Hi there from Canada.

I have been lurking here for months, and read the book. I started today 25mgs. It's time....I've been dealing with 'this' for about 5 years, and I can't do it anymore. I need control in my life. This is the one thing I can't seem to control.

Christy

Welcome Christy, glad to have you with us!

Remember if the side effects are too much at 25mg, you can start at a lower dose and work your way up. That is what I did, and it worked very well for me, and I no longer have any noticeable side effects.

Congradulations on taking the first step on a wonderful journey...!

Yes, welcome!

I think most, or at least a high percentage, of us lurked on this site until we got the book and read it, before ordering our Naltrexone. Glad you can help the rest of us through this "self-improvement" project as we help you.

I, too, look forward to the day that I have full control of my alcohol intake. I currently have what I call "glimpses of the future" sporadically during my last 10 weeks. I get days where I don't feel like drinking, so I don't. I get days where I feel like I don't want to drink anymore, so I don't. I love those days! Still, I am not through the 3 to 6 month timeframe, so I still must live with the majority of days being pretty much drinking like I always have, except it "feels different".

I have tried 25mg, 50mg and 100mg. 25mg doesn't do it for me (150# male). 50mg and 100mg are about the same, so I have stuck with the 50mg. I have been one of the fortunate few that have had few side effects. I can feel the Naltrexone when it is in my system, but there are no negative manifestations I can relate to describe them. I just feel it. I do endure night sweats and bad dreams a lot even at 10 weeks, but it's a very small price to pay for my impending sobriety. I hope you feel the same.

Best wishes...

Bob

Thank you both for your replies. I was kind of surprised at the lack of response. I suppose I sounded dark and vague.

I have been dealing with this drinking issue for about 5 years, getting worse when a tramatic community event happened. That was when I REALLY drank.....it was a very stressful time. My husband and I were not getting along, not just from the drinking, but from all the external stresses. My kids were stressed out as well, for the same reasons. Mom wasn't around, Mom was out at rallies, drinking......my family concerned for my welfare and wondering if I would be arrested. After a while I decided the stress was going to kill me and destroy my amazing family so I tried not to get caught up in it. I was looked by other community members as a failure and I was giving up on 'the cause', but I had to think of me and my family first, so I put it behind me.

The 'situation' still remains, yet at any time the calmness can blow up and chaos returns. It's always in the back of my head, but I can't control it, so I try to ignore it. My drinking remained, now more of habit and boredom than stress.

I find if I have beer in the house, I can drink 8-10 beers a night, for no reason at all. Just me here, hanging out, watching tv.....no excuse.

A few times I have quit all together but I honestly don't want to. I want to drink, but I want to CONTROL it. I was to be 'normal'. I haven't seemed to have an AF day in some time, probably a month.....I used to go months without drinking.

I began TSM and started my Nal a week ago today....seems to be going well, though one day I totally forgot to take it, and it ended up being my heaviest day drinking (a wedding). I hope that ONE time doesn't mess things up for me.

I also find it difficult to wait an hour...seems to drag. I manage a half hour, or 45 mins. Again, I hope that doesn't ruin my chances. This is something I was and need so bad.......

I think my husband thinks I am doing better because he hasn't mentioned anything. I think I have as well, but I would really like to stop drinking every night.

Thanks for listening to me go on....and on......

I am hopeful this will work.....

Christy

Hello Christy, and Welcome!

We're all here to support you, even if we can't post responses as often as we'd like. It just gets harder to keep up as the board grows, but the amount of time available remains limited. I don't think missing the Nal just once will do much damage, especially since you've just gotten started. However, treat the Nal like medication you ALWAYS need access to, possibly in order to save your life. I have pills everywhere so I'm covered no matter where I go. Forgetting to TAKE a pill isn't usually the problem, but forgetting to bring them everywhere has caught some off guard. Don't ever assume you won't run into a situation where there's no possibility that someone will offer you a drink. And a lost purse can lead to disaster if you keep all your pills there. Spread them around like your life depends on it. Best of luck to you!

Hi Christy,

A belated welcome. This is the place to be. Good people, great support and advice, and quite funny. Keep us posted.

Naltrexone + Drinking = CURE

regards,
Tom

Pre: 46 – 80+ units
Wk/Units/Craving
1: ...44 .....10
2: .. 40......10..2 AF
3: ...40......9...3 AF
4: ...31......9...4 AF
5: ...20......7...5 AF
6.....21...ongoing

Hi Christy,

I'm in Canada too, and actually started Naltrexone on Tuesday. I went for the full 50mgs and had no trouble with it. Drinking sure has been strange though...the fun buzz I'm used to just isn't there. I didn't realize the difference would be so profound. I also feel better in the mornings when I first wake up...my usual depression isn't there.

Biff

Welcome! It took you years to become addicted and it takes a lot of time to become "unaddicted." There is no way missing one dose of naltrexone will "ruin your chances" of beating this ailment. As I understand it, 50 mg will block opiate receptors in your brain for 24 hours (or at least 12 hours, don't remember off the top of my head) and that is the key issue to cure: blockage in the brain of the opiate receptors while drinking. It takes an hour for the blockage to occur, but once it does it lasts for at least 12 hours on 50 mg; maybe 24, I'm not sure. Anyway, my point is that you can take it in the morning long before you start drinking so you won't drink during that first hour which is a NO NO, as I understand it. Drinking while off naltrexone after starting it leads to an increase in the endorphins released in your brain (that pleasure feeling we all love so much) which is probably why YOU TIED ONE ON BIG TIME off naltrexone after starting it. So that one incident will certainly not "ruin you chances" of success. However, repeatedly drinking within that one hour before the nal kicks in MIGHT ruin your chances. SO, take the nal every day (as long as you are drinking every day; otherwise just the days you are drinking), but do it early in the day so that you know nal is in full force and effect for at least one hour before you drink. I'm no expert -- just read the book and am only two weeks in the program -- but I'm just repeating what the book says. Also, for me personally, less than two weeks in and like almost everyone else here am drinking/craving a lot less. It works, stick with it, but make sure you take it one hour before drinking. Good luck!

Hi Christy - I think we've 'talked' at MWO. I didn't realize I didn't say hello over here: welcome


I only wait 1/2 hour after taking my Nal sometimes - Dr. Roy said the '1 hour' stipulation is just to make sure the Medicine is in your system and that it is likely in there at the 1/2 hour mark...and it is not likely a big deal if you don't drink until 45 minutes after - see what I mean? It just has to have a little time to get into your blood stream...and then you are covered.

You have kids, right? so do I ...not sure how old yours are, but I usually take my pill when I'm tucking mine in at night and then by the time I'm done, my 30-45 minutes are up and I go downstairs and pour my wine. Someday soon I hope to just tuck them in with more productive things planned for after, can't wait !

Glad you are here.

H4O - ahhhhhhh the good days of tucking them in at night! As time-consuming as it was then and what I felt like intruded into my own time sometimes b/c oh, I've had a loooooong day & want to drink my wine, being a working mom and sooooooooo tired myself...I would hold off or just not have the time I do now to settle down when I come home. My work-out schedule changed as they got older...aw dat.

My 18 & 16 yo kids fondly recollect bedtime stories, me scratching their backs and nitetime rituals of "Let's talk about what we did today..."
You are being a good mother and they are getting good love from you. I used to moderate much better than I do now and so are you waiting til they are tucked in. Thanks for the memories :-)