Marbella - Thanks for the encouragement. Any reduction in AL is better than none - Best, AT

Lightly skimming: I am a surfer, and I faithfully do my once a week yoga class, i do the pilates.nia once a week and I also do a killer pilates class, once a week and orgasms have not suffered one bit. Ok, there are days I awaken and because of my depression, (which I knew from age 13, I had IT and it was not because I drank AL) well somedays I don't "make it". And then sometimes I can just blame my age, and I think hey, you are doing ok!

And then there are the days, like yesterday, I forced myself out of bed, to yoga, and to the fools day parade, (a local totally fun parade where I did not have fun, but at least I went and did not stay home and get more depressed missing it.) And oddly enough, I had a great yoga class (my teacher knew immediately I was "down" cause I am a real up and out there in the spotlight creature).

And the parade, well, I thought I could be The VESSEL of Creativity not always being the one to dish it out. And although it was not too much fun (for me being depressed), I did at least come away with a few thoughts.

People really get into their outlandish outfits, which really brings out the bohemian hippy characters that we are are and that freedom has been somewhat lost in the "boomer" movement, which we all are too, educated, successful, well fed, well housed, Californians, living high on the hog.

BUT THIS WAS MY THOUGHT It was sad because I believe that so many of the folks at the parade really truly look like they were dressed yesterday, and the sad thing is, even though we are at the top of our game, we still are not allowed to totally express ourselves, here and in this day and age.

I am not attempting to stop any of these activities while on Nal, and I am not one bit afraid of adverse repercussions.

One added note, I just came away from a thread that had a link to RR's web site, and after looking at his other photographs, well he and his wife, at least in photos, have the expression of the art!(In Our Community)

oh gawd - stress is just a part of everyday living and to say it triggers anything & especially drinking, is a given. Really. Big duh, we drink b/c of everything. 500 years ago, how did people deal with stress?? The same way we do now - drinking, eating, sex - nothing changes. Like we have all said, we have good days, we drink, bad days, we drink, it's noon and we are at an art festival/sporting event - we drink!!

As far as the endorphins you all are talking about here - I have not felt a diminished interest in working out or sex. At the same time, my cravings for wine and/or my levels of drinking have only changed a teeny tiny bit. Really. To me, 10 drinks a week diminished is not huge. But maybe I should think differently....dunno. All I have to say is, sex drive is SAME!! Working out is SAME!! I don't get to have sex as often as I'd like, but I work out all the time and everything is fine. I think it is just such a habit...

So just as an FYI - all is good on other fronts! :-)

My guess is that 99.999999% of us here were using alcohol for some type of stress relief, at some point. Using alcohol for stress relief isn't the problem as people do it every day and are not addicted to alchohol. The problem is that some of our brains just learn the benefits of this behavior to an unhealthy level.

I think that stress is actually just our expection versus reality-

For example- "My boss should not expect me to do that, my colleague should have helped me"
"My son should clean his own room"
"My husband should have taken me out instead of going out with David" etc etc.

When these 'shoulds' don't happen we become stressed. I have noticed my BF (Yes, that non-drinker person!) doesn't have anywhere near the amount of shoulds that I have- and lately I have dropped many of my shoulds as well- they are just how I am choosing to perceive things- this doesn't make them real.
By dropping the shoulds I have find my stress levels have also dropped in proportion:)

But to think of somebody who because of their jobs etc, may have a stressful day everyday (and has difficulty getting rid of the shoulds) and uses alcohol as a way to unwind, I don't think replacing the drinking with another endorphine related activity is going to cut it, lets say he decides to go to the gym, or play online poker to relax himself instead of going to the bar. He will probably end up just swapping one addiction for another?

Maybe the best way to relax after a stressful day, is to do a non endorphin related activity- put your feet up and watch a DVD, or take the dog for a walk- get out in nature.

Houty, Q and Marby I think you're spot-on!! Stress is a part of life. It is possible to overthink this endorphin issue.

I had a real breakthrough in the early weeks when I started worrying about working out and such. We were still on MWO then. One morning I read a post from Potato telling someone not to overthink it, just take your nal and drink. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I went back to

Naltrexone + Drinking = Cure.

Eyes on the prize?

You're making a distinction without a difference: endorphins cause dopamine release.

Not so. Endorphins trigger dopamine release, but dopamine is released by at least three separate parts of the brain, each with different triggers. It just makes them less accessible.


Excellent advice about expectations, Marbella. That is exactly the thing I was looking for. You're at least a little different. You've taken quite the strong leadership role here, and that says something about your ability to take charge of your circumstances that is definitely not universal.

You're definitely right that TSM makes the triggers a lot easier to identify and sort out. As it advances, it'll also make it a lot easier to decide to do something besides drinking about those triggers. I also occasionally drink because of stress. Sometimes I drink way over the top, and I have a good collection of hangover cures because of that. When stress interferes with my work, I take valium. When I can, I handle stress by retreating to my wood shop (aka garage fulla toolz) and building a coffee table. Lots of non-endorphin ways to handle stress.

In general, though, I'd say the same thing about sex and exercise on daily naltrexone that they tell pregnant women about exercise. If you're doing it, then good, don't stop unless it becomes uncomfortable. If you're not doing it, then don't start. TSM works best if you change your behavior only as your personal urges lead you to.

It's true that our alcohol fogged brains are less able to identify triggers, and cope with stress, than a non-addicted brain. So from that POV it seems naltrexone's effect of reducing our drinking will have the benefit of enabling us to become more 'aware,' and able to cope rationally - as opposed to emotionally - with whatever comes along. Sort of a circular thing.

While most of us don't deal with stressful situations by jumping in the sack, or going out for a run, those kinds of pleasurable activities, practiced routinely, certainly contribute to an overall higher level of happiness. And a happy person deals much better with stress than an unhappy person. A happy person is much less likely to reach for the bottle. I believe this is why Dr. Eskapa encourages us to practice endorphine/dopamine releasing activities on AF 'naltrexone washout' days, when we can more greatly benefit from the increased uptake receptors in our brains. "Double the pleasure, double the fun. . ."

I am planning an AF night, and am proud to have just dealt with a big trigger. My SO calls each day just before beginning his hour-long ride home from work. Usually, I hang up and head for the Naltrexone bottle in anticipation of sharing a few drinks before dinner. Today, even though I'm feeling like a drink would relieve some effects from the heavy drinking I did yesterday, I devoutly remained on this computer.

"I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . .I think I can. . ."