Well I'm starting my own progress thread to one encourage those who will come here for guidance after me and to give and receive guidance and support from those who have done TSM before me.

First I had a hard time getting the medicine because Germany does not allow medicine to be imported into the Country...so no ordering online. I finally went to an urgent care facility and the Dr. had never heard of it but once I went through my embarrassing "I am an alcoholic" story she prescribed 90 pills anyway...yeah! I went to the pharmacist and found out that 28 pills cost $144.00 yikes! However I was desperate and gladly handed over the money.

Day 1: I took the pill (50 mg) at 5pm because I normally start drinking around 6. Within 15 min of taking the pill I had extreme nausea. I took my first drink around 6 but the nausea did not go away. Finally I ate something and it instantly disappeared. I had about 7 (U.S.) units of wine that night.

Thankfully I had no more nausea after that first day BUT there were several days during that first week where I felt sad and depressed and I had about 3 episodes where I just started crying for no reason. Anyway I'm closing in on week 2 and looking forward to posting my stats soon.

Hi RBJ,

Welcome. I too am fairly new, a little over a month in. I had similar side effects including depression, nausea and irritability but that pretty much only lasted 1-2 weeks.

Too bad it is so restrictive and expensive over there - I guess you will have to rationalize $1.50 a day as a price worth paying to get your life back - I would definitely be willing to pay that amount if it came to that.

Looking forward to following your progress.

Latenite

Ps - my family on my moms side is from northern Germany, so I can actually utter a few sentences in platdeutsch

And besides, how much are you spending on alcohol? Probably more than that, or you wouldn't have a problem. The reduced drinking is bound to cancel the cost of the meds.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks LN. I will gladly handle a little depression in order to be abstinent. I was AF for two days and I felt awesome and I can't wait for more AF days. I'm glad to hear that your side effects lasted only a few weeks.

I have lived in Germany for 10 years but my German is only fluent when I'm ordering something to eat or drink lol. I work and live on an Army base so I don't get to practice much. I can understand a lot though.

Thanks Melissa. I actually read your blog the other day...very insightful.

Also I was spending more than $1.50 a day on alcohol so you're right lol.

I just added my new numbers and I am down for the second week. I also had two AF days although it was not easy. I think NAL is becoming my sleeping pill because I take it around 5 and I'm really tired around 1030 when normally I'm up until 12 or 1 drinking. I have also noticed that it curves my appetite and I am forcing myself to eat. I'm not really a big eater so dinner is the meal I make a effort to eat.

I took the advice on the board and decided to exercise right after work instead of drinking. I used to be an avid runner and I hope to start running again soon. I swear my alcoholism has taken away all the things I use to enjoy but life is really good right now...I'm hangover free and more energetic than usual.

It may be the alcohol that's putting you to sleep. Without an opioid rush to keep us going, many of us find that alcohol makes us sleepy.

It's also possible that you're just getting sleepy because it's getting late.




Good for you. You're taking back control of your life.

I have not posted in awhile because I have been super busy, but I am really pleased with my TSM progress for the last six weeks. My numbers have never reached pre TSM since I started Nal.

Something interesting…I normally drink 2 bottles of cafe zinfandel every night and 3 bottles on the weekends. However, I could not find this brand in the U.S. so I ended up drinking a different type a wine with a higher alcohol content. After taking my Nal, I realized I could not finish the first bottle of wine. This happened again for the next 3 nights. However, when I arrived back in Germany, I started drinking my favorite wine again and easily finished 2 bottles. Therefore, I started drinking wine with a higher alcohol content and for the last two nights I have had wine left over in the bottle. That is pretty amazing to me.
Additionally, for the last two nights my wine has started tasting like vinegar after the first 2 or 3 glasses… literally I felt like I was drinking pure vinegar and it tasted awful. This is another incentive to quit before the first bottle.

I have promised myself that I would be patient and not freak out if my “cure” does not come as fast as I would like it to. My doctor just wrote me a 90-day prescription so I have about 120 pills or 17 more weeks to evaluate my progress. I also don’t feel as sluggish this week and I am sure it’s because I have lowered my alcohol consumption. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Hi RBJ. So glad to hear that nal is working for you. Funny how different alcohol tastes with nal in the system eh? There are many who stop taking nal because they want that great taste experience, and the rush, back. I guess it's an choice that some of us have to make - but it's not easy. Keep posting when you have time. We're all interested in adding to our 'experience bank'

Babs

I'm not a big wine drinker but I can remember having a bottle on TSM and thinking that it tasted like vinegar