Hi,
Been drinking consistently since the early 90's. First attempt at TSM reduced drinks per day from about 60 per week (April 2015) to 36 per week in (September 2015). In the summer of 2016 got two Vivitrol shots. First month had two drinks the entire month. Second shot I was probably sneaking 3-4 drinks a day.

When I restarted using Naltrexone in July I was back to 50 drinks a week. Not making much progress to date. I use alcohol to fight insomnia. I only drink at home and usually not until 11:00 to 11:30. I am 73 and the hangovers sometimes last well into the afternoon.

Using prescribed Lunesta plus Trazodone one of each to get to sleep. Did not work and was sick as a dog for the next 30 hours. Using just Lunesta but not really working. Meet with Doctor this Thursday. Hope I can find something to allow me to get to sleep besides Scotch. Nal works great at removing the urge to drink. I am certain that if can fix the sleep problem I could reduce alcohol to 5-10 drinks a week.

My plan for tonight is to drink gatoraide as my first drink and alternate with scotch. I try to take a sip every five minutes as I stare at the clock. A double scotch usually takes a half hour.

Second part of my plan is to listen to a sleep tape that I got off the internet for free on my mp3 player. The guy who posted it on youtube had over 10,000,000 views. Worth a try. I'll try to remember to post how it worked out.

Best regards,
Heatus

Best luck, Heatus!

Other meds to explore with your doc might be baclofen, gabapentin, topamax.

I've heard of others using trazodone, did you try that by itself?

How were you sleeping on the first shot of Vivitrol?

Hi Joesixpack,
The first shot of Vivitrol I was using Trazodone. I was going to sleep in about 5 minutes. Worked like a charm. For some reason the second shot did not work as well. Would lay in be for over an hour and give in a have a drink.

Last night I tried a couple of things that seemed to work. Took Lunesta early 9:30. Took all my heart meds but not cholesterol, blood pressure, 3 20mg Potassium meds. Got into bed at 10:00. Watched TV until 11:00 then had my first drink (gatoraide). At 11:30 had a double scotch. At 12:00 another Gatoaide. At 12:30 poured another double scotch fell asleep without finishing it. Woke up at 7:30 and felt refreshed with no hangover.

I know that this doesn't sound like much but for me it's big. I always have 6 and sometimes 8-9 scotches a night. I always have a hangover but not today. I have to figure if all my meds are causing my insomnia. I think some of them can be moved to the morning from dinner.

Cheers,
Heatus

That's great, Heatus!

You might want to get online and check out Lunesta to see how it commonly poops out. I read that it's a reformulated Z-class drug (a less addictive benzo). Just to gather some quick info on it, I checked Google and found this site:

http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/message-b ... esnt-work/

You may remember from your first go round with TSM that it's very up and down throughout, with the biggest variation coming at the beginning (the "Honeymoon"), so don't get discouraged if your numbers start heading back up for a bit. That's just the addicted "Lizard Brain" reaching out harder for it's favorite toy. Just stay compliant and those numbers should roll back down.

Thursday went to my Doc to discuss sleeping problems. Told her I could get to about 12:30-1:00 with out drinking using Nal. She recommended stopping the trazodone and Lunesta and gave me a script for zolpidem (10mg). Tried it Thursday night with fair results. Fell asleep in about 90 minutes slept solidly until 3:30 then wide awake got up and drank scotch and went back to sleep. Felt great on Friday with no hangover. Friday fell back into old habits. Saturday night use the zolpedium and had my first alcohol Free Day in about a year.

Congrats, Heatus! Sounds like the Zolpidem is a good match for you!

BTW, if this board goes down for some reason, there's another community over at http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net//. It's generally more lively there too.

AF days are sometimes followed by a short rebound on the next drinking day, so be on the lookout and see what you can do to quash the quantity if that shows up. Leaving your drink in another room (or even just out of reach) while you keep a NA drink close at hand can be a way to slow the pace down and help keep the totals under control.

Joesixpack,
Thanks for your response and support.

Had 2 AFD last week. Totals are slipping upwards this week. I'll keep plugging at this and hope that I find myself in the 85% that has success.
Cheers,
Heatus

This would be a good time to lean back into the uptick. Suggestions:

Dilute the scotch or switch to beer or wine. Liquor can spike the BAC and overpower the frontal lobes (where the STOP signal happens) so quickly that it makes it much more difficult to drink in a conscious, mindful manner.

Have a look at this video by Lundbeck, the makers of Naltrexone's younger sibling, Nalmefene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibR4zCH-_qQ

So if you can ease into the drinking at a rate that avoids that spike, you'll likely have better luck with TSM's normal rebounds.

Start to break up the habitual part of drinking so you disrupt the "flywheel effect" that keeps the drinking session going. One way to do this is to leave your drink in a different room and knock out little tasks between sips as I mentioned before. Keep a NA drink close to you though. If you drink faster at certain times, like when you're watching TV or you're on the phone, switch to a NA drink.

In general, think about what your evening would look like if you weren't drinking and start to phase some of that in.

Have a look at Generic's post too, a lot of people found it very helpful:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2807&p=63516&hilit=liquor#p63516

Nastrovia, Heatus! Keep letting us know how it's going for you!

Hi Joesixpack,
Thanks for the above post. I did check out the video and the good doctor's post. Had 4 scotches last night and still am hungover at 3pm the next day. Going to switch from scotch to vodka to see if it helps the hangovers. Also will go back to alternating between gatoraide and alcohol. Have been relentless in taking the Nal one hour before drinking. Weekly totals have been improving at a gradual rate. Really hoping I am in the 80-85% group that succeeds.
Cheers,
Heatus

"Really hoping I am in the 80-85% group that succeeds."

From what you're saying it seems to me that you are. Stay compliant and keep pushing back on the habitual part of drinking and you will walk a free man.