Hi everyone, posted once and lurking a while. Been putting off taking Nal, pretending I can control it.

I did two weeks of only drinking 2 nights, then the third week 5 nights

So here I am taken my first tablet two hours ago, so far no obvious side effects (which was the one thing putting me off taking them)
Weirdly I didn't want to open the wine, but I have and am taking my first sip!

Will report back tomorrow morning, wish me luck !

Hey Ayla, congratulations and thanks for telling us about your "launch"! Best luck, for sure!

What's your drinking style/history been up till now?

Did you find a doc that would prescribe the Nal or did you get it from ADC?

Hi Joe,

Been drinking all my life, but main problems been the last 8 years. Slowly working from one bottle a week up to 7+.

It's weird because i can go without I've proved that to myself but it's very hard to go long term, more than 5 days? no not for years and years.

My doctor gave me a month of no alcohol chance to reduce my blood pressure before going the tablet route, I've managed to drop it over the two weeks that i cut my drinking in half but trying to maintain that is proving too much.

When i drink I don't stop until I passout and I suffer awful blackouts where i don't remember much at all.

Bought Nal online at an expensive price but had it in the cupboard for 2 months waiting for the right moment in my head to try it. Worked myself up so much about the side effects ( and maybe secretly dreading the moment drinking gives no pleasure!) but my health has to come first, I won't make another 8 years of drinking this much without serious health issues.

Ayla -

No worries, this sounds like many others that have started TSM and you're going to see your numbers start to drop. Just stick to the Golden Rule and take the Nal an hour before you drink.

I don't know what corner of the globe you're from, but have a look at this, you may find a TSM doc that will prescribe:

http://www.cthreefoundation.org/find-a-physician.html

If you don't see anything, shoot me a PM and let me know what the nearest big city is, I'll see if I can dig up some options for you. If you're here in the states, with a prescription, you can use GoodRx to get 30 Nal for about $40. Otherwise I think All Day Chemist is about the least expensive overseas source.

Starting out, you should drink when you usually do and what you usually do, but it can't hurt to see if you can drive down the quantity per night that you drink. Don't gulp the first one, sip it and stretch it out. Try to get a glass of water in between drinks. For me, leaving my drink inside when I went out for a smoke really cut my consumption. Others find that talking on the phone has them drinking more, so try leaving it elsewhere if that happens. Don't hold the drink in your hand as much, take a sip then put it down. Leave it and get up to something else for 15 min or so, see if the Nal is helping you to forget about it for a bit.

You may see your numbers drop initially, then climb back up. Don't worry, that's pretty common. Likely, it won't be too long before the blackouts are mostly history.

Well, looking forward to hearing about your progress, stick with us as you're starting out, lots of good support here!

Thanks for the tips

I'm in the UK. I was hoping if the Nal worked I could take it to my GP and try to get him to prescribe it on the NHS.

Anyway it's 4.30am here and I've woken up thirsty :-S

Drank 2 bottles of wine last night the Nal didn't seem to make much difference other than not wanting to open the wine originally which was weird!! But forced myself as meant to drink on Nal lol !! Ironic !!!



However my black out didn't seem as bad can remember coming to bed almost and I wasn't as pissed as normal on that amount.
Not sure I got as much pleasure out of it but more drank it as it was there (boredom?)

Slight confused now

It sounds like the Nal is already starting to have an effect.

Aside from the craving, there's also the habit and using mindfulness techniques like the ones I mentioned can help with that. Keep up with the Naltrexone and while the quantity you drink may go up and down over the weeks to come, you should see it going down overall. Quite a few people take more than the 3 month timeframe mentioned in the book, so be patient, stay on track and you will get to where you want to be.

TSM in the UK can be difficult, as you have to go through your GP, who may or may not be willing to prescribe and may or may not try to shove you off on the local alcohol treatment center (Addaction, etc.). None of them seem to know about Selincro (which they damn well should) let alone knowing about TSM. Have a look at this link from Patient:

http://patient.info/forums/discuss/at-m ... end-499622

Paul (runs Alcohol Home Treatment) may be able to help you with some info, but email Joanna@CThreeEurope as well. As I understand it, Naltrexone can be prescribed (per NICE) for use while abstinent. Selincro however, can be used while drinking and may well be what you get from your GP, if you're not sent to a "specialist" instead. I guess it depends on the RAG guidelines for your area. If none of that pans out and they won't give you either, you can consult the list from the previous link that I posted to find a private doctor. Paul offers such a service, there's also a doc in the list that operates out of London, last I heard his fees weren't all that much. The downside of Selincro is the side effects, which can be more difficult to deal with than Naltrexone's side effects, though some (just like with Naltrexone) don't have any SE's from taking Selincro. Anyway, it's a good time investigate and see what you can find out. You may come to the conclusion that it's simply easier to get Naltrexone from overseas than to fight with the NHS, but then again you may have no problem getting Selincro. The difficulty with that route (as I understand it) is when your drinking falls outside the guidelines for prescribing Selincro, they will cut you off. Anyway, that's my take from what I've gathered, have a go at it and see what you can find.

Sorry should have been clearer I took selincro bought it online.

Didn't feel any side effects from my first one.

When I took it last night I thought waiting 2 hours would be difficult, after an hour I lost the urge to drink, after the 2 hours I had to force myself to open the wine.
However once I started drinking I didn't have a problem downing two bottles. But your right there wasn't much pleasure in it, more I had it so I drank it kinda feeling.

However I wish I hadn't opened the bottle to begin with.

Could it be it works somewhat without even drinking ? Can I take it and not drink if it kills the urge to drink or is this counter productive ?

When you start out with TSM, it's best to continue drinking on your normal schedule. You want to experience what you normally would, with the exception of the endorphin reward that your opiate receptors have become accustomed to. That's what moves the extinction forward a step. Take a look at this post from Joanne in Lizzy's thread over on Options Save Lives:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ ... ollTo=2694

I'm glad you're not seeing any SE's from the Selincro, bodes well.

Thanks for the advice and link.

I shall take another pill tomorrow when it's likely I will drink again.

Interesting comment about sometimes making hangovers worse, as I'm sitting here wondering why I feel so bad lol.

Yes, it seems some run into the "Nal-over" and some don't. A few who post here say they can get a ripping hangover from just a few drinks! As I recall, it was mainly the bingers that ran into that, but I could be mistaken.