Hello everyone,I've a bit of a strange question and I'm hoping someone could possibly shed some light or info.but first I suppose a bit of background,I'm a 35 year old Irish male,been drinking since 14 years of age,alcoholically for the last 5 years of my drinking career.my job is delivering alcohol to bars and I've seen the effects that alcohol has had on this country.

I've been dry for the last year after a relapse but had a years sobriety previous to that,I'm planning a trip for a few months to south east Asia and I know this is a very dangerous position for me to be in.I still get the odd craving for alcohol but its manageable,I don't put myself in environments that tempt me to drink,my question is,has anybody gone from sobriety to taking nal and drinking?and how did it work out?

I know your probably thinking why go on trip then,buts its been a lifelong ambition for me to return and travel se Asia extensively.

Many thanks in advance.

Santiago - if you are dry, I am not sure why you would want to start again - Nal takes months to work - it can take longer than that for some - up to a year or even longer - SO do not expect a quick fix. Also - for the Nal to work properly, one has to drink - it works on the extinction process so when you drink, your brain does not get the buzz - I am not good at explaining things very well - basically you have to drink for the Nal to do it's thing ! I would probably not start again to try and get the Nal to work for the sake of a trip.

Hope this helps a bit ?

hugs, Maggie

Thanks for the reply Maggie, I suppose what I mean is,is it possible to go from dry to taking nal and drinking moderately? Or is it a case of going off the deep end again even with taking nal?

I do not know how you would drink - I think after abstaining for that long you might just go off the deep end ..... and although once one starts taking Nal, it does seem to cut down on the intake, it also does go back up again .... I have been taking it for over 6 months and my intake went down initially then back up - but never to pre Nal levels. I suppose the thing is do you want to risk your sobriety? I am not sure what I would do in your position .....

hugs, Maggie

Yeah I've been lurking here for a while and I've noticed peoples intake seems to go up for a short while after initially taking nal,I could be wrong but I reckon it's people subconsciously drinking more to try get that reward buzz from drinking.its a hard position to be in alright though if I did start taking nal and drinking and it worked in extinction of the reward buzz,it would be great to get rid of that niggley obsession with alcohol.

Oh trust me - I quite understand !! I am English and started drinking Guinness when I was about 15 ! Did not actually have much of a problem until the past 10 years or so really though - but was always a bit of a drinker ! I joke that I was weaned on Guinness !! I suppose it really depends on how much you are willing to risk what you have already been through - the Nal does work - although not 100% of the time - but it does take time - as I said, for me it is over 6 months already and I am not cured - BUT have had many days recently where I have .... gasp .... just not wanted a drink!

hugs, Maggie

Yeah it's a sneakey one alright,very easy to become an alcoholic,trust me I have to look at hundreds of them daily,were some country for it here I don't seem to initially have trouble staying off the booze,my gp gave me a course of Librium the last two times and I was good to go,but I will admit it does get kinda boring after a while especially in a country were the social scene is mostly set around bars

Yes I quite understand - I think if I was still in UK I would find it hard to not drink! So, the ball as they say, is in your court - can you get the Nal from your doctor okay? When is your trip? Plus the fact that you might want to consider - Nal can make you just not want to drink - so after taking it and going through all of that stuff, you might end up not drinking on your trip! You also have to realise that you have to take the Nal at least one hour before you drink - EVERY time ! So if you do do this then you would have to take the Nal with you ....

Hugs, Maggie

Trip is in January hopefully,I've been there before so I know what the drinking scene is like over there hence my interest in nal and trying to prepare myself in the best way possible,as far as I know it should be easier to get over there,even over the counter in some places,I'd dearly love to be able to drink moderately on this trip and if on return I've got rid of that obsession with alcohol it will be a bonus.thanks for the replies and I hope nal is helping you to beat the demon,from the moment I read up on nal and tsm it made sense to me on how it works after doing a lot of soul searching and introspective thinking on my own drinking.

You might want to check out the thread entitled 'Greetings From Arrested Alcoholic' ..... sort of similar theme ....