Hi, I haven't posted in awhile because I thought I'd let some weeks build up so my posts might mean something. I am now in my 8th week of TSM. To my horror, in my 3rd week I got worse, with 2 binge drinking days with blackouts. I added topiramate, which once before had benefited me, but the effects were very short lived, only a couple of weeks. I now take 100 mg. of topiramate morning and night, and Nal whenever I drink. I am doing quite well. Don't know if the Nal has really begun "curing" me; the time has been very short by the standards of this forum, and the side effects have not subsided. I am not really nauseous the morning after drinking with Nal, but my stomach is not right and I have difficulty eating. Since I am severely underweight, this is a problem. Any comments?

Also, I seem to have lost the penpal I found on this site. Maybe he quit the program or maybe he got sick of me. I have no friends and no doctor. Anybody out there lonely and would like a little long distance mutual support? Here I am. Thanks all.

Since my history is short, I will post it in both days and weeks.

Pre TSM: 56-70 per week

Wk 1: 33 in total
Wk 2: 8, 8, 8, 1, 8, 0, 0=33
Wk 3: 10, 10, 0, 0, 0, 2 1/2. 3=25 1/2
Wk 4: 8. 8, 7, 0, 7, 5, 5, =40
Wk 5: 5, 10, 0, 0, 2, 6, 0 = 23
Wk 6: 9, 9, 0, 1 1/2, 5, 2 1/2, 3 1/2=36 1/2
Wk 7: 7, 8, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0=19

I only drink lite beer, and I add the 1/2's to indicate beers I started and then set aside because I did not want to finish them. Some were almost full, others more than half gone.

Hi Pam, I don't have a Dr. and hardly ever in contact with friends. I'm kind of a loner by choice although had some serious depression about loneliness not too long ago. I started naltrexone about a year ago and had a rapid response to it. One favorable effect I had was the ability to think with reason and be honest with myself. Even after I didn't crave alcohol anymore I drank a few more times, out of habit I think, but I don't drink anymore because I just don't want it. I did drink out of lonliness and boredom but alcohol just made me lonelier. Something I had to learn in life is that you can't depend on other people to make you happy, and that the only person who can take care of you is..you. This was very difficult for me but once I got it, it was lifechanging. The best thing I ever learned about is the Law Of Attraction like in the book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. The most improtant message is feeling the feelings of gratitude for everything you have no matter how insignificant they may seem. I learned that complaining about what I didn't have only made it worse. I am intensely grateful for having found TSM and naltrexone. I get thrills everytime I remember that I don't have a drinking problem anymore. Have a great day!

Hi Pam,

I don't know your story other than this post and I'm not a doctor but I do know that Topiramate is sometimes used to help people loose weight as it suppresses appetite, so given your weight/appetite worries, I'd rethink using it if I were you, also, I don't know how Naltrexone and Topiramate interact.

Have you tried TSM alone?

The side-effects were too much for me too, I think 50mg was too much for me, I dropped to 25 and felt much better and my drinking levels dropped too, it might be worth a try. Sometimes 50 isn;t enough for some people and sometimes it's too much, if you are underweight, it's not impossible that you need less than someone who weighs 30 to 100 lbs more than you.

I found eating a protein snack when I took my Nal helped both with the side effects and helped reduce my drinking, give it a shot, try eating a ham sandwich, for example, with 25 mg of Nal, wait an hour and then drink, and see what happens.

good luck

Curi