Greetings all, it has been a number of weeks for me on NAL, and wow what a difference. I am very fortunate to have responded well to the medication - FINALLY something which offers hope.

I have been reading about a number of reactions, side effects, of being on NAL, and I was hoping to create a thread documenting these experiences as a resource. Possibly someone can compile in a survey within the forum - anybody with the technology chops to do this?

My personal experiences:

POSITIVE
- dramatically diminished desire for alcohol, can actually take it or leave it. Been having a beer or two after work as it has been my routine/social gathering for years.
- binges have ended
- optimism has been restored
- functioning much more productively in my career
- wife has noticed a HUGE change in me (*** my biggest positive ***)

NEGATIVE
- horrible "nal overs" when I have three or more drinks
- sleep is not restful, again when I have three or more drinks
- worried about running out of NAL, have just ordered additional to give me a 6 month inventory.

Honestly, my life was a mess before I started TSM, and now I feel like it's back on track. I still have ups and downs, but slowly and surely I feel like I'm recovering.

I guess what I'm trying to say is.......the negatives are inconsequential in comparison to the positives.

all41,
Agreed, today is much better than yesterday which was better than the day before. Noting this, reality is, I am going through some physical difficulties which I do not believe are unusual. I am in this for the long haul, just don't like physically getting my butt kicked every time I take NAL. Hoping this is short term, just looking for others experiences.

Gamber - your positives way outweigh your negatives - if you allot each thing a number out of ten, you will find it is even better. You have sorted the running out negative - ordering 6 months supply, the Nal-over when you have more than three drinks will eventually go as you will not have more than 3 drinks ... the sleeping I am with you on ! I am sleeping really badly too - BUT if I have more than three drinks, sleep terribly anyway - pre Nal and post Nal! I get awful hot sweats and lie there at 3.00 unable to get back to sleep - so we both have motivation to carry on with this and get it sorted !

Glad you are feeling better today,

Maggie x