I thought it would be important as we are the guinea pigs to write about my progress without NAL in my system and drinking as I have surgery Tuesday.

I have had 3-4 drinks and I think the NAL is still blocking actually....so hopefully I can sneak through some non NAL drinking sessions get my surgery and come out unscathed.

Keep me in your thoughts....I'm not feeling the mania yet. Still a clear headed buzz,....BEst, Jim

JC

I am very interested in how this turns out for you. Will it be 48 hrs. or 5 days? I am curious as I have two outpatient surgeries to contend with in my future. Please let all of us know.


Best of luck to you!

don't drink to much! hope it works!

72 hours approximately.....

I spoke with a pharmacist and they seemed to think this would be no problem.

I will keep you all abreast of my situation as I know you're interested...BEst, Jim

update,


I have that old feeling as the buzz has engulfed me with a warm fuzzy.....this has been gone since I started NAL.

I'm so angry...and to add to this...the Mrs. decided to badger me about my worthless career.

I was hoping that getting cured was good enough I guess not....

I will keep all abreast to my situation. I'm certainly not loaded BUT I am in a different head space than I've been. Tough days ahead,...best, Jim

abc

I had to be off naltrexone for about ten weeks between two surgeries. It was all quite sudden. The first time, all they could do, due to my condition, was to go in and clean out the sepsis. Then I had to wait until my lungs were stronger before the second surgery because I developed ARDS during the first hospital stay. I was on pain meds for most of this time and perhaps that is one reason I didn't notice much difference at all in my drinking on or off naltrexone. I tried to keep units down and I kept drinking and pain meds separated by several hours to avoid liver damage. Most opiate meds are combined with acetaminophen because they potentiate each other and a lower dose of opiate can be used. I've read that the FDA actually has been encouraged to pull these (vicoden, percocet, etc.) from the market due to the potential for liver damage. I have always hated taking pain meds and try to avoid them when possible.

When I resumed TSM I seemed to just pick up where I left off in my progress. I was sad and frustrated to have my progress interrupted and would never have gone off naltrexone intentionally. Some things we cannot control. BTW, abstinence was not an option for me; I was a daily drinker for a long time and an AF day was not an option at the time. They are still tough for me, which is the main reason I have not made the "cured" call, even though my units are a fraction of what they once were. But that's another story.

It is not a good thing to go off naltrexone, but if we must, we must. It's not the end of the world. Just get back on after the opiates are out of the system. This depends on how long and how strong. I waited a week, after a horrible experience taking nal after only a few hours off the pain med. WaitingtoExhale broke fingers in a ski accident and went off for a few days; she waited a couple of days before resuming. Others have waited only a day after a short-term course of pain meds and been fine.

JC, I hope all goes well. You're tough and you'll bounce back -- the knee and the alcohol battle.

Thanks so much Lena, Ben, Beach and Joe,

I am going to force myself to do a non AL day tonight even though I will have shitty sleep. No nothing after midnight according to doctors. 11.30 EST (10.45 arrival) probable start time. I feel like an idiot for not having stopped (NAL)but oh well,....

I looked up non opiate pain meds and found that 800 mg ibuprofen 4 X a day is maximum but can be tolerated and is effective. I also have some some visteril which I used for allergies and it is an opiate potentiator.

Just to keep things clear and you guys may chuckle at this.....I'm an opiate virgin. Never ever have I had anything...well let me see, some codeine cough syrup once.....

So I hope with this, the meds blast out any pain. I have a funny feeling I will NOT like the feeling of the meds....i'll keep y'all updated. Thank you so much for your concern, best, Jim

Dear Jim,

I hope all is going well with you and it's never a worthless job, even when you have a great paying job and working 70 hours a week you have to ask yourself if it worth it..... To tell you the truth I'd give anything to live the Domican Republic where I saw people in really crappy houses and they looked happy.

Emerald

Jim, you're a musician right? Somebody's got to do it I can't imagine a world without it.

"Music washes away from the soul the dust everyday life" ~Berthold Auerbach

Best of luck to you on the surgery and then getting back on track with nal.