Do people notice an effect in their drinking their first time drinking on naltrexone? Either in reduction of drinking or a difference in the way it feels to be drunk? Or does this type of thing take weeks to take effect? I notice on the boards most people say it takes months to be "cured." I'm a little confused about why it would take so long if you feel the effects right away. Thanks!

Sounds like you might be a "fast responder". We exist, I am one. I think I have taken 4 pills total. Mellisa is another.

Welcome aboard, and remember to always take nal one hour before drinking. Read the link in my signature to find out what happens if you dont.

I took me a year, pls. read my post ERK.
Good Luck

I took me a year, pls. read my post ERK.
Good Luck

It takes so long because we are conditioned. We've learned to crave it. It takes time for our lower brains to realize that the endorphin reward is gone and isn't coming back.

Most people do feel a difference as soon as they're at the full dose, though. They may still drink as much for a while, but it feels different.

katiek... the "cure" isn't in the lack of buzz that you may or may not feel while taking Naltrexone (to add to the survey, I definitely felt something markedly different from the get-go). That makes it different from, say, Antabuse, which definitely curbs drink from the first dose, but doesn't "cure" anything long-term.

From the book, I think the official definition of cure is being able to drink within the WHO standards of "safe" drinking, which is no more than 24 drinks a week and no more than 5 drinks in a given day. The other, less official (and more subjective) definition, is that a person is "cured" when their brain is reset such that they view alcohol and its pull as they did before they became addicted. So, if you were ever "meh" about alcohol, until you're like that again, you're not "cured" by this definition. If you can maintain the WHO standards indefinitely, I guess you could call yourself cured in that sense (although, IMO, and especially for females, that's still a lot of booze; about as much as I typically drank and I'm a full-grown man).

My units halved virtually overnight, it was another 6 months before I considered myself cured - I consider myself a very good responder.

I took a full 50mg the first time and definitely felt it. I drank much more slowly, couldn't drink nearly as much as I normally did, and didn't feel a high. The cravings slowly went away over the course of a few months.

I'm really new--just started a week ago. It probably varies from person to person, but I noticed a marked difference during the drinking session after my first dose (50 mg). My daily routine is to slam 3 or 4 or 5 generous pours of vodka in an hour or two after work, and then maybe have a booster later in the evening. That first session, I felt much more present, somehow more clear, probably because though drunk I wasn't in a fog of endorphins and endogenous opiates.

Another interesting immediate effect was that I actually drank more on days 2-5. Apparently this is known as an "extinction spike." On days 6 and 7 just past, I've about halved my usual consumption, drank much more slowly, and noticed that the stuff tastes and smells nasty and burns on the way down.

Those are the effects I've felt the first through seventh times of drinking on nal.

What seems effective is to take the naltrexone, wait the hour or more, then have a drink, but don't rush into the second drink.

Wait a bit, and what I discovered was a decreased desire to drink more, which continues for me even after using the naltrexone for 10 months.
The next drink just doesn't satisfy or bring any more pleasure. I rarely drink more than 1 now, mostly for that reason.

It took me some months for the NAL to work well, but there was a definite steady decline. Having faith in the whole concept is key, plus it allows the user to think outside the alcohol haze they were in.

Now at about 5% of previous intake for some months