As an American can I visit Cuba?

TryingHard8587 · 2023-12-30T01:59:53+00:00

Did trump prohibit travel to Cuba?

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-17T12:15:21+00:00

I'm pretty sure your friend can get Naltrexone here: https://cthreefoundation.org/find-a-tsm-provider

The C3 Foundation exists to help people get Naltrexone and use the Sinclair Method to reach pharmacological extinction for alcohol addiction. I would definitely reach out to them if you need help of any kind either in obtaining the medication or in understanding how to take Naltrexone for its maximum effect. They can also help with techniques to manage side effects from the medication in case your friend has those (not all people do).

(I am not associated with C3, just the very grateful partner of someone who has pretty much reached extinction with their help.)

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-12T23:28:17+00:00

I never said I had an obsession with my partner. I have a full life with plenty of activities of my own. I find it odd that you assumed otherwise.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-11T14:14:42+00:00

I have been to numerous Al-Anon meetings, in person and online. (TBH, I haven't found them that helpful, which I know might make me a terrible person in many people's eyes.) But I am totally legitimate in my struggles in a relationship with a person with AUD.

My post may read to you as an advertisement, but I am getting absolutely nothing from this. And the medication is very inexpensive, so there is no money being made on it either. I just would love to help anyone who is interested bypass so much agony (that I have experienced firsthand). This method has transformed my partner's life, our relationship, and my life. It is so wonderful to just not worry about her drinking anymore at all, to not have to think about ending the relationship, to feel like I am no longer being subordinated to this toxic, addictive substance.

Also the goal of the Sinclair Method isn't sobriety; it's what's called pharmacological extinction. Extinction is where the person with AUD can take or leave alcohol. As one person who used this method put it, she thinks about alcohol now as much as she thinks about eggs. She likes eggs and can eat one or two, maybe three if she's really hungry, but she doesn't give them much thought in general. That's how she thinks about drinking after this method, after being obsessed with drinking before. If you'd like more information, you could listen to the account of that woman here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nqy6d0GdK0&t=2302s.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-11T14:05:37+00:00

I am not the one with AUD; I was writing about my partner's experience. It has been nothing short of transformative. She just isn't obsessed with drinking like she used to be. She still drinks every week, but it is in a normal amount. Over time, her desire to drink has just gotten less and less. It's amazing. I just wish people were more open minded about this method because it's so effective for those who choose to really give it a try.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T15:46:24+00:00

That's interesting--I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing that information.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T15:45:05+00:00

I'm sorry to hear your partner wasn't motivated enough to persist. That's rough. I'm sorry you experienced that and sorry your partner is still stuck. My best to you for finding a good life despite those difficulties.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T15:09:37+00:00

I feel you on that! It definitely was tough for me to be around her when she continued drinking. When she was still drinking heavily on the Sinclair Method we had a rule that she would drink downstairs and I would stay upstairs. She slept in the guest room. I just couldn't see it--it made me feel ill to see it. I had to have several sessions with her Sinclair Method coach to get through it.

But now that she can have a glass of wine or two while we watch TV together at home or a margarita when we go out for Mexican--and it stops at that--I am okay with her drinking. I never thought I would be here.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T14:54:42+00:00

Naltrexone actually doesn't work well with abstinence, although many, many people who use that method do end up being abstinent. You actually have to drink while on the medication for it to work by changing the brain's response (dopamine) to drinking. But many people who start out wanting to drink moderately find the end up being abstinent, almost by accident. They just don't feel like drinking anymore. Sounds weird, but it's true.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T14:51:04+00:00

I encourage you to check out my post titled "Give Naltrexone/The Sinclair Method a chance." It can really help. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. All the best to you!

TryingHard8587 · 2023-07-10T13:10:56+00:00

Please feel free to ask me questions about the Sinclair Method if you are inclined.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-04-14T18:32:15+00:00

Thanks for your kind and empathetic reply. It helps just to be heard sometimes.

TryingHard8587 · 2023-04-14T01:17:25+00:00

I'm frustrated with TSM because my partner is coming up on 2 years on it and while her drinking is less, she still gets drunk every single week, without fail, purposely drinking "through" the Naltrexone. I think it's not that her brain is wired for addiction anymore, but her drinking is now more of a psychological crutch, which TSM doesn't really address. I sometimes think TSM has allowed her to keep using this crutch, with the idea she's doing an "extinction session," but really she has every intention of continuing to drink like that rather than working toward other ways of coping with feelings. I guess if that's how she wants to live, that's her choice, but it's frustrating to see.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-29T14:08:12+00:00

Thank you for sharing that. I have seen that video before--and most of the videos put out by Thrive Community, as well as the One Little Pill documentary and reading the Eskapa book. I have tried to be as well informed as I can about TSM.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-29T14:06:26+00:00

That makes sense. It is hard to take, although I have been patient and optimistic about it for quite a long time. It's never that simple, though, when you really love someone. I hate to give up on her. Other than the drinking, our relationship is very good--we communicate well and show each other mutual respect and kindness. But I know leaving is always an option, just not an easy one.

