How does this TSM alcohol drug help with the TSM drinking process?

As you may be aware by now, TSM stands for The Sinclair Method, named after Dr. John D. Sinclair. Naltrexone treatment, combined with alcohol intake, is the foundation of alcohol TSM therapy.

Alcohol addiction is best treated by reducing alcohol craving. TSM is an addiction treatment that leads to pharmacological extinction, the point where cravings for alcohol use are eliminated.

Dr. David Sinclair developed TSM drinking reduction therapy as an alcohol addiction treatment that helps people to reduce alcohol consumption.

The TSM drug in question is naltrexone, a powerful opioid receptor blocker. TSM works so well, that it has been called the vaccine against alcohol abuse.

Alcohol withdrawal is not a healthy state for the human brain and body.

When a person is in a state of alcohol dependence, they will go into alcohol withdrawal if they stop drinking suddenly, or cold turkey. As with many psychoactive drugs that cause dependence, tapering gradually off of alcohol is less traumatic to the brain.

Yet, how is it possible to taper from alcohol dependency when a person suffers from alcohol use disorder, or alcohol addiction? The answer lies in combining clinical psychopharmacology with the ideas and work of Dr. Ivan Pavlov.

Combining naltrexone, known by TSM advocates as the one little pill, with alcohol drinking is a habit erasing behavior. By blocking endorphin activity at the brain’s opioid receptors, a person is able to quit drinking by reducing alcohol consumption gradually.

TSM alcohol treatment helps a person to overcome alcohol misuse without experiencing traumatic withdrawal symptoms. Using the opiate blocker, naltrexone to achieve addiction recovery from alcohol is safer and more effective than traditional abstinence treatment for many people.

What about positive habit forming behaviors?

Is daily naltrexone use bad for a person’s mental health and well being? One part of Dr. John David Sinclair’s TSM theory is that the medication should not be taken every day. This message is also repeated in the famous TSM book by Dr. Roy Eskapa, where he explains that naltrexone should not be taken on alcohol-free days.

However, some naltrexone patients do take the opioid blocking drug every single day. What is the advantage of not taking naltrexone on non-drinking days?

The belief is that positive habit forming behavior occurs on those alcohol free (AF) days, where the patient is encouraged to engage in positive behaviors. Behaviors, such as exercise, and spending time with family, may replace negative behaviors, such as alcohol misuse or substance abuse, in the reward centers of the brain.

Are the patients who take naltrexone daily, or patients who take the monthly naltrexone shot, Vivitrol, not getting the positive habit forming behavior reinforcement? Are they at a disadvantage compared to TSM patients in their addiction treatment?

The human central nervous system is complex and robust. Humans are not rats. While there may be some advantages to taking days off from naltrexone, the brain can certainly learn from positive activities, even while on an opioid blocker, such as naltrexone.

Is it better to use an online program, such as Ria Health, or a concierge TSM doctor?

This is an excellent question. Many people looking for help to quit drinking end up at Alcoholics Anonymous. The message in AA is that members have found the program after trying everything else, which ultimately failed them.

They tried doctors, psychiatry, psychology, white-knuckling, and they could not quit drinking. Yet, this message is not quite accurate.

We can be fairly certain that many people who attend AA meetings have not tried TSM. In fact, they most likely have never heard of The Sinclair Method.

How can someone say confidently that they have tried everything before going to AA if they have not even heard of TSM, which has a higher success rate than either rehab or the AA program? Fortunately, famous sci-fi actress, Claudia Christian, has worked hard for nearly a decade in promoting TSM through her TED talks, and her non-profit organization, the C3 Foundation.

While the message is still not getting out to enough doctors and people with drinking challenges, it is finally being discovered by millions of people online. The C3 Foundation has a TSM professional section of the website that helps people find doctors, or healthcare companies, that offer TSM services.

Ria Health is an online, telemedicine service that provides full service TSM treatment. Patients are given literature, therapy, and visits with prescribing healthcare professionals.

The alternative to a program, such as Ria, is to see a local doctor, or regional telemedicine doctor, who is knowledgeable about TSM, and how to prescribe and explain the treatment.

Which option will work best depends on the individual. Some people have fully researched TSM, and they simply need a doctor willing to write the naltrexone prescription.

Other people may prefer the thorough guidance of a program that includes coaching, therapy, medical visits, and digital app support. Patients can have success with Dr. Sinclair’s TSM protocol with either approach.

What if TSM does not work and heavy drinking continues?

Alcohol addiction is a form of drug addiction. Drug addiction affects people differently. Some people will respond to TSM better than others.

Additionally, some people who respond well to the treatment may choose to postpone fully engaging in the program, simply because they enjoy the feeling of the alcohol high that they experience without naltrexone in their system. If someone cannot get sober with TSM, does that mean that TSM is not going to work for them?

There are some experts who believe that naltrexone will not have the desired effect on all people. In fact, it has been said that 10% of the population will not respond adequately, and TSM will not work.

Fortunately, there are other medications and medical treatment protocols besides TSM that can be used as an alternative. The Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society is an excellent resource for alternate medication assisted treatments for alcohol addiction.

CAADS, founded by Dr. Jeff Harries, is dedicated to educating the public, and doctors, on existing, available medical treatments that can help people to reduce alcohol consumption. There are also medical treatments to help people who have quit drinking cold turkey, to tolerate the withdrawal symptoms.

Just because TSM is not a good option for an individual does not mean that medications cannot help that person to quit drinking. While 12-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous are excellent for the peer support that they provide, sometimes there is too much of an anti-medicine perspective amongst members that may have a negative influence on new members who might benefit from medical treatment.

If TSM for alcoholism is such a great way to quit drinking alcohol, why haven’t more people heard about it?

