Well...my prescription arrived on Saturday....started with 25 mg yesterday....felt nauseoous and a bit dizzy...consumed 12 units...slept ok....felt foggy this morning, unllike any hangover feeling that I have had in the past....took the other 25 mg and will have some drinks today....feeling somewhat anxious and out of sorts.... not sure if this is typical when you start the NAL....have to travel to meetings tomorrow.....not sure if I will take the NAL or not ( just go AF ) I am not that comfortable with how this feels on day 2....any insights would be appreciated

These side effects sound totally normal and go away for almost everyone. The nausea can be a bitch (I still occasionally get it) but the dizziness, spaciness, and the like should go away entirely. The nal-over is a unique creature from hell, but think of it as something deterring you even further from drinking too much
Good luck and post often! Hang in there, it will get a lot easier in the long run.
EL

Thanks.....had a couple of drinks and feel much better....took the NAL 45 minutes prior....is the 1 hour rule firm ? Also....I have no appetite, is this normal on NAL ?

I took 25 mg at 11:15 am....have had 7 units - it is now 6:00 pm...do I take another 25 mg if I want to continue drinking throughout the evening or will the original 25 take care of me or will a second 25 mg be fruitless since have already consumed....just trying to figure this program out....thanks in advance for you help

You should probably take another 25mg. First of all, 25 is only a half dose, so it won't cover you entirely in some cases. Secondly, even though nal stays in your system for 24 hours, its half life is only 4 hours. Which means that after 4 hours, it is half as strong as it originally was...and so forth. In my personal experience, after about 6 hours the nal is not doing anything anymore.
Also, loss of appetite happens on nal to people...for me it's nausea, but they're related I guess.
EL

Mtka1 I am brand new to NAL as well and having the same side effects, let's hope we both get past this prelim reaction, good luck!

Hi, I'm new too. After 2 weeks on the program I seem to have more AF days but once I start it's all over. I just keep drinking up to 9-10 units and then collapse. Blackouts common.

I also wonder, as did another person on this page, about the hour-before rule. Where I live, most people don't have phones and just show up with a six-pack, so I have no notice. I have taken the Nal immediately before the first drink, 1/2 hour before, or 45 minutes before, although I try to to make it an hour. Am I doing myself serious harm here?

I also worry about using a benzodiazepine called clonazepam. I use it for insomnia, and of course take it hours and hours after the Nal, but could it be harming my TSM therapy?

As a new user I feel my "buzz" somewhat different with Nal, although not at all unattractive. Some nausea and urinary retention on mornings after Nal +drinking. Nothing really serious. Hangovers worse, but not much. Thanks everybody.

Pre TSM: Maybe 49 per wk

Wk 1: 33
Wk. 2: 25, but there's one more day to go.

Hey there,
The one hour rule is a rule of thumb. Of course, if you take it 55 minutes before you're not going to be in serious trouble. However, you do need to give your body time to digest the nal and get it in your bloodstream for it to be effective. If you pop a nal and drink 10-15 minutes later, you're setting yourself up for problems. Of course, it happens, and it's better than not taking nal at all, but you're allowing some amount of alcohol endorphins to get released, so it's going to weaken the whole premiss of TSM.
As for benzos, they aren't opiates, so you're ok on the safety end of things. However, as you know, booze and benzos are a dangerous combo, so you should definitely try and space those two out as much as possible...

Thank you, I guess I pretty much figured I better obey the 1-hour rule. It's just hard, the way things are around here. I mean, I don't say, oh, I'll be off work in an hour and then I'll go have some drinks. I don't say, oh so-and-so's coming over at 3 so I better take Nal at 2. Everything is so spur of the moment here. I'll try harder, and thanks. As to the benzos, I usually take those long after drinking, when I wake up at 3 am and can't sleep. I know the dangers, and the dose I take is pretty low. I should try to get off them. Some nights I don't need them.