hi everyone. new guy here

I am just starting my eighth week. Don't really know what I expected. Maybe a miracle, I don't know

Anyways... For me, I still go out to buy beer as often as usual. In Pavlovian terms... "I still hear the bell"

I just find that I am drink slower. It takes me longer to get through a six pack. I still finish it usually, just longer. My interest instead might me on the conversation, or something else.

How do I feel? Well, let me share one of my first experiences in my first week that really caught me by surprise. I tend to have chronic back pain. Not in a wheel chair kind of thing. Just always uncomfortable. Used to use this as an excuse (among other excuses) to go get some beer. About one week in I was 5 beers in to a drinking session. Definitely feeling buzzed... but my back was still hurting. I still felt all of the discomfort. It was super-weird. The endorphins from drinking were not blocking my discomfort. It was a weird feeling. Its not all that weird in week 8. Guess I have gotten used to it. But if you are new to this, you may notice body discomforts that usually go numb when you drink.

HiMyNameIsRick ---- HelloRick

Yeah, i noticed that. Thankfully, only minor stuff though.

Bump for newbies.

Babs

And I, a noob not even yet on the pill, thank you for the bump.

This thread provides a wealth of information concerning what to expect.

As a drunk to a degree I cannot say I have ever seen in anyone else, (Yes, it Is Just That Insane), this information is very valuable as I seek out a level of expectation that will be in line with reality.

Again, thanks.

Drinking on NAL now feels a lot like smoking pot to me. I've never liked pot, probably tried it less than a dozen times in 30 years because I always found myself feeling somehow impaired but not in a pleasant way. The word that comes up for me is "scratchy." Offer me a joint these days, and I'll recoil. Just had a few glasses of wine this evening and it's very much the same sensation ... the part of me that wants the old wine buzz hasn't given up yet, but the actual experience does not deliver.

That part sounds very familiar. I'm quietly puzzled by people who say that drinking on nal doesn't feel any different.

Like pot, eh? Haven't heard that one before.

The pot analogy is apt for me as well. I hate the stuff, and what you said, Kate (impaired, but not in a good way), is exactly my experience with both marijuana and drinking on naltrexone.

Yay! It feels good to be validated. I know plenty of enthusiastic pot users. I guess it all depends on your particular brain chemistry.

hey Tiller. I am new to this site but have been following TSM for almost 4 months now after a failed stint a few years ago. I failed previously b/c I was sloppy about taking NAL and eventually just went back to drinking without NAL because I was embarrassed about going to a doctor for a refill.

Anyway my experience on NAL is similar to electric lou's and other. Before becoming a full alcoholic I used to get a euphoric rush from alcohol. I would get energized and feel super open and loose and courageous. Eventually the rush became less and less and it's half life of the rush decreased. Eventually the rush lasted for a few minutes, if even that, and all the other "positives" of drinking had been reduced to insignificant levels. Drinking was no longer fun and became all about chasing the rush that I used to get. Nal has completely taken away that euphoric rush for me and all I get is a weird numb feeling with a touch of irritability. I can't say that its not pleasurable but I can't say it IS pleasurable. What I can say is that it is different and I definitely feel like the pleasure has decreased.

Irritability is an understatement for me.....I'm 10 weeks in and a beer or two makes me super irritable but it passes after a bit. I suspect that it's due to some sort of internal frustration over pressing the button but not getting the expected reward...

Carry on.....