Hey everyone :wave:

Thought I would start a thread so I can at least document for myself how things are going. It's only been a few days and they haven't been AF since it was the weekend but anyways:

Here is my super lengthy welcome post in case anyone is interested: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4817

SO FAR
06.15.2016 - first day on Nal - Nal taken in morning cause I didn't realize you were supposed to take it before drinking. SE - stomach and headache, drowsy. AF
06.16.2016 - Nal free / AF
06.17.2016 - 50mg Nal, AL - 8oz beer (6,5%); 16oz beer (5%); 12oz beer (6,2%), 12oz beer (6%). Side effects - stomach cramps, sleeplessness
06.18.2016 - 25mg Nal / AL: 8oz beer 6,5%, few sips of beer - 6,9%, few sips of beer (3,5%) -- not much desire to drink more, but after fight with boyfriend/sleeplessness drank 150ml or so white wine and one 16oz low alcohol beer (1%). SE- stomach cramps, trouble sleeping, sweatiness
06.19.2016 - 25mg Nal / AL: 16oz beer 5,6%, 16oz beer 6,5%, 16oz beer 6%, about 200ml white wine - SE: not much, but took a sleeping tablet to combat sleepiness. Nausea next day but not until about 11-12am after large coffee - Nal-over or coincidence?
06.20.2016 - Nal free / AF

I know it's a lot of detail but I'm new at this and getting the hang if it. better to write more than less for the time being - perhaps it will help me keep on track. The hardest thing for me right now is lack of support at home, my boyfriend is actively drinking during the week even though he PROMISED we wouldn't. And I'm trying to stick with it so I'm a bit angry and annoyed with him ATM and my fave way of dealing with unwated emotions is.... you guessed it But I want to, NEED to, hang in there. Maybe he will come around... I'm just gritting my teeth tonight while he sits and drinks beer in the living room and counting the moments until therapy tomorrow where I can bitch about it to someone who is at least paid to listen to me. ALthough my therapist and I kinda got into an argument (well, no - he pissed me off but seemed unfazed himself ) last week so I'm not sure how I feel about going to him.

But I will. Here's to an (I hope) AF week! I'm hoping to keep away from it until Friday. Weekends are.. well, impossible - for now

Sounds like the SE's are beginning to fade, Eternitye. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

If you don't make it to Friday, no big. You're responding to the craving and that's what TSM is all about. The AF days will come, I was into it 4 months before my first AF day. I think if you tend to binge, you're supposed to take a Nal and have a drink 4 days per week for the first couple of weeks. See Joanna's reply to Lizzy in this thread:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ ... olic-years

Anyway, stick to the One Hour Rule and you'll likely see blackouts go by the wayside fairly soon. Make sure to keep some with you at all times, as you can usually make some excuse to delay an hour if you only have the pill at hand if you run into an unexpected situation.

Does your boyfriend drink quite a bit? He might be interested in trying TSM too, but even if he isn't you shouldn't get on his case. If TSM works for you, you likely won't care whether he drinks or not.

Don't force to many AF days at the beginning. Just let some time pass with taking your pill an hour before drinking and try to keep it under control. But if you force to much at the beginning you may decide you cant do it. And you can do it. Just let the process work.
As far as a boyfriend in house drinking, I feel for you as my wife is my biggest issue. She does not do it on purpose. She just likes her 3-5 glasses of wine a night or a martini or three. You will have to learn to lived with it until he decides he wants to either give up AL or help you get control. I just keep a lot of seltzer and water in refrig and just try not to let her talk me into a drink or two.

Best of luck and no problem putting detail in your posts

Thanks Joe! I read the thread, including Joanna's response.. Seems reasonable, though I think I'd rather not force the drink if I'm not feeling it.. like, during the week I normally get home around 9:30 pm, so by the time I took the Nal and could have the beer it would probably be my bedtime I feel a lot better with life and at work when not having those few beers in the evening - and I usually drink something or other on Friday Saturday and (unfortunately) Sunday nights - so that's almost 4 days a week



I usually only get blackouts when I mix alcohol with sleeping tablets (Ambien) - actual alcohol-only blackouts are (thankfully!) a thing of the past. But yeah, I need to get one of those keychains just in case. You never know when someone will suggest grabbing a beer after work or something and my willpower will go flying out the window!



My bf definitely has an AL issue. He has even admitted it, and expressed some vague interest in perhaps trying TSM if I decide it's something that's working for me. I'm definitely not pushing it (the tablets are expensive, heh) but I wouldn't mind trying it out on him in the future to help control his drinking...

Thanks a lot for your reply !

So you know where I am coming from! It can be hard, can't it - especially around 'normal' drinkers who have no reason to feel the need to control their intake. It's like quitting smoking and living with a smoker! having said that I realize we need to come to some sort of balance, the two of us. I don't plan on being 100% abstinent really, I like doing our beer-tastings and such, and having the occasional glass of wine. So hopefully he will be able to tone down his drinking to that level as well... Thanks for replying

I managed to stay AF monday through thursday so didn't take the Nal, but I took it on Friday night- had two beers around 7% ABV.
Yesterday was kind of a weird day.. there was an important football/soccer game on and it started at 3pm and I met some friends to watch it at a pub. I took my Nal at 2pm and then throughout the day ended up drinking a total of roughly 6 beers (5%) - but this was spread out over like 12 hours so at no point did I really feel drunk/buzzed. Just tired - I wanted to go home around midnight but as usual my bf wanted to stay out. Kind of frustrating as I really don't feel like staying up late/partying especially when I'm trying to decrease drinking

In any case the side effects seem to have gone away which is nice. I'll probably have a beer or some wine this evening (after taking the pill ofc) and then hoping to have another AF week!