Ok, brief introduction: I've been around AA and other treatment facilities for around 14 months and, since my most recent relapse, have decided to give this method a whirl. Two questions:

1. This pill causes some pretty serious nausea for me. I hear that this goes away after the body adjusts to it. My concern is that after, say, several months of abstinence, the pill will again cause me nausea and it'll be difficult to pop it if I have a severe urge to drink. Did any of you guys have nausea with the naltrexone, and how did that pan out for you?

2. Related to question 1: I've read a number of testimonies and most of them were written by people who drank beer or wine. Does anybody have any experience with liquor and if so, did naltrexone ever cause stomach problems?

Hi GWAH, the nausea dissipated for me after 3 days and never returned..I'm a vodka martini girl:) I'm on my 24th week and hanging in there..I think if you manage abstinence you'll be so over the moon a little bit of nausea would probably not bother you:) On the other hand how bad is your stomach problem as maybe you should see your Doc if it is severe? Regards T

Welcome aboard Guy with a Headache!
People that have experienced severe nausea often lower there dose to 25mg until they can handle 50mg (some actually stay at 25mg and get cured). The fabulous news is, your severe nausea almost guarantees you will get cured with TSM!

"Stomach problems" is pretty vague, but if you mean stomach ache then you're in the right camp--tummy aches are normal. If you are talking elimination issues, then you're in the right camp, too! Naltrexone has been known to cause constipation AND its opposite.

Check out my post, "No Two Snowflakes are Alike..." and you'll see the various things to expect on TSM.

The kindest thing you can do for yourself is to simply chill and take your pill and not over think this largely subconscious process. TSM is a bumpy ride with a fabulous outcome, you just need to be patient. Also, you may want to consider popping some Milk Thistle, if you don't already, it is marvelous at protecting the liver.

Ahh, thanks for the feedback and the welcomes

I accidentally took all 50mg my first day and was miserable; I didn't drink at all. I felt sure I would puke at one point in the day. Today I took 25mg and have been drinking as my stomach will permit. I've actually got some milk thistle so I will be sure to try that. And toxicgirl, it's interesting that you would say my nausea indicates I can be cured by TSM. My doctor prescribed me because my drinking history suggests I'm the type of person who responds to naltrexone. e.g. I started drinking around age 14 and have struggled with alcohol since. Of course, "the sinclair method" is not what he had in mind when he put me on it.

hope this whole thing is working out for you two

First of all as Toxic Girl says all indications so far would suggest that tsm will work for you. Now your biggist priority is to calm and to remain patient. Thats easier said than done but this treatment takes months. The nausia will pass after a few times of taking it but at the end of the day we have all had a hell of a lot more problems with hangovers that any initail side effects we have on nal. Priority number one as Im sure you know is to be sure to take nal 1 hour before you drink every single time and the rest will look after it self. Try not to worry or to overthing the treatment. Im about 18 weeks into tsm and though Ive had ups and down I cant praise it higly enough.

All the best

Mario

Hey Guy,
I'm glad 25mg is feeling a bit better for you and I'm glad you have some milk thistle! Have a great week!

hey, guy........i'm super new tsm as well. last night was my second successful night. about three months ago i tried it and made the mistake you did of taking the full 50mg the first time. i don't know if it makes a difference or not, but i am a 110 lb woman. i was so sick i couldln't function for two and a half days. i finally got up the guts to try 25mg two days ago. i felt a little nausea, but not too bad. didn't want the wine at all but forced myself to drink a glass so i could start to heal. last night, i really didn't want to take the pill, but did and was surprised to feel no nausea at all! i semi-enjoyed my two glasses of wine, but really didn't want more. not sure what to expect today, but i am optimistic! how are things for you at this point? cindi

Hiya,

I had terrible experience on Nal bought online but the Nal I had prescribed by my doc has caused me no probs except for maybe some fatigue. I would hang in there and stick at it.....best of luck and keep us all posted!

It's late to be following up on an ancient post, but one of the things I am specifically looking for on the board are long-term posters.

Oh man... I guess it's only been a couple of months since I started this thread? It feels like it's been longer. See, I recently relapsed (again). I didn't take any NAL because I forgot I had it. Holy crap, actually- I may have even thrown it away. Hah, I actually felt myself frown when I realized that.

This post is not meant to be informative or anything; I'm kind of rambling to be honest. So you can TL;DR right now if you'd like.

After originally posting I drank for one day on Naltrexone and abandoned the elusive Sinclair Method for a 12-step fellowship that I was already fairly invested in. I can't seem to stay sober for more than 2 or 3 months, and I've only actually gotten to 3 months once. I'm grasping around for some kind of hope and somehow ended up here again. I'm a 23 year old binge drinker who makes a habit of throwing away an entire week drinking on a bimonthly basis, just when I get to a point where I could actually get away with drinking for a weekend (if I had even that much control). Since my most recent binge I'm being encouraged to really step up AA involvement while I struggle to get my academic affairs in order. The whole situation is making me a mess. It becomes more and more difficult to accumulate the drive for sobriety after each relapse. For some mysterious reason this board makes me feel much better about my situation, but like anybody in my situation, I'm politely skeptical.

I can say, I was incredibly bored the one time I drank with the NAL. I sat around and read all day. I drank a half of a fifth (actually down from a pint, if my measurements are correct) and what was most interesting was the pace at which I drank. I was drinking cheap vodka, mind you, and it took me probably about four hours to actually feel drunk. The sensation was not like drinking traditionally. Usually I get incredibly energetic and either call people (bad) or play video games (bad when I spill something). It's important to note- this was probably day 5 out of detox- so I just had another pretty jarring rehab experience. And uh I probably felt kind of guilty about drinking, having just gotten out of rehab, so maybe that affected my energy level. Depression is a bitch.

Anyways.

Maybe the reason these boards make me feel fuzzy is because I read about people who have been 12-steppers, relapsed, and found hope here. Not hope like "If you just keep coming back to these meetings your life might not crash and burn." It all seems so dire, and I realize it is, and I'm not trying to discount 12steprecovery. I guess the other reason I might feel fuzzy is because I have had 2 beers over ~3 hours which usually wouldn't do it for me. I guess I got the drinking out of my system, until the next time it explodes and I'm wholly unprepared. My plan for tomorrow is to try and find my Naltrexone just so that I know where I stand on this whole thing. I'm going to have to muse some more before I make any kind of decisions.



I'll end with a question: could somebody name a couple of long-time, active posters on this board? Perhaps with varying levels of success? I understand that some people face more difficult life situations and that may influence TSM efficacy, but I would like to have a better sense of where the community here is coming from. I would definitely appreciate it.

The only person that comes to mind and he is a good one--articulate, very helpful, gives a lot of insight, and was cured and staying cured with TSM: minneapolisnick. Read his posts....they are great!