Hi
A quick run down on me:
I'm currently a stay at home mom of 2 amazing young children. I have about 15 year history with alcohol. I came across tsm a few nights ago while googling Naltrexone, as my doctor mentioned that I may want to try it. I am so amazed/ almost angry that I have never been told about tsm. I struggle so much with abstinence and other recovery programs just have not worked for me. After reading a bit about tsm online, I purchased The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction.
and am reading it. I began 50mg of Naltrexone yesterday, an hour before I had wine. I feel a little spacy/tired today. I hope that is temporary. I'm really hopeful that tsm will work for me.

Edited to ask a couple of questions

Are some of you starting on 25 mg? I definitely felt off this morning. I took the 50 mg yesterday at 230 and had an hour 6 glasses of wine between 330 and 9pm. That is actually one drink more than I had the previous evening when I did not take Naltrexone.

Cody, you have so come to the right place! Thank you for being here! You've my permission to send "The Struggle" a pink slip, you're on the road to being done with it.

From the sounds of it, your side effects should fade fairly quickly. Some take a week or two, although others think they've only taken a sugar pill and don't notice any difference at all, except that they start drinking less. Often, people start on 25mg for the first few days then bump it up to 50mg after the bulk of the side effects pass.

Did your doc tell you about TSM, or did he tell you to quit drinking and take the Nal every day? If the former, he might make a good addition to C3's "Find a Physician" list, though they like to contact the doc first and ensure they're prescribing per TSM.

Tell us a bit more about your drinking style and how many drinks per day you were having when you started TSM. You're sure to find someone here that's been down that road, they'll likely drop in and give you some tips.

Are you taking any other meds besides Naltrexone? Some of them can walk on Naltrexone/TSM is why I ask.

Again, welcome and thanks for finding us!

It looks like you answered my question about my dose while I was editing my post to ask it. Thank you. I'll try 25mg tonight.
My doctor suggested Naltrexone as a way to help me abstain. I did not discuss tsm when I asked her to write me the perscription. I assumed she would not be on board with "Drinking my way sober." I will tell her everything if I have success with this, so that she may pass it along.

More about my drinking- I am 32. It seems like there is a long history of alcoholism on my father's side, me being the first woman in my family to be alcoholic. Like my father, I was highly functional-at least outwardly. I started drinking almost daily at 17, my first semester in college. It was a few beers, maybe binges at parties. At 23, I became a flight attendant and that did not help with my problem. It was a party lifestyle and I started drinking whiskey. I never drank all day, but I definitely drank way too much and every day. I blacked out often. I made some pretty stupid decisions while drinking. After 5 years of that, I stopped flight attending to "settle down/grow up." I got a desk job and stopped drinking whiskey. I thought wine would be a better option. I didn't behave as badly when drinking wine. I was drinking about 2 bottles after work each evening. After about a year of that, I met my husband and quit drinking. I was completely sober for about a year and a half. I wanted to drink, but knew I had been ruining my life. I had my son at 30 and had wine that thanksgiving. I began drinking daily again. I wasn't getting trashed, but had to have my nightly wine...about 6 glasses. We were planning to try for a second child so I just figured I'd stop drinking again when I got pregnant. I had a much harder time not drinking this past pregnancy. I actually checked myself into rehab so I could not hurt my baby. Between that and AA, I remained abstinent in pregnancy. My beautiful, healthy daughter was born this January. I was trying hard to remain abstinent, but I obsess about drinking. My doctor had mentioned Naltrexone as something I may try to lessen cravings after pregnancy. It was a lucky chance that I came across tsm. It really makes sense to me. I would love to not be so preoccupied with drinking. I'd love to be sober and not feel like I was being denied something every evening .
I started having wine again on Friday and try to limit myself to a bottle, but have had a bottle and a half a couple of those nights.
So day one on Naltrexone- 6 glasses
Today is day two. I'll probably take it around 3.

I forgot to add that I take Citalopram for anxiety. I was on 20mg for years and was upped to 40mg about a month ago. I am considering tapering that back down a bit.

I think you're off to a good start, seems like you've got some control built in from abstaining before, so that could help you keep the volume down. Other than that, drink as you normally would (time of day, type of drink) but see if you can keep a cap on the quantity. Before you pour the next drink, ask yourself if you really want it. If no, then put the cork back in and leave it for the night. Don't "neck" the first drink, stretch it out, same with the others. Don't keep it in your hand. Wedge a glass of water in between drinks. If you normally have your drink with you when you talk on the phone or smoke, break that link. In general, watch for times when your consumption per hour goes up and try to keep it on an even keel. Those are all suggestions to move things along more quickly, mindfulness techniques really. Even if you didn't do any of that, the Nal would still work.

Just two rules around here, The Golden Rule (take the Nal and wait an hour) and "no white knucking". If you crave, then follow the Golden Rule and then have a drink. It only takes one drink to move the extinction of your craving a step forward. The number of drinks you have may drop and then pop back up again, so don't worry if that happens. As long as you follow the Golden Rule, you're doing your job and the Nal will do it's job.

Antidepressants can have odd effects, especially when alcohol enters the mix. Did you notice that you started drinking more after you started taking Citalopram? Some find AD's have that effect, others start drinking less, or it might not make any difference at all in that respect. It's all about your individual chemistry, as far as I can see.

Thanks so much for the replies.
I need to finish reading book asap. I wasn't even aware of the no white knuckling rule. That's great to know because I often push myself not to start drinking yet, even though I want to.
I think the Citalopram reduced the amount I drank when I was first prescribed it, but that evened out.

Good deal, HopefulC.

Yes, the craving is what you want to hunt. That's the time to strike at it with the Golden Rule and then a drink. Your brain might feel like it just lost it's favorite toy, so steel yourself a bit!

Quick update-

I only took the 25 mg yesterday and feel MUCH better today. I'm in a particularly good mood, although that may not be related.
I poured an entire bottle of wine last night, but didn't finish the last glass. I'm pretty impressed with that for a start. I guess I'll just start tracking weekly progress now.

Is the general consensus here that a 750ml bottle of wine is 6 glasses/units?
I've always considered it 4 glasses, but it appears that's not what normal people think. I just want to make sure I'm recording correctly per TSM.

And I have been trying get into mindfulness meditation lately. I have found an app/website called calm.com very helpful for someone like me who used to think myself incapable of meditation. I recommend it. A behavioral therapist recommended it to me. I am a big fan .

Thanks for that, Hopeful! I've kind of been wondering about that myself, I'll give it a shot!