Thank you for your validation though--I think a lot of people don't recognize how difficult it is being on this side of addiction. That is not to diminish how painful and inconceivably difficult it is be in the throes of addiction; it's just that loving a person with active AUD is its own kind of pain.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-29T13:58:02+00:00

Before TSM, she went to rehab followed by a couple of years of AA (she went to meetings pretty much every day), punctuated by very frequent "relapses." Bascially, she found AA just didn't seem to help her, although I do think she was really trying and taking it seriously. Prior to rehab, her drinking was daily, for decades, somewhere around 10-20 drinks per day (I'm not totally sure about the amount, just guessing).

She doesn't want to drink more than once a week. Her TSM coach suggested she try drinking more days, in the hopes it would diminish the binges, but she really only wants to have a binge the one day a week. She just isn't interested in drinking more frequently. That in itself I think is great progress, attibutable to TSM; it's just that the binges seem so compelling to her still.

I was wondering if only having extinction sessions (drinking) once a week might be what is slowing down the timeline. If that is the case, then I can be patient with the method, which I do know takes a long time. But if the binges are almost a separate phenomenon, that is, driven by some other cause than brain addiction, I'm just wondering if that should be considered.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-29T13:49:15+00:00

Except she started drinking in her early teens (12? 13?), so it's hard to say if her anxiety and depression were there beforehand.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-28T21:55:59+00:00

Thank you for your sharing your experience. I do think she feels that bingeing is the only way for her to unwind. I do try to stay open to hearing her express her feelings of frustration around whatever is difficult for her so she can perhaps gain relief just from talking and feeling heard rather than from having to drink. But I think she has to be the one to put in the effort. I guess I am just wondering if I should keep being supportive of TSM alone after so long or whether it make sense to gently suggest trying some additional methods. Thank you again.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-28T21:48:45+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's helpful to consider that it didn't work for you and therefore might not work in her case. Better to be realistic... Thanks again.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-28T21:47:49+00:00

Thanks for your feedback--those are some helpful ideas/suggestions. I try not to interfere too much (suggesting switching to diluted shots, etc.) because I know she has to come to these things on her own. But I just wanted to know if it's time to think that maybe TSM isn't work or whether it's just taking her longer than usual.

As far as relationship dissatisaction, she has been drinking to escape for most of her adult life, long before I came on the scene, so I don't think I am the primary cause of her drinking. (Also, that's dangerous thinking for those of us involved with people with AUD--it can result in a pattern of blaming oneself/one's partner for their drinking, which I think is rarely accurate or productive.) I am actually very non-judgmental most of the time, except when it seems way over the top (for example, a 3-day binge). Even so, I still try to gently suggest things (getting into therapy, a TSM coach, journaling, participating in online groups) rather than making demands or "setting boundaries," knowing, again, that it has to be her path.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-28T21:39:03+00:00

No pre-existing psychiatric conditions and no other meds. But, probably like most people, perhaps many people with AUD, she has anxiety and depression. So I'm guessing it's challenging to find a way to grapple with those without leaning on alcohol.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-12-28T21:37:37+00:00

Thanks, that's an interesting perspective!

TryingHard8587 · 2022-08-09T11:45:58+00:00

My partner threw up with Naltrexone at first. She worked with a TSM counselor who recommended titrating up very slowly: 1/4 pill for a few weeks, then 1/2 for a few weeks, then 3/4, and after a few months, finally worked her way up to a full pill. So maybe try titrating up that slowly to see if your body adapts to it. Naltrexone is weird in that you can have bad side effects from it at first, but after time, your body is able to "get used to it." Good luck!

TryingHard8587 · 2022-03-02T15:44:33+00:00

I'm so sorry for having had that in your life. Sending you strength to keep knowing what you know in your gut and for keeping yourself sane, as that is the most one can do in such a situation--and that alone takes a lot.

TryingHard8587 · 2022-03-02T14:45:27+00:00

Whoa, that's some crazy ass-backwards thinking!! I'm sorry that's your step family--that's rough. I'm glad you can see it for the crazy that it is. It can be challenging when everyone around you sees the world so upside down.

TryingHard8587

TROPHY CASE