hi all. i've been doing TSM for 9 days.

i had such a bad nausea reaction the first 5 or so days i've only ever taken 25mg of the naltrexone.

it hasn't really had much of an effect on my cravings, but i guess it's still early for that. but i am utterly ruined every morning when i wake up, to the point of not feeling like i can get out of bed or do much of anything for 5 or 6 hours. i am just physically spent. ache everywhere, and extremely sensitive to light. a lot of times i have a pounding headache, but usually it's just low grade and constant. and i'm still nauseas, but not nearly as bad for the last, i guess, 4 days. no throwing up though, so there's that at least.

i've been drinking heavily every night for several years, so it's not like hangovers are new to me. but since i started taking the naltrexone, i've entered another realm of suffering that i've never even seen before.

i've read on here that the "nal-overs" are awful. does this change? do they go away? is there anything i can do to prevent them or mitigate the effects?

i guess my plan right now is to just rapidly decrease the amount i'm drinking and keep taking the naltrexone before i drink. but i honestly don't know how much longer i can hang in and do this.

So you're still at 25mg? Have you tried 12.5 to see if it helps with the side effects?

thanks for the suggestion jackson_pdx. i have not tried going lower than 25mg, as i fear i won't get any of the benefit. i've been on 25mg for 9 days, i suppose if i were going to get used to it, i would have gotten used to it by now. i'll try taking 12.5 tonight.

the Nal-overs aren't devastating for me, but I feel more crappy after a MODERATE amount of AL. I like that it kicks my ass a little bit, though. makes me realize I'm paying for it.....

stay the course for a while and see how it goes. good luck!

thanks zontar. i don't mind feeling like crap (well, i do, but i got used to it)... this is like a whole other level. glad it doesn't effect you the same way

i also think i should try intentionally and white-knuckl-ingly decreasing my intake as quickly as is safe. if i can't at least diminish these hangovers to around where they were before i started taking naltrexone, i don't think i'll function well enough to work or hell even take care of myself at all.

i guess that's a little bit anti-TSM, at least as i understand it. what do you guys think? i can drop down to a pint in about a week, but i'll have more cravings, at least, i traditionally have when i drop that low or lower.

i should also start drinking water in-between drinks (he wrote, suddenly feeling like a bit of a moron...).

*shrug*

hi all.

my plan is to reduce my intake by 2 drinks a day and land on a pint of bourbon by thursday. i hope to feel comfortable there until my next liver function test in 3 weeks.

i dropped down to 12.5mg naltrexone today. surprisingly, i don't feel like the quarter-dose has the same effect as the half-dose (surprising cause i didn't think the half-dose was doing anything). but now that i'm on just the 12.5mg i do feel like i'm closer to "normal drunk" than when i was on 25mg... except with an indescribable qualification, and from a hundred yards away (if that makes any kind of sense). my goal is still to get up to 50mg, i just need my body to agree to it.

i'm just gonna stick to the 12.5mg this week (days 10-17 roughly), hope i'm doing more good than harm, and work on getting my intake down. i'm seeing my prescribing psychiatrist late this week, and on his insistence, a new CBT psychologist for the first time tomorrow. i have no faith that either appointment will do a bit of good, but they're both covered, and honestly if i can just make it there that's a huge win for me at this point.

if i can't drink less enough alcohol for my body to tolerate a larger dose of naltrexone (and not get crippling hangovers), i might be lost forever. that's not an option, so... here we go i guess.

(screams)

-m

Why not drink less, and try the 12.5, It will probably work just as well.

Why not drink less, and try the 12.5, It will probably work just as well.

May take a while to get used to things.

I sympathize. I've had a million hangovers in my life, and thought I'd felt it all until I had my first NAL-over. My God! What I learned real fast was that it was all good and proper to drink after taking NAL, -but not to drink enough to cause a hangover. No hurry to get to 50mg. Take your time. The more you suffer, the more likely you'll be to give up, and we don't want that. Your problem's been years in the making, so some patience now is hardly going to be detrimental.

Helloo!

I am on second dose. Had to go from .50 to .25 was wayy too crazy sick to my stomach.

It's a slow process, so I can imagine that consciously cutting back on AL is a huge part of the success if possible and probably decreases the hangovers.

I too am experiencing hangovers from .25 and just one glass of wine.

However, so far the benefits are outweighing the alternative.

Just like anything It needs to be custom tailored to you
Try, experiment and don't give up.