Hello All,

For months now I have reading posts on this forum but today I finally registered and decided to post my concerns in hopes of some help, advice, and comfort.

My significant other is 35, has had a major drinking problem for the past 15+ years. He has tried numerous rehabs and AA for years. He has lost everything. He has been unable to maintain employment, has no vehicle, is in and out of jail and emergency rooms, been kicked out of every single halfway house for 90 miles around, homeless(even slept at a shelter for a few nights). For years now he has resorted to drinking hand sanitizer and mouthwash. For the past few weeks he has maintained a job and has been able to purchase beer. After months of me encouraging him to try nal he finally has. However, I am not sure if he will be complaint. Sometimes he is good about waiting an hour other times he becomes irate with me when I tell him he has 15 more mins. He loves to drink! He loves to catch a buzz, I don't blame him as I do too. In spite of his proclamations of wanting to to quit or regain control I am not so sure. On two occasions he suffered severe nausea to the point of vomiting from nal. I fear this may discourage from taking nal and simply telling me has. On two others occasions nal did not seem to work because he drank as he normally does. He has told me that he struggles with the mental component of the alcohol calling to him which I understand but he forces himself to drink. This is very discouraging to me because obviously nal is working. Will nal work if he makes himself drink despite his body and brain telling he has had enough?

On the weekends he starts drinking at 11 am and does not stop until he passes out after 7-8 hours of constant drinking. I have read post on the forum that nal only works for 4-6 hrs in spite of the pharmacology stating 24 hrs. If he is drinking non-stop should he take another pill even though he is drunk?

Welcome to the forum, to answer your first question TSM should work even if he is forcing himself to drink as long has he is taking the Naltrexone one hour before drinking. Have you read the book by Dr. Eskapa? If you haven't you should pick up a copy, it is a quick read and is really the handbook for TSM.

If you are worried that he will not take the Nal or will forget, there is another option it is called Vivitrol. This is a once a month injection and is not ideal for TSM since we only take Nal when we are going to drink, however if he is drinking everyday it may be an option at least to get him started.

Best of Luck,
Diver

Hi BL,
Seems to me this situation might be better served by the use of a professional.

While I am neutral about AA, I do have a number of friends who went to Al Anon to learn to cope with a number of difficult circumstances and its philosophy might help you. We cannot control, monitor, nor force anyone to be compliant when it comes to substance abuse. That includes overeating, etc.: it doesn't work. Helping one cover up their problems (enabling) doesn't work either.

You can lead a horse to water....

Take care of YOURSELF. -FA

Diver,

I have read portions of the book as i purchased the book from him. I have also done research about vivitrol which is far more expensive than Nal. Plus he likes to drink. He is not seeking abstinence, but rather control. All I can do is hope and pray I suppose. Thank you for your response.

FreshAir,
I attend Al Anon meetings do help greatly. I am just hopeful and truly believe that TSM will work if done correctly. But you're right horse to water...thank you.

The Nal should continue to work even if he drinks when his brain and body are telling him not to.

Hi,
I am new here and really need advice. I know this post was started a few years back but my boyfriend has been drinking excessively for the past 15+ years.

Some questions though.

Should he start on a combination of Campral and Naltrexone?

It's only been two days since he started with the Naltrexone and does it have to be exactly one hour before he drinks? Because both times it has been a little bit over an hour. The first time he took it, he drank about an hour and fifteen minutes later, the second time he took it, he drank nearly two hours later? Is it still effective?

He too has lost everything and I have a no tolerance for drunk behavior policy (gets verbally abusive after drinking strong beer 7,5%-10,2%) because I have two small children. If he gets that way then he is not allowed to sleep at home. Am I too harsh? What can I do more to support him?

he needs to wait AT LEAST an hour so those times you said are great, many of us struggle to wait the hour! If he is drinking still 10 hours later then maybe he needs a booster dose of 25mg.

sounds to me you are supporting him already. hoping it works for you.

Hi there

The hour is the minimum time for the medication to get into his brain.

That doesn't mean he has to drink at one hour on the dot.

When I started I couldn't trust myself to wait, so I took it several hours early and was fine. Later on I became able to trust myself and was able to take it closer.

It's also not compulsory to drink, he might find there are times he's taken it, waited and doesn't want to. Some people say you still have to drink, I have different views in that all time without drinking is good but that is only my opinion based on my experience.

Many people also find that once they start taking Nal most of the bad behaviour associated with alcohol intake reduces and I truly hope this benefit applies to your partner.

The one thing I have learned however is that from anecdotal accounts I have read, if a person doesn't want recovery then nal may not be enough. The person seems to have to recognise that he (or she) does not want to drink any more to lower their intake in conjunction with naltrexone and this is quite different to the posts suggesting that you could just give a person naltrexone and TSM does everything. Reading threads here suggests there has to be active participation from the person.

I was wondering that too, do you HAVE to drink? Because, already twice he wanted to drink so he took the Nal, waited an hour but then more hours went by and in the end he didn't. But all in all, he doesn't want to go down the destructive path of excessive drinking. I was just concerned thinking omg, my boyfriend drinks A LOT, will it work? Maybe it only works for those who drink a couple of beers per day etc. You know how it is, you always fear that there cannot be a worse case than your own, if you get what I mean. And in Sweden, there is absolutely no other means of treatment for alcoholism (none that I know of even after researching for it) other than AA/NA related self help. No disregard to AA but it didn't work for my boyfriend. He was in and out of rehab, hospitals, police stations, AA meetings for years but it just didn't cut it for him. So fingers crossed for TSM