Yesterday, I ate what amounted to a small dinner before I started drinking and it did help, I drank half my pre food amount, and maintained my usual 2 units while eating, so in all 4 units instead of 6, I feel better today for it but still unwell, I think my ideal number of drinks is 3 units if I don't want to feel sick, I will aim for this.

When I was sober I got used to drinking sodas and non alcoholic beers, the quantity of liquid is much greater, I prefer wine, by far! but the quantity I can/should drink is much less. I should try switching to beer or G&T or some other longer drink, but I just love my wine...

Hi Curi

I love my wine too. I find I still tend to guzzle when I drink it, so I try to limit my consumption to only once or twice per week, the other days I pretty much stick to cider or sometimes beer as they don't seem to go down as easy.

I also have been playing around with eating a decent meal before drinking, I find it really does seem to help curb the drinking. Usually I drink before I start making dinner and often I'm half-cut by the time the meal is ready. My plan this week is to take Nal when preparing dinner and not to drink until AFTER I finish eating.

Hi Katie and thank you for the cider idea, I'd forgotten about that and I like it. I will try a white wine spritzer too.

I had a beer the other day and a couple of units of wine with dinner and felt just fine the next day. The day after that, I had 2 to 3 units of wine at lunch, that evening we went out and I took a second 25mg of Nal but in the end I didn't drink but I felt fine the next day too, so I think my ideal number of units is 3, I don't feel sick the next day after 3 drinks, I'm really going to try to keep to this but it will be difficult because I'm going on hols with big drinkers, I hope I can manage to eat before drinking and drink lots of water.

I know I'm still in the early stages of this experiment and I know that things could go very wrong for me but I just want to note how being able to drink like this makes me feel happier. I was lucky in the sense that I had gotten to the stage that I didn't miss alcohol at all, I could go for days without thinking about it, but in the back of my mind was this worry or sadness that I was different to everyone else, I wasn't "normal" and always the fear of falling off the wagon. There was also a feeling of having nothing to look forward to, especially after giving up cigarettes, that feeling has now gone, hense the happier-ness, I suppose.

I know what you mean Curi - in some ways, explaining your choices to others is the worst part about not drinking; because I don't want to feel socially excluded from my friends and family, total abstinence is not really an option. It's nice to feel that there is another option! And I also agree with you that 3 drinks is for me ideal - any more than that and I risk a hangover or nausea the night of, on nal.
EL

Well so much for me feeling fine after 3 units! I had about 2 1/2 last night and have been feeling tired and slightly nauseous and cranky all day. I had one unit of red wine this evening so I hope I'll be ok tomorrow.

Hi Curi

Thanks for your post on my weekly progress. Yes, I would definitely recommend having a face lift. I'd also recommend going to Thailand or somewhere overseas where it's a fraction of the price & you can recuperate without hiding out at home! The eyelid surgery takes the longest to heal - my eyes aren't normal looking yet. A bit of makeup helps. I still haven't told my parents though(!). They were away for 2 months when I had it done and I emailed to tell them, but they didn't receive the email. Then I thought I'd wait and see if they commented but they haven't....

Thanks for your tip re eating. I'm sure that helps. Also if I leave drinking til dinner time or later I am less likely to drink to excess before I get tired and would rather go to bed.

Sorry to hear about your side effects and feeling sick. Hopefully that will help to keep you levels down. Hope you are having a good week.

Wherabouts in the UK do you live? My Mum is Welsh.

Cheers
Sticky

Thanks guys for calling in and for your continued support. During my holiday I managed to keep to 3 units per night except for last night. Drinking close to eating time made this easy for me, the feeling of "enough" has returned but I have also noticed that I have little to no pleasure from drinking at the moment, last night I deliberately drank more to see how I felt. It was frustrating and I found myself feeling pent-up and wanting to try drinking without Naltrexone... that would not be a clever progression... I am still taking only 25mg prior to drinking, usually 2 hours before hand though there have been times when it was one hour and others when it was closer to 3 hours. The later I leave it the less I feel like drinking, I feel pressure in my ears, I feel sleepy and unmotivated and I don't feel like drinking, to combat this I will try to drink closer to 1 hour after taking Nal in the hope that I get some enjoyment out of it.

I have to laugh at myself and at how much my thinking changes. Whilst abstinent I had absorbed 12-step-think, I knew the self-talk, indeed I believed it to an extent, and then I heard about Naltrexone and TSM, I initially wanted to try it just to remove the stigma of not drinking, I thought I'd just take a sip from a glass of wine but continue to drink principally water, I wanted to look "normal" ... that didn't last long! Now, having figured out that 3 units are my max without feeling sick the next day, I am now disappointed that I'm not getting buzzed... talk about wanting my cake and eating it!

I look forward to my drink every day but when I get to it I am unfulfilled and disappointed... hopefully these things will fall into place with time.

Now that you have experienced both a long term quit and drinking with nal I would be interested in knowing whether or not you would make the same decision regarding returning to drinking with nal or do you think you would have been better off remaining abstinant. I only ask because there seems to be a few new people enquiring about starting nal to come off a quit.

Yep, I think the whole "point" of TSM is that for a while, you keep drinking and keep getting disappointed by the fact that drinking isn't as good as before. Eventually, your brain will get the memo and decide to stop chasing that drunken feeling

Hi Mario and EL,

Mario, yes, without hesitation, I would try TSM again, and this despite the often unpleasant side effects. For the moment I am able to moderate with ease and this gives me a great sense of normality and has taken my nose out of my navel.

EL, Yes, I think the nausea, pressure in my ears and the hangovers (if I drink more than 3 units), only help to enhance the negative association with drinking, long may it continue!!

I am nearing the end of my 8th week on TSM. In the 1st month, I had a few nights at 8 units but since I dropped down to 25mg of Naltrexone a month ago, the most I have drunk is 6 units, my usual amount being about 3. I just feel too sick the next day when I have more, this helps me to stay on track. However, I am drinking almost every day now, I don't know how I feel about that yet, in one way, it's not bothering me much because I only have 3 to 4 units, but that said, I am above the weekly health recommendation for a woman (I'm a woman, EL ) I have changed back to taking the 25 mg of Naltrexone closer to 1 hour before drinking because I find Nal a bit of a downer, I feel tired and unmotivated after a few hours with Nal, as well as the above mentioned SE, these are always worse when I don't sleep well.

So, all in all- so far so good.

50 mg Naltrexone
1 - 24-30.06 - 1 5 0 0 0 3 3 = 12
2 - 01-07.07 - 0 0 0 0 4 8 4 = 16
3 - 08-14.07 - 6 8 0 5 0 0 0 = 19
4 - 15-21.07 - 8 0 0 6 8 0 2 = 24
25 mg Naltrexone
5 - 22-28.07 - 3 3 4 6 6 0 6 = 28
6 - 29-04.08 - 4 3 3 0 3 1 3 = 17
7 - 05-11.08 - 3 3 3 3 3 0 3 = 18 holiday 4-18/8
8 - 12-18.08 - 6 0 3 0 4 0 2 = 15