I am new to the TSM. My doctor prescribed 50 mg of Naltrexone saying, "I will prescribe it but you clearly like your endorphins so this may not work for you". I was excited to try the TSM after reading the book. So, last night was my first try with taking Naltrexone. I do have a couple of questions:

1) Yesterday was my first day and after a very strenuous SCUBA dive in cold water and a climb up a steep trail, I came home tired and feeling that exercise endorphin buzz. I took a half (50 mg) Naltrexone at 3:00 PM and waited until 4:00 PM, then drank very quickly a glass of wine. Feeling the buzz, I drank two shots of vodka thirty minutes later. Then I got sober fast. I felt very strange as if I was sober but felt slightly sick as if from the alcohol with out the good buzz. It was not comfortable and I missed the buzz. I did not even feel the exercise feeling of being tired but good. It was a kind of one dimensional feeling as if the three dimensional body was not functioning. Is this how it works or is something strange going on here? Could it be that my exercise endorphin buzz was lost too?

2) I was very surprised that my insurance did not cover much of the payment and I had to pay $218 for 60, 50mg pills. The drug is way expensive!

3) I plan my second evening of drinking tonight and will again take 25 mg, half tablet. What should I expect?

Thanks for your help!

Toddy

Toddy,

Everyone responds a bit differently, but it sounds like you and I had a similar feeling the first night. If you look back at my progress thread, I think that I described it as feeling a bit "off". That feeling past within the first week as my body adapted to the NAL. As you suspected the nal also reduced the buzz from diving.


Best of Luck on your TSM Journey.

Diver

Diver,

Thanks for the response! I am very glad to know that my body will get used to the Nal. Do you recommend I take 25 mg or (I took 25 mg the first night)? Last night I took 12.5 mg with no noticeable effect from the Nal and then drank 6 drinks and felt buzzed.

Hey, it is great to hear from another diver! I assume you are a free or SCUBA diver? I think my love for diving and the big endorphin high from diving have often caused me to drink more than usual after a dive. Kind of like getting lit on diving and wanting more!

Thanks!

Toddy

Toddy,
I doubt 12.5 will do anything for you. My Dr. had me take 50mg right away and for four days straight to see if I would have any side effects. I handled it pretty well with some light nausea and a weird feeling in my head. The sides passed after a couple of weeks so I have never taken a reduced dosage. The risk of taking 50mg right away? Some discomfort?
It's best to try and schedule your pleasurable activities around your drinking if you can. If you can't right now I wouldn't worry too much about it as you will surely re-train your brain to release endorphins for the non-drinking pleasures as you drink less and less often.

Good luck and welcome,

Eric

You may want to check for the generic. I have bought from Costco for $20-30 for 30 pills.

As to the price - you should be paying about $35 for a dosage of 30 50mg tablets. My very resourceful doctor went directly to his computer and pulled up a coupon that would spare me the usual $250 . I live in California where people typically get gouged for their RX. Inquire further if you can get it far cheaper .

Toddy,
I had a nearly identical experience. I also remember saying something like, "all the bad feelings of alcohol without the buzz." The last time I drank, I really got pleasure from it, but I easily stopped at two and haven't had another in 9 days without effort. You've probably read that it's a very positive sign that you have a reaction like you did the first time. Since starting about 9 weeks ago, I've only experienced the "oh my God I have to have more,more,more" feeling one time, and that was on day two. I had that feeling every time I drank even a beer for the past 15 or so years. Removing that crazy feeling has been the key to my reduced drinking, IMO. Regarding the scuba, I've never experienced any sort of blah feeling regarding other "endorphin releasing" activities like exercise or sex, even when fully loaded on Naltrexone, so you might not really need to worry about that. Those things are way more complicated than our illogical urge to drink fermented fruit and grains.