I'm only halfway into my 2nd week of taking Nal but I'm starting to have sugar cravings like crazy. It's always after I take the Nal in the evenings. This is out of the ordinary for me. I thought Nal not only helped alcohol cravings but other cravings, like sugar, as well. Any insight would be appreciated!

From what I understand this is pretty common among heavy drinkers that quit or reduce. Body wants the sugar it misses from all the booze.

It was true for me too, Grayjay. Although Nal tended to suppress my appetite, I think it was about the 3rd month in that I started hitting the cookies.

Thanks for the replies. I suspected it might be related to the loss of the carbs from all the beer my body is used to. I have no appetite suppression whatsoever from the Nal. I could use to lose 10-15 lbs that have stuck around all these years from the daily beer intake. The appetite suppression was giving me extra incentive to take Nal and stop drinking. Even my doctor said the pounds would start to come off. I guess we all react differently. I run several days a week so I'm hoping this sugar craving will level off at some point and I don't actually gain weight!

I ran across this, top item is a liquid probiotic drink that is tart, sez it's one way to kill the craving:

http://bodyecology.com/articles/10-secr ... avings.php

My dad was an alcoholic and I remember that whenever he tried to stop drinking he would inhale chocolate! I always thought that sugar and alcohol were two sides of the same coin ..... as you get further along the path with nal, things should even out. You said you are partway through your second week - what was your intake before starting the nal and has it changed at all this first week or two?

Hugs, Maggie

I was drinking about 4 beers a night every night for the past year or so. And on average I would have about 4 days a month that I overdid it to the point of having a horrible hangover that made me nonfunctional. I'm 41 and I've been drinking every day of my life since I was about 22/23 years old except for my 2 pregnancies and a 5 month period about 3 years ago. It's hard to explain but I got to the point where I was fearful of being drunk bc of the hangovers being so brutal so I didn't enjoy feeling buzzed or drunk but I couldn't stop myself from even having just one. Although having just 1 was rare, it did happen sometimes. The fear of not being able to drink was so strong that I couldn't fathom not having at least something every single night. But not really to the point I was drunk which is just so weird to me now that I'm starting to come out of it. So now I'm on my 11th day of Nal and drinking about 1-2 beers a night. I've had 3 AF days. I know that's not recommended so early on but I was already at a pretty low level of drinking. It was just the daily chronic compulsion that had me in its grips and now I'm starting to feel free!! All I've ever wanted was to be able to have at least 2 AF days a week for basically the past 18/19 years but I could not do it on my own. I feel weird posting here bc I know the amount I drink now days is small in comparison to most. I have spent so much mental energy worrying about and limiting my intake over the past few years that I'm mentally exhausted from it. Nal is giving me the ability to breathe and let go of all the obsessive thinking about beer and I couldn't be more grateful or amazed.

Exact same thing happen to me. My extreme sweet tooth disappeared in my teens when I started drinking and comes back when I stop/cut down drinking. If you go to AA you will see old timers eating sweets like little kids. What you are experiencing is extremely common.

Grayjay - my daily intake was about 4 Guinness. However I am a lot older than you and it had started to creep up - some days 5, some 6. I totally understand the hangover thing - I used to joke that I didn't DO hangovers - I would rarely drink enough to have one, but like you, I had to drink everyday! Which really worried me. It sounds really good with what is going on with you - I am really pleased that the nal is helping to that extent - but do not be worried if you get 'over it' and things go back a tad.

Hugs, Maggie

Grayjay, doing TSM and drinking less (or not at all) really made me realize what a COMPULSION drinking was for me. the craving wasn't always there, but I felt like I HAD to drink everyday regardless. everyone is different, and if you can have a few AF days early on I think it will help you in the wrong one. as long as you're not totally "white-knuckling" it, your body is telling you that you can handle it....