Hi everyone,
As a relatively private person I was very hesitant to post anything, but have been reading other posts for inspiration, and wanted to contribute as well. I have been drinking more than I would have liked for about 11 years, some nights 4-5 glasses a wine, most at least 3, and it seemed like my tolerance just continued to increase. It was very difficult for me to have an alcohol free night, and I didn't like my dependence--psychologically it was quite difficult to imagine stopping altogether. For the past year and a half I have been following the paleo diet (no grains or processed foods) and that has helped me to lose quite a bit of weight, and also assisted with a lot of other health issues, but overall I was unhappy that I couldn't stop drinking. Deciding to try to stop, I did a lot of research, and read Allen Carr and Jason Vale's books. The books helped me to try going alcohol free altogether, which I did for about 10 days, but in the meantime, I also came across Dr. Eskapa's book. Since I was going on a vacation to Spain, I decided to try to find Naltrexone and start drinking again moderately following Dr. Eskapa's guidelines. Once I purchased the Nal, I decided since I had managed to be alcohol free for several days, that I would combine moderation with Nal and be able to work on extinction while also enjoying the new-found clarity and peace of mind I had when I wasn't drinking.

So, for the past 4 weeks, I have been alcohol free 4-5 days a week, with Naltrexone on the weekends. This approach has been working very well for me. I have been having 3-4 glasses of wine on weekends, and it has not taken any willpower to stop at that point. I have also been working on restoring my brain chemistry, knowing that alcohol depletes certain vitamins and can also wreak havoc on your neurotransmitter efficiency. I have had a lot of success with unsweetened whey protein in a smoothie to calm the diminishing cravings during the week (I have found that the glutamine in whey protein is especially good for cravings).

So, that's about it. It seems a little too easy to be true, but I think the combination of the paleo diet and naltrexone are pretty incredible for giving your body what it needs to stop drinking. I want to say thank you to everyone who has posted, the stories are motivational and I have been really overwhelmed with everyone's honesty and kindness. I probably won't post very much, but maybe a few months down the line, I will be able to say I am cured as well.

Thank you for your post. You are exactly where I want to be, ideally in the next few months.

Kat, that's wonderful progress, in a short time...thank you for sharing your successful story with us. Some interesting variations, with the whey protein, etc.

Keep reading, posting, and Nal on!

Chrissie

Great news, Kat! You are making a lot of smart decisions about how to care for your body and reclaim the life you want to have. Congrats and stay with it!

Congrats! Although...to each his own There's no way in hell I'd ever survive a paleo diet lol

Hi all,
I am checking in to let everyone know that the Naltrexone has worked beyond my expectations. After a few months, I am no longer interested in drinking at all. I have tried having a few glasses of wine on the weekends, but since I am not receiving any of the positive benefits, and the nal seems to make me a bit uneasy and nauseous, I no longer really see the point in having any wine at all. I feel a little premature saying that I'm cured, but I can't really see myself going back, There are so many benefits to not drinking, which I couldn't see clearly before. Primarily having more time for myself, sleeping better, reading more, and just feeling generally more healthy (I used to have some chronic pain which has completely dissipated). I feel so fortunate to have found naltrexone and this message board, so I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, I really appreciate the supportive atmosphere.

Overall, I think one of the benefits of this method is that it removes a lot of the shame, embarrassment, and taboo surrounding too much drinking, which allows us to approach the problem from a scientific and systematic perspective, and thus we can take care of it without second-guessing ourselves. I will check in a bit later down the line. Best of luck to all of you on your respective journeys.

Kat

Congratulations! Sleeping well is great isn't it? Its one of the benefits I had not dreamed of but is the best part of it!

When you think it's a done deal, please pm Q to be put on the cured list. When I first started reading here, the lack of people on the cured list was a discouragement. I am certainly going to do the same when I meet the goals of ULMD for a period of time.

Take care!