for your postings here. I started TSM 20 weeks ago, and might have stopped early on if I hadn't had your postings to refer to. Although I've never been much of a "joiner," it was great to know I wasn't alone.

I started drinking heavily until 1991 when my first marriage broke up. At the time I didn't see anything wrong with what I was doing; after all, guys in the movies always got plastered when their relationships ended, right? I was just using alcohol as a crutch to get through the tough times. Problem is, I came to rely heavily on that crutch, even in good times. I was always a solitary drinker. I'd go home, get drunk, go to sleep. No DUI's, no big fights with girlfriends, no one to apologize to (except myself, of course). I started worrying when I woke up in the mornings and couldn't remember certain events from the night before. But I didn't start thinking about quitting until I had a hangover so bad that I had to go to the emergency room. No one to drive me and no money for a cab, I drove myself there, pulling over several times to vomit. This was the first and last time I drove drunk. As I sat waiting for the doctor, I asked myself what the hell I was doing with my life, and I decided then and there to stop drinking.

Well, I tried everything. Went to a few AA meetings, but they both scared me and pissed me off at the same time. They were very cult-like, and I couldn't buy the premise that I was "helpless" against my addiction, nor could I accept that it was a moral failing on my part. I tried SMART Recovery, I tried Antabuse, I tried Campral. Each one helped me achieve a certain period of abstinence, but none was a cure. By this time I had met a wonderful woman and I desperately wanted to present her with my best, sober self.

I came across "The Book" while cruising Amazon for another addition to my burgeoning self help library. I was skeptical, but I bought it and read it in one day. It made total sense. But where to get the Naltrexone? Fortunately, I had been seeing a psychiatrist for a mild depression that I'd experienced for years, and I went to him with the book. He had heard of TSM, but knew little about it. I gave him a synopsis and then gave him the book to read. he was enthuiastic and prescribed the Nal. By the way, I have listed him in the TSM Doctors board under West Los Angeles.

Being anxious to get going (and thinking of myself as an over-achiever), I decided to ignore the book's instruction and took 50mg the first night, and started drinking. Big mistake! I felt hungover, exhausted, jittery and nauseous the next day. I thought, "this ain't gonna work." But I stuck with it, in part thanks to this forum. The side-effects subsided somewhat, but remain with me to this day. And I have to be especially careful around my GF when drinking, because drinking on Nal makes me irritable as hell.

But, despite the side-effects, my drinking has tapered off slowly over 20 weeks. I am now down to one drinking day per week, and only five drinks on that day. I was drinking up to 15 a day before starting TSM. I feel that I am within striking distance of total abstinence, which is my goal. I am thisclose to declaring myself cured.

So thank you, all. You've been my 'secret companions' on this journey, and you've helped me immensely, even though you didn't know it. I look forward to keeping up with you and letting you know when I can officially join the "cured" list.

Welcome!

A couple of times while I was reading your history, I actually thought that you had condensed my experience documented on this forum into a few succinct paragraphs. Other than the marriage breakup and the hangover emergency room visit, the similarities are striking!

Solitary drinker
(Assuming a) daily drinker
No DUI's
No fights
Pass out to sleep
Self-initiated decision to stop
Tried everything to stop with limited, but unsatisfactory success
Tried AA, but didn't buy into the powerlessness and moral deficiency propaganda
Tried SMART Recovery
Tried Antabuse
Tried Campral
Skeptical about "the book", but read it and tried it anyway.
Almost "cured" at week 20
Down to one drinking day per week, at 5 units.

If you had written that you had undergone Aversion Therapy, I would have been convinced that your post was a copy, but it obviously is your own experience. We just have very similar experiences. That probably means you'll be making your declaration next week.

My units hit a plateau of about 4 units per week, for the next 20+ weeks. Now I'm AF by choice. No willpower necessary. Eventually, your control over alcohol will be so strong, you can give it up entirely if you want. Or not. It'll be your choice.

We're very pleased you've shared your experience. Drop by as often as you want and report in what's happening the more stories that are told, the better our positive influence on the alcoholic community will be.

Thanks for your post! I wish you the best.

Bob

It's great to read stories like yours. Thanks for contributing and congratulations!

Congratulations & lucky you!

Yes I agree many thanks for posting. As you say this place has helped you in the past to keep going and your story will help others including me. I am just starting my third week on Nal and when I hear stories like yours it gives me more hope than Ive had in ages.

xx

Thank you all for your kind welcome. I feel very lucky to have found this group, and that the method is working as advertised for me. Whereas it certainly was no picnic, I've read the postings of others here who have had a really rough time of it, and I very much admire their tenacity. But frankly, compared to some, I think I've had it fairly easy. All I can offer in the way of encouragement is "Keep going!"

Bob, our experiences are amazingly similar! Perhaps we are long lost brothers... Want to hear another odd connection? I happen to be friends with Jerry Mathers, aka The Beaver. I was at his 60th birthday party in 2008 and met Ken Osmond, aka Eddie Haskell! You probably already know this, but after Leave It To Beaver he became an LAPD cop. He retired after having been shot in the line of duty.

I digress... I hope you are right, Bob, and that I will be able to declare myself cured next week.

Thanks again all, for your support.

Amazing Story and an inspiration. I'm at 1 1/2 months on TSM and feel a hint of hope.

I made my first post on this thread back on February 2, and back then I expected to declare myself cured within a couple of weeks. Well, it took a bit longer than that, probably due to the fact that my AL consumption had dropped to such a low point that the extinction process was moving very slowly.

Well, about two weeks ago that changed. I was down to one drinking night per week, but since my last drinking night on March 21 I haven't felt like drinking at all. Oh sure, the random thought or drinking passes through my head, but such thoughts no longer seem to stop and take up residence there. They just continue on down the line. I have enven been to two dinner parties at which glasses of wine were placed in front of me, and I had no desire to drink them. At this moment, I can easily imagine the rest of my life without another drink, and since my goal was total abstinence, that's a great feeling. Remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens the door of her house at everything outside is in brilliant color? That's how I feel about life these days.

So I'm calling it. I hereby proclaim myself to be cured.*

Now I want to figure out a way to get the word out about TSM. They need to do a piece on 60 Minutes or something.

*As long as I have my Nal with me at all times, just in case....

Congratulations!

I couldn't agree more about 60 Minutes. The more people we add to the list, the sooner that reality will happen.

Happy Days LifeofPie.. Congrats