What can I say but ... I dont have a problem with Alcohol ... I drink, I get drunk, No Problem. But seriously, my GP just prescribed me NAL but apart from "take one a day" he gave me no other instruction. Out of curiosity I Googled NAL and here I am. I am really glad I found you. Yesterday was my first day on NAL and I got it wrong. I took it in the morning and I was a bit spaced out all day. As usual, I started drinking in the late afternoon and was surprised that I didn't get a Buzz at all. After a few (read; Lots) more drinks I started to feel sick so I stopped drinking and went to bed. I got to sleep OK which was nice and today I feel OK and I'm reading as much as I can. I will start again tonight, taking 25 mg, one hour before I drink. Hopefully I wont feel sick this time but I am prepared to stick with TSM. I obviously don't have the book so I will try to glean as much as possible from you and your posts. Just a little about me ... 50 years old single white male with anxiety disorder. Alcohol makes me feel better but I cant stop at the "required amount". Usually I start drinking about 4 p.m. these days (it's stating earlier every year) and drink until I fall asleep in front of the TV. Then I'll wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and stumble off to bed. The next day I do it all over again. I have elevated "liver" and Blood glucose levels and my GP says I'm close to being Diabetic. I've done 12 Steps but I can't go back to that again. I really want TSM to work. Cheers.

Welcome Tuttle. You can read several passages from THE BOOK by going to the Board Index and looking under The Sinclair Method. Sounds like you got the basics: naltrexone + drinking = cure. If 50 mg was too much, reduce to 25 mg until your body acclimates to it, wait an hour and then drink. Almost everyone here who had your type of side effects got over it pretty quickly, one week typically, two weeks max. When you are no longer feeling spaced out, get up to 50 mg, that's what the studies are based upon. If you are on medication for your anxiety, check out "THE BENZO GROUP" -- naltrexone still works but it can be a bit more complicated if it is interacting with other meds. Great news! Naltrexone works! For at least 80% who try it in clinical trials and up to 90% who use it correctly one hour before drinking. And virtually everybody on this board is seeing significant to huge reductions in their consumption/cravings! BTW, there are some other side effects, like sweats and sleep disturbance but they usually go away, although some people are still suffering the sweats and nightmares four months into TSM, although they appear to be in the minority. However, everyone agrees that the side effects are well worth it! You will soon find that you still get buzzed when you drink, but you will probably have a lot more control when you drink, fewer embarrassing moments and fewer, if any, blackouts.

Feel free to ask any questions and welcome. Check out the thread, "Be Prepared -- Discover our Most Common Experiences" on the main board. It should be helpful to you.

Nick

Hi tuttle,

A warm welcome to our community!

I picked out the quote above as you and I have a lot in common; FYI, I have GAD and a little bit of OCD. Alcohol also makes me feel better - within reason. Anyway, I'll watch your progress with interest.

All the very best to you.

V.

Tuttle, you will find there are several of us with anxiety. Some on benzo's. If you are on them it would be good to read the Benzo bunch thread also. Good luck and do post! We are all in this together!

thanks for your support.
whilst I have used Benzos, they are not a problem.
I have a bad bad back and use them only when I have muscle spasm.

It's 10.30 pm here and I've almost finished my usual "quota" for the night but I feel that I dont need to finish it.
Very strange.

Tonight is my first "true" session on NAL.
I had a false start the other day when i took it in the morning and i got a sick feeling that night.
Today, I took 25 mg about 1 to 1.5 hours before I started and although I felt a little peculiar I was able to settle into it (my usual routine) nicely.
I think that having something to eat before/as you take NAL, even a packet of chips, seems to help settle the stomach before NAL kicks in.

