Thanks guys, I appreciate the support. My goal this week is to see if I can have another AF day and add a second one. I know that I am still such a far way off from cured, but the mental block of the AF day was huge for me, and I feel now that if I've done it once, I can do it again. I hope that the more I try, the easier it will get. I'm hopeful, but also realistic that this is a long process and I have to keep the faith and put one foot in front of another!

Server- you're totally right that AF days become more natural and quite a bit easier. I used to drink and go OUT 5 nights a week and would crawl out of my skin if I was not going out during the week by Wednesday night. Now, I generally only going out drinking 2 a week (a party one night and a bar/restaurant the other, usually) and that's become the new normal

Tuesday I was able to do another AF day, and it was much easier than Saturday's AF day. Less anxiety...last night, I took my NAL and had 2.5 units and I felt awful, dizzy, sick, tired. I spent the evening drinking water and tea, trying to flush the feeling out of my system. Went to bed and woke up with waves of nausea, much like I experienced for the first few months of taking NAL. After emptying my stomach, I spent the rest of the night on the couch. So, can anyone who has experienced AF days tell me, after AF days, when you take NAL again, do you experience any of the side effects that you may have experienced when you first started NAL? As I've posted in the past, I've suffered horribly with side effects and am still only able to take 25 mg of NAL. If I have more AF days, am I going to experience the awful side effects of NAL just like when I started? I'm definitely going AF again today; I didn't enjoy the AL last night, and I certainly didn't enjoy the NAL side effects. Any experiences or advice is appreciated.

I usually go at least 2-3 days in between instances of taking nal, and my side effects have almost all disappeared - they don't come back every time.

Hi Server,

The side effects do come back for me after a long period of AF days (10 days or more), but probably only at 50% of what they were in the beginning. My side effects even initially were extremely mild, so now the main side effect for me is increased tiredness and a slightly spacey feeling. I don't experience side effects after only 3 or 4 AF days though.

Since you had pretty severe side effects in the past, that may explain why you are having such a strong reaction now after the AF days.

Week 25 is done and my units were 5.5 for the week, with 4 AF days. It's like I was able to break through that mental barrier and once I did the one AF day, the next ones were easy. Part of that was that when I did take NAL, I felt as awful and sick as I did when I first started. Friday night I took NAL and had one 5 oz glass of white wine with dinner. I felt so rotten and sick that I spent the night drinking mint tea, wearing a hot water bottle and regretting that I ever took the NAL. So now I'm thinking, if every time I take a NAL I feel this rotten, does this mean a future of abstinence, which I had never really planned on. My ultimate goal was 5 AF days a week, during the week, and being able to be "normal" and have a glass of wine with dinner on weekends. I"m really not sure what the future will hold, and this was my first week with many AF days. I think I'll just keep moving forward and see what happens. If I feel so sick everytime I take a NAL, it may determine how I face the future.

server, that's great progress! i know what you mean about the nal, I still don't feel great on it either. I know that according to TSM, we're never supposed to drink ever again without the nal. However, everyone is different, and I do suspect that for a small amount of people, once their behaviours have changed, triggers have been extinguished, new patterns established, it might be possible to have a few drinks here or there without nal and without over doing it. I suspect that would involve a fair bit of willpower and harm reduction strategies, which is always dangerous, but that's a call you can make yourself if and when you come to that decision.

End of week 26 with 6 AF days and only 1 unit. The AF days are easy now. In fact, today, I realized after dinner that I had not thought once about NAL or AL or being strong enough not to want it. I feel good about where I am at, and now want to work at getting many of these types of weeks behind me. It is amazing how quickly I was able to add AF days once I was able to do one! Onwards and upwards!

Absolutely amazing. Making me jealous

Well done Server

You've been unlucky with the ongoing side effects, but have done so well in reducing your units. I bet you're feeling a lot healthier with all that tea & water! Keep up the good work.

Cheers
Sticky