First time posted - so hello and hope everyone is as good as can be expected . Quick background and no doubt possibly a common one to many ; rehab twice / detox 5 times in 12 years / AA/ not AA / etc etc .
Began taking 50gm naltrexone six months ago ( 1 hour before) . Initial weeks were quite good with a reduction in units and at times even a " non drinking urge" and even " no i will have a coffee " . However , at present my intake has risen back up to and "flattened" out at 110/120 UK units per week with very few AF days [ * i do not even do my log anymore because input has been static for weeks ]This is only slightly lower than before the naltrexone. Thus, two things are really worrying me ; 1) Was the initial progress simply a placebo effect ? You know how it works ..... " Oh a new treatment ...cure?" off you go with the enthusiasm of a kid in a sweet factory ! Its always works .... for a while at least .
2) Normally a vodka drinker but have drank beer [ promise to wife] since starting taking naltrexone 6 months ago . Recently however, it now appears 10% abv beer is on the menu ! ... which is also worrying .
Any input from members of spikes , plateaus , or similiar experiences to mine after this 6 month period would be greatly appreciated . I suppose i have the the "jitters " and i know some people have taken 12 months + before success. That said , i would be suprised if their consumption was 100+ UK units at 6 months . Am i wrong?
thank you , and good luck and best wishes to you all .

You might want to repost this in either weekly progress or general discussion. Those seem to get the most traffic.

If you have been drinking that much for a long time, you could be in for over a year. I know I am still having extinction bursts, but have thankfully settled in at about 1/3 of my preTSM levels. I think my drop is because I didn't have as much time as a daily drinker at those levels. As a daily drinker, I have had about 5 AF days in going on 8 months. Numbers are down, but I drink at least a beer a day.

Seems pretty common to me, if understandably worrying. Many people plateau, reach their pre-TSM levels and get worried. That's dangerous only because it's when a lot of people decide to stop taking nal and go straight back to their original problems. First of all, it's great that you're drinking beer and not vodka, and that should help in the longer run (EVEN if it's 10% beer...). Can you notice any other subjective changes that are good? Less blacking out, more control, etc?
As for the placebo effect...probably not. The "honeymoon" is a common and well-documented (on this board) phase of naltrexone use. It's real, just not permanent.

First and foremost -thx ever so much for the reply . Yes, upon reading your post i do realise there are positives in there . The switch from vodka to beer is one , as is the lack of huge hangovers and being " blind drunk" . I suppose i am suffering from the fear of failure and the sceptical attitude of family and friends who are slightly aghast at the idea of the program . I basically think i am looking for a member to say " yes that's exactly what happened to me ... and look at me now! " . As for giving up on nal until 12+- is not even an option for me. Most roads have been tried and i think i'm now on the footpaths running alongside ! lol .

Hey Joetee,

Been there and done that. If you want my story, find my thread.

My experience is very similar to yours. Got scared and impatient (as did the wife). I levelled out at a certain level and drank every day like that for a long time. I am at about 1 year exactly and tonight is my second AF Monday in a row, and things are getting a tiny bit better every day, with setbacks that I decided to just roll with.

I know it is tough on the family and there is lots of self-doubt, but I would say my life is 80-85% better than the pre-nal. It has taken me a long time and I am still drinking way too much, but my progress continues and everyone in my family has stopped worrying about me. I can actually choose not to drink on a night like tonight. That is a miracle from where I was at. As well, I can safely attend a function where booze is served and have 2 or 3 in 2 or 3 hours and stop. Never before.

When I checked into rehab 2 years ago, I was falling apart. Now, my biggest problem is that I want to lose some weight.
That is the only thing bothering me right now.

All the best to you. PM me if you like.

We are on nal; both my wife and I, and maybe have similar experience with you.

Me; I used to drink at least 400 gr of vodka every day which gave me a hangover the next day. After several months things started to get better, I`m down to 3-4 beers every day with some AF every once in a while; drink left in glasses (cans) all the time, very rare hangovers, no blackouts or embarrassments ever.

My wife, I have to admit much better than before -only in some ways-; no binges, no hangovers anymore, no blackouts, no aggressive behavior; but drinks really a lot. Before she used to have a binge of say 15-20 days then she would come to her senses and try and reduce intake, would go well (maybe a bottle of wine daily) for a month or so before starting another binge. Now she drinks from the morning, till the night, at least 2 bottles of wine, maybe more; doesn`t look good at all (it seems she also has depression and maybe vitamin deficiency, which we are trying to deal with) but at night just goes to bed at 10pm and sleeps until morning and wakes up well. I think that`s far from being cured but some progress in some ways.

My concern is; did naltrexone really act and stopped the hangovers but by this way helped her take alcohol in higher amounts ? Before, at least she was OK during daytime and early evenings (except the binges) but now we don`t have a social life, she looks awful, and she can`t even take care of or have fun with the kids. Starting to lose hope, but I think I also have to take into account he has alcoholics in the family from both sides and has been drinking heavily for 15years now (except pregnancies).

Hello Joethelion and thx for the post. Yes , it appears this is quite a common experience although you cannot help being concerned . I have now come to the conclusion that we are trying our best and that is all we can do . For me therefore , i am just going to see the nal through to the duration ( 12months+) and just hope . If not successful ...... then i am probably no more worse off than before because i would have been drinking anyway . Bit basic but true i think and it seems you are both doing your best . Addressing the depression issue is very wise because a dual diagnosis is very common to many people with alcohol problems (I can sympathise with your wife here) As far as the nal reducing the hangover effects - then again i am in agreement here as this has been the case with me also.
For what its worth here is my take {only my opinion} on the problem; 1) Genetic pre-disposistion -all my relatives are heavy drinkers ( brother died of alcoholism aged 33years for example) 2) learned behaviour either from the family or the social and 3) both 1) and 2) leading to the formation of ingrained HABIT at both the biological and social level . I think then that the problem has to be approached as a package and although the nal may work for some without addressing the habit problem [ ie it just falls away ] for others it will not. [A good read on habit formation is - THE POWER OF HABIT by Charles Duhigg]. It seems this is what we are up against and boy is it strong!! lol . What i find intresting is that your wife did not drink whilst pregnant which ties in with Spinozas view that any emotion can only be tempered by an equal or stronger emotion . Again , how do we generate an emotion stronger than the urge to drink? For me i do believe this is possible (as your wife proved) but whether that can be induced or just happens... i am not sure . Anyway like i said all we can do is our best and i think that is what you are doing so perhaps you could carry on with the nal for the duration and see what happens. If it ultimately does not work then we go back to the drawing board and try a different approach . Perhaps the adage " do the same thing get the same result " holds here. I do hope things work out ( in fact i wish i had a magic wand for all members!!) so good luck and best wishes .

Many thanks for the good wishes ! You are right about the roots of the disease; my wife not only has alcoholics from both sides but also she`s from a country where heavy drinking is part of the culture which makes things more difficult. Another common thing I just realized is -and this possibly explains lack of hangovers- ability to stop for several hours and then continue; before this wasn`t possible either.