Hi All

My very first week on the NAL & the good news is my drinking was way down & the NAL 100% stopped me getting an alcohol "BUZZ".

Note: I still got the taste of alcohol, which is nice when drinking good wine, but the need to keep going was gone. I liken the experience to drinking water i.e. you can drink 1 maybe 2 but then you stop.. As an added bonus, nobody realized I was drinking slower or drinking less. I was just socialising like everybody else.

*Side effects* A little dizzy when I first started (but this calmed down after an hour or so) and my "irritability is through the roof" . Hopefully the irritability is related to the detox and not the pill.

My scores were:

- Sunday:
6 units (1/2 NAL pill) *At a BBQ

- Monday:
Alcohol Free *I don't normally drink Monday

- Tuesday:
5 Units (1/2 NAL pill) *XMAS work lunch

- Wednesday:
2 Units (1/2 NAL) *Post work stress

- Thursday:
Alcohol Free

- Friday:
10 Units (1 NAL pill) *My usual big night (usually 25 units+)

- Saturday:
Alcohol Free *Usually have 2-3 bottles of wine on Saturday

Total Units: 23 (Normal Units 80+)
About 30% of my usual.

I feel relatively positive that I am NOT one of the 20% that does not respond to NAL. However its early days, so touch wood. A little concerned about the irritability but lets see how my Week 2 goes.

Nice.

You've probably heard that some people have a honeymoon followed by a return to higher levels before the real decrease. I haven't actually seen a whole lot of that on this forum, but it can happen, so be aware.

You shouldn't drink so little that you detox, though. It's great that you're able to drop your consumption so much -- bodes well for the future -- but gradually cutting down is part of the method. If you're that irritable, why not take some nal and drink some al? It's not just allowed, it's required.

I'm glad you posted this. Reading it gave me a real lift this afternoon.

Thanks for the good advice.

You are 100% correct & I must not forget the objective of TSM.
"Drink to get bored of drinking"
It is tempting to try & rush the experience, but the reality is I need my NAL to do the work & repair my neural pathways for good.