Greetings from Central Europe, home of the greatest drink on Earth, beer. So great is beer in fact that I almost can’t see past it anymore. It’s well past time now to move on from what has become a serious and consistently worsening situation. By way of introduction to this thread I’ll repost a bit of something I posted elsewhere on this forum.
I’ve always been a heavy drinker. It was about eight years ago, when I was about 30, that I started getting drunk outside of normal situations, i.e. at home alone or while working at the computer. Classic progression after that.
I don't drink hard alcohol and I don’t drink every single day, but the days where I have just a couple of drinks have almost disappeared now; every third or every second day I drink 4-6 litres of 4.1% beer, like clockwork. At this rate I drink about 70-80 litres of beer a month and, of course, this is rising slightly.
I have plenty of things to be afraid of. Intestinal problems always, increased heart palpitations recently. Perhaps scariest of all, I’ve even noted my memory and brainpower fading in the last year. The fiancée absolutely hates the lone drinking in front of a monitor. Occasional work problems. Bladder problems. I nowadays avoid drinking with friends in the pub because it always ends with me saying or doing something inappropriate. Aside from extending my life I would also like to have a child with my fiancée in the near future, something I can’t in good conscience do as a piss-head.
So that’s the gist of my sob story. Quitting alcohol, or anything else for that matter, is pretty much impossible for me, because I have some ingrained, irrational and self-destructive insistence on defying that idea, even on days when I could probably get by without a drink. So I started with Naltrexone last week, and I sincerely hope to all the gods that it will be the answer; I’m ready to follow this line of treatment religiously for a year.
The first week was not good though. In fact my consumption shot up by 25% to almost 50 drinks, which I guess is about 100 units. The Nal has made me feel quite strange on occasion, sometimes for the better. The first night for example I was only able to get six beers down before it became exhausting. I forced another two down out of defiance, but then went to bed. That feeling has since gone away, unfortunately, but there has usually come a point in a session when that lust for more goes quiet for a while.
I know it’s very, very early to make any conclusions, I’m just going to keep dutifully taking my pill and observing myself, and writing about it here. Thanks for reading and for anything you wish to share, and most of all good luck to you!

Well, week 2 on TSM was quite interesting. My overall consumption did not drop from the norm, I had about 76 units. What was very encouraging though was that the last three sessions my stomach just closed off after the 12th beer. Was completely uninterested in continuing, which I’ve never really felt before. Is that what it feels like when the method is working? Now if only I would start feeling like that after six drinks.

Hi there -- the textbook reaction to Nal is that you lose interest at some point in having more booze (in a given session).

If you can do or drink something else (non-alcoholic) when you hit this point you start to un-wire the reward pathway built up in the brain. So it does take a bit of conscious doing but it's not supposed to require white-knuckle willpower.

If you keep on drinking beyond this "who needs more?" point that's often referred to as drinking through the Nal. Feeling that threshold can be subtle, though.

It's not as effortless as suggested in the book but it's also not torture. Keep it up!

Wow, definitely noticed a difference this week - Week 3 on Nal. Drank mostly low levels, was 'officially inebriated' twice, but felt drunker sooner and drank much less than usual on such occasions. Usually hit the point were I didn't want to continue. Units down to 64.

That is such a huge drop in 3 weeks!
I'm mainly a beer drinker also and I feel that I get that "full" feeling much quicker now. I never used to get this feeling at all before and being a guy on the smallish side friends would often comment on how I could get so much liquid into my body. In one continuous session I once drank 54 bottles of beer. Tonight I drank two and felt I didn't really need to continue. That was about an hour and a half ago now and I have no interest in drinking anymore tonight.
Last night I drank 14 standard drinks so obviously I'm extremely up and down but it feels great tonight.
I'm really happy for you Sanclaire, keep it up!!

Thanks a lot Blackie. It's not really such a big drop - I usually drink around 70, sometimes 80 units a week, and I had a big spike the first week. But it most certainly feels better, safer, knowing that the drug is doing something, and that my body is helping me stop a session, rather than egging me on all night. As beer drinkers we shall keep an eye on each other then and see how it continues. I'm really hopeful.

Most definitely, from what some people on here have told me I think it is an advantage to be drinking beers as opposed to spirits due to the sheer volume alone and the time it takes to intake the equivalent alcohol. It has given me the chance to actually feel the Naltrexone working (or more accurately the alcohol working differently than usual). Has your behaviour whilst drinking changed? I'm yet to really go out to a pub etc. yet, although I feel that at home I've felt very much in control of my actions and emotions. Like I'm not even close to doing something I regret - the reason I ask is I'm going out tonight and although I plan control, well...you know...
Anyway, yeah it's good to share experiences with those who have similar drinking practices so I'd definitely welcome your constant updates and experiences. I'm very hopeful also.

My behaviour has changed only in that I feel drunker sooner and any time I've been in a pub thus far I wanted to go home eventually, as opposed to being out all night.

How did your night out go?

Yeah my night went really well actually, I've given an account of things in my progress thread. I find it really interesting how everyone seems to have such varied reactions to this. So far it seems that it's kind of like a 'sober' pill for me. It stops me becoming that messy, boorish, obnoxious drunk and so far no memory loss.
I think had my night been a 'regular' night at the pub instead of a catch up with an old mate I would also have gone home a lot earlier.

So, Week 4 was not particularly successful, wholly because I had to face (or go along with) my trigger of triggers, which is being along for several days with no responsibilities. Weekend without kids, girlfriend away for 3 days and work complete. 100 units, more or less. Each session, did get to the point where I didn’t want anymore, and that after 10 or 13 beers instead of 16 or more, but there were too many sessions. About 27 beers went down the hatch in 3 days, then came an annual celebration where even the girlfriend got (gorgeously) drunk, and I had to ruin the good buzz between us by buying a few more drinks for home. That together with the more brutal hangovers of late which I assume are from the Nal.
Now comes a huge challenge as we all head away – girlfriend, kids and me – to the Mediterranean for a month. My two big “anti-triggers” are travelling and kids, so I’m quite sure I’ll manage well for the next couple of weeks. But 4 weeks??... I’m terrified of getting drunk off local wine even once, having the ever-wiser kids wonder “how did dad get sick?”, leaving the girlfriend to deal with them the next day, having a hangover in 38 degree heat, losing a hard-earned day, no, no, no… I have to find it in myself to avoid all that.