had to convince my doctor that I wouldn't be abstaining. He had second thoughts about prescribing it and he got kind of pissed. Recommended I see a psychiatrist, but I asked him what the harm was, cost is cheap and the side effects are (I read) minimal. He seemed to change a little bit after that and I told him that this gave me hope to control my drinking issues and if it didn't work, I would look for other solutions.

I'm a 4-5 beer a night kinda guy heavier on the weekends. I don't miss work and I don't black out unless I overindulge vodka, which is maybe once a month.

If I just have a couple of drinks at the beginning will it still work?

Of course it will still work. I don't think it really matters how much you drink -- 2 drinks would "extinguish" just as well as 200, if Naltrexone works for you.

first week down.

Drank 5 of 7 nights. Two were business related, or I probably would have had 4 AFs.

27 total drinks. Probably down from 40 the week before. I wasn't keeping track then,

Two AF nights were pretty easy, including a Friday that would have me thinking exclusively about drinking was relatively easy. Couple craving pangs but nothing drastic. I do feel a bit different, fatigued and just a little off from the old me.

Good Start Bill.

Keep us updated.

Hey friend, hope all is well with you. It sounds like you aren't the kind of drunk that goes completely off the rails and makes a complete ass of himself, which is obviously great . Those of us who DO have those tendencies often see more immediate benefit of nal because a lot of that behavior stops right away. Don't despair though, nal still helps many people in your situation, it just takes us all (well, most of us) a little time to find our way to the finish line and re-learn how to live our lives without nightly liquid entertainment.

Keep it up amigo!

Thanks, generic.

I can definitely tell a difference. I feel like I drink more out of habit now than desire. I'm looking at my fourth beer tonight and I'm wondering why I opened it. Pre-Nal Fridays were 10-14 beers.

I feel the first two drinks usually pretty strongly and then just a general dizziness that doesn't build much. I'm at 27 drinks in the first week of NAL, 33 in the second and I'll probably hit 40 in the third. Yet despite the growth in units, I do feel different. I am not trying to limit myself and I don't feel like I've had many episodes where I was out of control. I've also totally eliminated Vodka. Just beer now.

Sounds like you have a good Dr., I had an appointment today and had to INSIST I planned on abstaining and would take the pill EVERYDAY. I don't understand why Dr.s aren't more educated on this. Nonetheless, I've got my pills in hand and I feel POWERFUL!

Thanks Chela. My doc was cool until I told him I wasn't going to abstain. Then he said I'd have to get it from a psychiatrist because he couldn't advocate my drinking and taking it. He said he'd never heard of the Sinclair Method and could not advise this course.

I had been seeing a therapist luckily who had heard of TSM and I told him so. I also explained that I was not at the abstinence point in my life. I also said that I may get there some day, but it wasn't today and based on my reading there was not a downside to trying NAL. It wasn't expensive, the side effects were minimal and it gave me hope. Something that abstinence did not.

I am feeling fatigue the day after I take a pill, but I feel so different toward alcohol now.

I'm a little less than month in and at: 27, 33, 45, 29 units for the last four weeks.

I think it's crazy that Drs aren't educated on this. I also wonder if it will work for me. Hasn't even been a full week yet, man patience is not my virtue.