Yes, always take nal on a full stomach when starting out -- it reduces the nausea, which will go away on its own within a week or two max. Be prepared for a possible immediate decreased interest in booze while on nal called the "honeymoon period." You will think that you are cured but you are not -- many people, including me, had a sharp reduction in drinking immediately after starting nal. This is not "a cure" as extinction will take three to four months minimum to work, depending on how much and how long you've been boozing and quite possibly several months longer than that. As I said before, you will probably discover that you are a "better drunk" on nal, with fewer blackouts, more control and less drunken behavior almost immediately while on nal. This, for most people, is permanent, so long as you take nal one hour before drinking.

Welcome Tuttle!

This is a great place to read and gain knowledge as well as support. Know that if you ever have questions, you can post a question to Dr. Roy and while he is a busy guy, he will get back to you with an answer.

You can also read up on side effect (SE). While I didn't have nausea per say, I felt light headed for a good 2 weeks. It wasn't to the point where I couldn't drive or work, but always there, just to get on my nerves, I suppose .

Be proud of yourself for getting here, and don't be hard on yourself if there are weeks that your units may spike. It happens to the best of us.....no worries.

I look forward to your progress!!!

Be prepared for a possible immediate decreased interest in booze while on nal called the "honeymoon period." You will think that you are cured but you are not -- many people, including me, had a sharp reduction in drinking immediately after starting nal.

Thanks so much to minneapolisnick for these words of wisdom.
(by the way, can someone tell me how to cut and paste properly, if I've done it wrong)

I'm on my second night with nal (25mg) and I'm really surprised at my feelings. First I had a little nausea but it soon passed. But then as I progressed I started to wonder why I was doing this (drinking) because I wasn't getting the buzz/euphoria that I usually get. I thought ... why bother continuing? But then my addiction kicks in and I just keep on drinking. Talk about immediate decreased interest in booze ... wow ... the combination of nausea and no euphoria, I could almost stop right now! (but I wont) Which brings about another question, what are your goals? Do you want to be abstinent or do you want to be social drinkers, or what about 2 glasses of wine with dinner? I know that I would like to be able to have the odd bottle of beer or 2 glasses of wine over a meal at a restaurant. Am I being optimistic?

P.S. before I stumble off to bed ... I have a blackout every night so everyday brings a new challenge (if you know what I mean).

Welcome tuttle, and congratulations on joining the best damned bunch of (soon to be ex) alkies in cyberspace! I've never been part of a group as supportive as this one is. . .we all share a common goal, and that is to be back in the driver's seat of our own lives. No one but a fellow alkie can really understand the beating our self-esteem has taken b/c of this condition. Now we don't have to beat ourselves up any more because we realize this is not something we chose, but a physical condition with a medical treatment. Yee-haw!

As for goals, mine is to be able to have a glass or two of wine when I feel like it - and then to be able to stop. I don't want to be thinking about alcohol any more, and I want to wake up in the mornings full of energy, goals, and motivation. Alcohol has stolen those things from me, and I want them back. I want my friends and family to see the real 'me' again, and to get back on course with my life's purposes. I'm already seeing glimpses of that, but am far from 'there' as of this writing.

Keep us posted.

Unfortunately, that feeling of having no interest in drinking passes fairly rapidly for almost all of us. As your body gets used to naltrexone, you won't have nausea or spacey feelings and you'll probably find that your enthusiasm for drinking is the same as it ever was. And that's even with the reduced euphoria. I still get buzzed when I drink but certainly not as euphorically as pre-nal.

As for my goals, I do not want to give up drinking entirely. The fact is, all of my friends and family drink and when I examine my life, the best times with family and friends have always involved alcohol. Those times weren't dependent upon alcohol but were enhanced by alcohol. I want to be able to drink within safe limits -- I think that's no more than 20 a week or 5 in one sitting. I also want to be able to have a few drinks and have zero craving for more. I also do not want alcohol to even enter my mind during the days I do not drink. I've had several AF days for years, but all of them (except for hangover days where I swear off alcohol for 24 hours) involve thoughts of, "I could have one or two, right? No, I shouldn't..." I want those days to be a thing of the past. These are my goals and I'm confident I'm going to get there.