Welcome, Wolfman & good luck to you! Great the you are encourgaged so far. It seems many who experience this "honeymoon effect" have good luck in the long run. Hope the same is true for you.

(Venison, you say??!! Don't even get me started. Friends, how much $$ did I invest in having a deer processed recently?? And where did all that meat end up?? LOL)

That's what I'm doing right now Nick. I've noticed that many here have been charting their unit intake levels and maybe I should be but I'm too lazy. Really I havent had to keep track to see a decrease in my drinking level so far. From the outset I didnt think this would work anymore than the other things I've tried, so I measured my progress slowly. All I know is that I am drinking less than I was and on fewer nights than I was before. That is enough for me at this point to stay encouraged. I have tried many different things over the years and never had even a slight change in my drinking habits so this is just a wonder for me. If this really leads to a cure it would be like a dream come true, a long unanswered prayer answered at last but I am just enjoying the small victories today. Thanks for the support people!

Been a pretty good week so far. Last Sat was the first time in a while that I went over board in my drinking. The wife and I were going to a friends house for a get together, really a tattoo party and it was my night to get my first tattoo. My friend Tommy is a tattoo artist on the side and only does them anymore for close friends. I had been on the waiting list for almost a year and really had pretty much forgotten about it when he up and asked me at work last week if I was ready. This was really the first time I was putting myself into a social setting while drinking and I think I was more nervous about that than I was getting the tattoo. Well, I took my Naltrexone before hand but it did not do much for me. I brought a 12 pack with me and ended up embarrassed that I just about drank all of them. (the wife had 2) I dont know if it was the nerves of the needle or what but I was again drinking way too fast and too much. I couldnt help but feel ashamed of myself because I knew the others at the party HAD to have noticed how fast I was putting them down and it didnt stop there because I picked up more beer on the way home and managed to drink 3-4 more that night. Since that night I have managed to drink about every other night this week and my levels have been down somewhat on the nights I do. I dont know why but I felt like sharing that because it still bothers me. I'm hoping for a day when I can drink in a setting like that and not embarrass myself everytime.

That day will come, and I wouldn't worry about what the other people thought - damn, I would try to drink a CASE by myself if I was getting a tattoo! I'm sure the others would chalk it up to that. In the mean time, just keep going and don't beat yourself up. It will waste your energy and bring you down - just focus on any improvement you notice. That will help you stay positive. It's a long haul, but you'll get there!

Give it time and that day will come, as K1 says.

Just as an off note: I got my one and only tattoo because this tattoo guy showed up at a gig we played and liked our band so much he offered us all free tats. All of us except the guitar player were dumb enough to accept, and the next day we headed down to the tattoo place to get inked. Our drummer Ken had this girlfriend named May, and he decided to get her name tattooed on his arm. The singer, Brian sat and watched the whole thing in silence, even though he know that this chick was cheating on poor Ken the whole time. After it was over Brian told Ken all about the cheating, and suggested that Ken could still get it changed to "May-be". Hilarity and anguish ensued - but that's the nature of life on the road!

Good luck to ya Wolfman

Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts! Since I last posted, I made it 4 WHOLE DAYS with out a drink in a row with out any bother. Wow! I never thought it possible. I had a drinking night, then had 2 more off nights before I drank again. It's been a really good week for me and I'm just so damn grateful that I was directed to this medication. I really can't explain how much better I feel. The thing is, it has been like magic because on most nights that I would pick up a 12 pack and drink till dawn, I'm just not feeling like it!???!! God bless, and Merry Christmas!

W00T! That is classic! So encouraging. More and more that "meh" feeling about drinking will come and you will be able to say, "aw bag it, I'm going to something more interesting instead."

That's funny PV, because that's exactly the feeling I have been getting. "meh" There are still nights I do drink even though I'm getting that "meh" feeling about it but they are getting fewer. I am right now just over 3 months on naltrexone and I have not drank a drop with out taking it an hour before hand. I can't tell you how many times that "meh" feeling has come over me and I had decided to just watch tv or go to bed. Even on the nights I do drink I have to force that first beer down for some reason. They aint going down like they used to folks. Merry Christmas everyone!