Hi everyone -
Well its been one week now and I don't have a lot of time to post now but I wanted to let everyone know how its going. I did two days of 25 mg and it cut my drinking in half - from two bottles of wine a night to one, got a bit buzzed but not really "high". Had no real side effects that I noticed, so I went up to 50 mg on day three. Still no real side effects, though I'm noticing my hands are sweaty and clammy a lot. Didn't intensify the effects - I still drank one bottle a night every night for the next few days. The last two nights drank a lot more as have a drinking buddy from LA staying - I think on Monday I drank almost two and last night we had a dinner party where I am fairly certain I got through two by the end. BUT both those nights were early starts (7 ish) and late finishes (2 ish) and there is no doubt that without the Nal I would have drunk far more than I did. Basically had a bit of a blackout towards the end of last night, but before that, no blackouts at all, after spending the last few months blacking out almost every night. So what I've noticed is that even though I'm not getting much of an effect from drinking on Nal, the last two nights i was reaching for another drink a lot - like I was trying to drink past the Nal, but "drunk" on naltrexone is NOTHING like drunk off of it. I was hosting last night and was the most "sober" in the room, which was great since I had to keep my wits about me to make sure everyone was having a good time/had what they needed. Its such a strange and happy-making thing to not have to worry that my behavior will spiral out of control. My visiting friend drinks like I do and was slurry and aggressive towards her boyfriend by ten pm - they fought and he actually broke up with her - and she doesn't remember any of it today. That SO would have been me off the Nal. Haven't told her what I'm doing, but I think I might. Still mulling that one as am not sure I want anyone but you guys to know about this at the moment!
Today is the first day I feel hungover, all the others I really felt pretty ok, which is kind of shocking since have been hung over every day the last few months.
So quantity wise I'm generally down but not consistently, quality-wise its like a whole new world - one where I can drink and not be scared of totally doing something crazy/awful/ and not remembering, and one where the hangovers aren't dominating my days.
And one effect of the Nal - I think its helping my depression - I have been on Lexapro (and a host of others over the years) and was just getting used to the fact that I will probably stay depressed on it since it worked initially, but then seemed to peter out. Since taking the Nal, I feel a lot less depressed - I don't wake up feeling like I want to end everything, which, to be honest, I was for a while now. At first I thought it was the result of me putting less of the depressant AL into my body, and am sure that helps, but since I drank a lot the last two days and still don't feel my regular downs, I am beginning to wonder if the Nal could be helping my depression? Anyone else had this effect?
Anyway I love reading everyone's updates - its so encouraging to see people making it, and people still hanging in there - I am so glad I found you guys!!

Pre Nal: 120 - 140 UK units (one bottle of wine = 10 units)
Week 1: 10,10,10, 15, 10, 20, 20 = 95 units (no AF)

Great job,...

I too had some similar cut backs the first few days. And like you feel optimistic about life. I think its a combination, less booze and the feeling that even if not in the near future, ultimately, we will regain control.

You can read countless posts where people are seemingly going backwards. But its not the case. Nick has a great metaphor for the spike some have experienced. He says its like the mouse hitting the lever for the food and normally would've gotten the food pre TSM. But its imperative to understand that the lever is beer and the food is the adrenaline rush which is now blocked. SO the brain in an attempt to get the adrenaline rush keeps hitting the lever (drinking beer) in hopes to get that subconscious reward, the adrenaline rush. So we spike in drinking levels some time in the process.

Over time, the brain realizes it ain't gonna get it, and that's when the glorious extinction takes place. I tell you that, because this is a bit of a marathon roller coaster we're on. I'm on week 3 and the old timers sometimes are struggling in month 6, BUT, if you read their posts, they're ok with it because they've been doing it for a while and they know ultimately the time will come. It's just a shame that we don't have millions of clinics across the world providing us with therapeutic support and other forms of support to get us through this...I'm lucky, I have a counselor, a marriage counselor and a psychotic shrink(not so lucky), that help me out. I try and post often as I know this is some peoples therapy and I hope I can offer words of encouragement, laughter and levity to a VERY serious disease....Best to you Drunk...From another drunk, Jim.

Hi DNM,

I suffer with both anxiety and, to a lesser extent, depression. I have to say that the naltrexone has had no effect on either.

I see from your post that you have quoted UK units so I assume you're in the UK. It is amazing how many Brits have joined this community over the last few weeks. Contrast that with when I first 'signed up' (Feb 2009) and, for quite some time, there was hardly anyone on here from old Blighty!

Welcome aboard!

V.

Welcome No More!

We are all rooting for you! Keep us posted on your progress and don't by shy about asking questions.

My best,

Nick

Hi there - Thanks so much for the encouraging words!
I thought I'd write a bit now since having said I had no side effects, I did have side effects for the first time yesterday- took 50 at 4 pm and suddenly felt totally queasy until I finally ate something at around 6. I didn't want to drink at all, but having taken the Nal I felt I had to have at least one, and of course had an entire bottle, but that from 8 to 2 am, still much slower drinking than pre-Nal. Tonight I took 25 instead, no side effects, first glass ( a large one) only half-finished fter 1 1/2 hours so looking hopeful that 25 will work tonight - we'll see.
Jim and Nick, thanks for the kind look -in - following both of you and its made me so hopeful!
And Virgil, I did grow up in the UK, but am now in the US ( as much as I'd like to be back in the UK, I can tell you). I couldn't really decide about the units but the UK ones are so much easier to use, it seems. I was a little apprehensive as trying to figure out the actual numbers of units in an average bottle of wine was confusing - is it 7 or is it 10? I went with 10 just in case - was scared when I tallied up what two bottles a day equals in units per week. Whoah. But, am definitely down, so here's hoping, and BEST of luck to all of you!

Hi DNM,

For a typical wine, the total UK units per bottle is nearer 9 but, what the heck, 10 is a nice round number. By 'typical', I mean 12% - 12.5% alcohol by volume (abv); some wines are, of course, stronger.

All the very best.

V.

Welcome to our world!
A couple of tips- try eating something with your Nal like a couple of biscuits- You are less likely to become nauseaus. Be careful 25mg gives a shorter no of hours coverage. There is an excellent site called drinkaware.co.uk which helps track units and allows you to calculate for different brands of wine etc.
Good luck and keep in touch.

Welcome Drunknomore, lovely to meet you here

Time is short right now, and I'm sure we'll talk more very soon, but just to let you know that a 12% bottle of wine is 9 UK units, 12.5% is 9.4.
The wine I have in at the moment is 13.5 but no units marked on it, so I worked it out from those figures.

All the very best to you on your journey here with us on TSM!

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