Often, we think that if something was good, it would be well known in mainstream culture. When we see alcoholism addressed on television, and in the media, in general, we see programs that are founded in the Abstinence-based AA program.

US rehabs provide treatment that is based on the structure of AA. Patients gather in daily group meetings to discuss their issues with alcohol, and other personal problems, including past traumas.

We see the group meeting played out in television shows over and over again. “Hi, I’m Joe, and I’m an alcoholic.” Celebrity addiction programs also promote this traditional spirituality-based method.

When someone tries to explain how TSM works, and how it is based in science and supported by extensive research, people might respond that if it was so good, why has no one heard of it. Then again, how do we ever hear about medical treatments?

Pharmaceutical companies run ads on television all the time for various medications. We are constantly bombarded with ads for over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Most of these drug ads are for new, brand name products. The companies are willing to commit huge advertising budgets, because they are able to profit on a product for which there is little to no competition. When a drug has been on the market for many years, and the patent runs out, the ads tend to go away.

We rarely see ads for generic medications, because there is little justification for promoting these low cost prescription drugs. But, don’t doctors still know about them and prescribe them?

You might be surprised to see how the pharmaceutical industry influences how doctors think of medical treatments. Doctors are also victims of intense advertising, though it is targeted at them differently than the public.

Doctors are given the perception that older drugs are not effective, and the newest drugs on the market are far superior. The truth is that many new drugs have unknown dangers that were not revealed in early research, and older drugs have a long track record of relative safety and success.

The rehab industry is a powerful multi-billion dollar industry.

There is not a lot of money to be made from a proven therapy, such as TSM. Rehabs do not have a high success rate, but they tend to have many repeat costumers. When rehab clients relapse, and start drinking again, the failure is always blamed on the client, and not on the rehab’s failed program.

Would it be possible for a rehab to implement a TSM for alcoholism program? In fact, there is one single rehab in the US offering TSM as the foundation for their alcohol treatment program.

Deerhaven Park is the first residential rehab program to provide TSM naltrexone therapy to their patients. For now, the program is small, and limited to women only.

In the future, we may expect them to expand their program to allow more people to attend, including men. This innovative program is groundbreaking in that they are offering proven medical treatment, rather than an outdated spiritual approach to treating a real medical condition.

Otherwise, at most rehab programs, it is business as usual. Why change how they treat addiction when the current model is so profitable?

As long as people are willing to accept the premise that the “addict” is always to blame for failure, traditional rehabs can keep offering treatment that does not work. All they have to do is blame the patient for treatment failure.

Would we accept that response from a hospital with a string of botched surgeries? Would we blame the surgery patients for not “working the program” hard enough?

While patient involvement in alcohol addiction treatment is important, even with TSM, at some point, we must also look at the treatment itself, to see if it is working. Rehabs tend not to have great long-term success rates, but insurance companies continue to pay them, and people continue to attend them.

Is it a good idea to work with a TSM coach?

Coaches are a relatively new phenomenon. While athletes have always had coaches, we now have life coaches, business coaches, and addiction coaches.

A coach may have a certification from an organization, stating that they have met the requirements for that organization to be a coach, but coaches are not licensed healthcare professionals. Coaches do not have the same rigorous requirements that a doctor or nurse has to achieve before being licensed to do their job.

It is possible for a coach to go into business without any certification. If a coach can market themselves well, they can attract the attention of clients, even without official credentials. Often, testimonials from past clients are enough to convince new clients to sign up.

Is it risky to schedule a session with a TSM coach? For someone considering working with a coach, I recommend learning as much as possible about TSM before hiring the coach.

If you know about The Sinclair Method, and how it works, you will be able to see if your coach knows what they are talking about. Often, the coach is there to guide the client with their own experience with TSM.

Most TSM coaches have been successful themselves with The Sinclair Method. The coach can help by letting the client know what to expect, and they can guide them through difficult times when they have trouble sticking with the program.

Of course, if you are seeing a TSM doctor, your doctor’s instructions are important, and you should not take a coach’s advice over your doctor’s advice. If you decide to work with a TSM coach, let your TSM doctor know about your plans, and share any coaching instructions with your doctor.

Do doctors know about TSM for alcoholism?

As stated earlier, the C3 Foundation is an excellent resource for finding doctors who understand TSM. In some cases, the best that a patient can find is a doctor who is at least willing to prescribe daily naltrexone tablets, though their knowledge of TSM may be limited.

Ideally, if you see a doctor for alcohol treatment, and they do not know about TSM, you can ask them to research it. Then, on your next visit with the doctor, hopefully you will be returning to a doctor who is now well-versed in TSM literature.

Doctors who do not know much about TSM, or even if they have never heard of it, can learn more at the C3 Foundation website. There is literature and book recommendations to help doctors learn more about the program and how to provide treatment to their patients.

Someday, TSM naltrexone may be available over-the-counter. Imagine the product might even be named, “TSM Naltrexone.”

When the OTC version of the medication is available, with instructions on following TSM, patients will have agency in following the treatment without having to get the permission of their doctor.

At that time, taking naltrexone will be similar to taking ibuprofen. While we must always report any OTC meds or supplements that we take to our doctors, for safety reasons, we do not have to absolutely have a doctor’s permission to start the program.

Ideally, patients should ensure that their blood liver profile is in normal range, and that they have no contraindications for taking naltrexone.

Also, they must not be taking any form of opioid, or even an opioid-like substance, such as kratom. When naltrexone is OTC, the label will have to address all of these warnings.

Until naltrexone is made available as an OTC medication, at least there are more and more doctors coming onboard all the time, learning about TSM. And, it is likely that you can help to educate your doctor, who will see that naltrexone is a relatively safe, and non-addictive medication that is effective as a harm reduction method of helping people to reduce their alcohol consumption.