Hi there,

Took my 1st 25mg last night. Didn't really feel anything and had strong cravings. 4 drinks.

This morning, I had really bad cotton mouth, don't usually suffer from that since I drink a ton of water. Am feeling nauseous now and have a faint metallic taste in my mouth. Also feeling a little spacey and shaky. The plan (since last night, I thought there were no side effects) was to also take a half tablet tonight and have 1 drink just to get to the full dose tomorrow.

My starting point is:

Drink 5 - 6 days a week, average 3 - 4 drinks a night (probably more units if actually measured). The drinks usually consist of 1 cocktail, half bottle of wine, and 1 -2 sneak drinks. This amount usually causes me to blackout if I drink it from 6 pm - 10 pm but it's fine on the weekend with a longer time period.

My goal is to have 4 - 5 AF days a week and drink 2 - 3 drinks on the non-AF days. Exceptions for parties and stuff.. I want the craving to go way down since I'm always fighting it and would drink more than I do if I stopped fighting it.

Here's to progress....

Hang on, Virginia - you may be in for a roller coaster ride, as progress is rarely linear. However, your drinking patterns are close to those of Sinclair's subjects, who didn't drink as heavily as many of us on this board. They responded quickly to TSM, so perhaps you'll be in that category. Side effects aren't necessarily bad, as they mean you are responsive to the medicine.

Good luck!

Half a bottle of wine and 3 coctails doesn't add up to 4 drinks! With tsm we do count units to see progress.
I am sure others will comment. Most of us list our units here also.

Yes, LaBear is right. While it doesn't matter that much if your units are the same as ours, you should get/keep a standard for yourself so you can track your own progress correctly.

Many of us consider a bottle of wine as 5 units; a can of beer as one unit; a shot of hard liquor as 1 unit - but you have to measure the shot, and not just 'eyeball' it!

I didn't mean to imply that the drinks were equivalent to units - I know the units are much higher. Since this is my regular drinking pattern, I just took a shortcut because I'll know when I cut down from this.

I'll figure out the exact units and track that way. Would like to be consistent, especially if that is helpful for others.

But man, looking at units is scary!!! Just like weight watchers, when I had to record all my calories and saw that alcohol accounted for half of them - reality bites

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Yes, counting these units is very scary and also reminds me of WW. My wine bottles are bigger so I have to count the glasses or I would be fooling myself. Actually, I would rather say I am having more than less for some reason, maybe to keep me honest! WTE I also use the sticky's or I lose count having a good time, lol!

1st week results

Drank 24 units, 2 AF days. Biggest day was 9 units at the beach.

I won't say that I have real side effects but have noticed a metallic taste in my mouth the day after drinking. Also have had to double up on my water consumption when drinking. Regularly drink at least 10 glasses of water a day but that's not enough anymore.

Yesterday was AF so today I'm feeling full of energy, will get a lot done, all in anticipation of the bottle(s) of wine with tonight's dinner of crabcake and roasted veggies...

It's crazy but I always eat and exercise so diligently to make up for my drinking. A big bowl of steamed broccoli after a binge to help the liver... tons of tomatoes, olive oil, spinach, lean fish.. all in efforts to counteract the 'poison'. May be wishful thinking but am hoping to lose the final 10 lbs that i know are just alcohol weight.. yea alcohol and the snacks that go along with it. Vodka tonic and peanuts anyone?????

Counting on the 2nd week results to be increased units w/ the 4th long weekend. Can't really picture an AF day until Monday unless I get totally trashed and need a recovery day - hopefully not..

Thanks for listening

2nd week results -

23 units with 2 AF days. The days with my highest drinking corresponding to really high cravings. I know that the cravings won't decrease for awhile but I want SOME sign.

I'm on day 5 of my 3rd week and already up to 22 units in 4 days. And my cravings are really high. Every time I think there is something positive going on, like drinking slowly or being able to stop.. I realize that it's wishful thinking and that nothing has changed yet. Probably the only thing that has helped is having to wait an hour after taking a pill. It has enabled the AF days when I got home too late to take a pill and wait it out. In the past, I would have just poured a drink immediately.

Actual measured units would be higher than what I list but since I always pour the same 2 drinks (wine or Vodka) in the same glasses, I'll just keep count in the way that captures progress in my situation.

It is so great to read other posts of real progress. It's keeping me going because I am so disappointed and frustrated.

Also noticed that I'm a lot less motivated to work out and think it may be due to the Nal. Not a good side effect...

Hi Virginia,

I know you'll get tired of hearing this, but it's most likely WAY too early to be looking for positive results. It's really difficult to be patient, and it was a struggle for me. SO many times, the fear and doubts would creep into my head, even though I put on a brave face - always trying to be positive, but actually terrified at times on the inside. For so long I feared I was one of those unlucky people, and TSM wouldn't work for me, but 4+ months later - my life has completely changed. Notice that I said MONTHS, not weeks. I had many ups and downs, and still do sometimes, but the bad moments are becoming less frequent. I no longer have any doubt that TSM is working, and I'm really happy for the first time in years. It's tough at times, and I truly hope your progress won't take as long as mine has, but JUST KEEP GOING. Follow the golden rule: Naltrexone + Drinking = CURE. You'll get there!