Well, I had my first no-Nal/AF day yesterday. It was a little uncomfortable in the late afternoon (craving about a 4 to 5), then the craving passed. I got busy doing something else and the craving faded to close to a 1 and by mid-evening it was a zero. I had a headache most of the late-afternoon and took some ibuprofen, after checking that ibuprofen has no interactions with leftover Nal or any of the other meds I take. Then I had some ice cream before I went to bed which is something i really like.

Horrible night's sleep, lot's of vivid dreams, woke up a lot, restless, no sweats though. Then I woke up with a slight headache which I still have. Tonight, I am planning on another no-Nal/AF day and reinforce it with some more ice cream!

BTW, after 30 sobriety attempts since 2003/2004, I find it quite easy to quit for a while. What I cannot yet do, is stay abstinent for more than 3 months at a time. I am using TSM to kill the cravings, so after this weekend, I'll go back to Nal + Drinking to get my Cure. Keep in mind, my personal goal is abstinence and not moderation.

Bob

RR, how lovely !
I found this particularly delightful as the US didn't have the renaissance of course ( although things much older ) . I went through Colorado in 1979 I had no idea such things went on .

Bob,

Congratulations on your progress. We are all pulling for your continued success and appreciate you keeping us up to date.

Here's to another great day!

bb

Thanks WTE! I think you are right; it must be the alcohol. When not on Nal, I never woke up after drinking a six pack for several hours, so I may have been missing the sweats. But on Nal, I am actually going to sleep and not passing out, so I wake up during the sweats.
Thanks bb!

On different note, today is my second AF day and my cravings, as usual, are lower on the 2nd and 3rd AF days (like a 1 to 3). Today is a 1; very easy so far. But the Headache around the time I usually take Nal is almost unbearable. Is this common when stopping Nal suddenly? Or is it just me?

Bob

Bob,

I can't say for sure about the headache, but it seems the side effects from Nal are all over the board, and different for different people - and even on different days. Most times I take it I have few or no side effects. But yesterday my SO and I were out and about and decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner. Popped a Nal, did some shopping, and got to the restaurant. Then we both got extremely fatigued and 'yuck' feeling. I hardly ate a thing, and when I got home went to bed for two hours -and I NEVER sleep during the daytime, as a rule. The same thing happened last weekend. I honestly don't know if it's the Nal, or if there's some sort of carbon monoxide leak in my car. . .gonna get that checked.

In any case, while Nal is very safe to use, it does have its downside for some, methinks. (However, not nearly as much of a downside as getting falling down/passing out drunk!)

I think I know what is causing the headaches and it is not Naltrexone withdrawal.

On AF days, I often do chores. These last two days, I have been hanging screen doors out in the sun in Florida and its humid and in the 80's. I figured that out this morning when I hung the last door, then I got a headache. I generally don't get headaches in the morning, so it must be exertion that I am not used to.

Problem solved.

Bob

Well, obviously people are much busier than I am over holiday weekends judging from the quietness of this board, except for the Spammers.

As of Saturday night, I am back on Nal and I drank 5 units before retiring to bed for a restless night's sleep. I woke up with this ever-present headache. I suppose it could be the excessive pollen in the air... Anyway, it's not debilitating, so I'll stop talking about it.

I sure did not want to go back to drinking again, but I have to give myself some months on this method to allow it to work. If I stayed on AF days for awhile, that would accomplish nothing, so back to drinking I go.

Does anyone know how often we should have AF days? Once a month? Every two weeks? Whenever we feel like it?

Bob

Great progress, Bob. Maybe the headache is alcohol w/d. Hope it passes.

As for the AF days, don't force it or overthink it. Just drink as you normally would, if you would. In posts here, Eskapa indicates there's nothing wrong with using some willpower to keep consumption down. Your liver will thank you for it. Just remember, reinforcement of positive opioidergic activities is an important part of TSM (Eskapa, p.120-122).

Thanks for reporting the spam.

Happy Easter, Bob and all! Yes, it's a busy time. I haven't heard about headache being a side effect of Nal. Hope yours goes away soon.

Visited my aunt with an Easter boquet yesterday - she's in an adult living facility. Very nice and homey place, but she was saying how she was so hungry for a really good burger. . .so we took her to a nearby restaurant/bar and she got a humongous bacon cheeseburger. Ate the whole darn thing, too! I was proud of me and SO. He ordered a beer with dinner, and I ordered a wine. Neither of us finished our drinks until our dinners were all eaten. Better yet, I didn't even think about ordering a second one.

Went to our little joint to hang out with friends, and we both really sipped our drinks thru the night. Ended up drinking 8 units, altogether, from 5:30 p.m. until around midnight. The bartender put my last glass in a take-out cup (yes, they treat us nicely. . .). I put it in a glass here at home, and that's where it still was this morning. Previously a night out like that would have been about 14 units, and I wouldn't have remembered the last couple of hours. There sure wouldn't have been any wine left in the glass!

I was rather fagged out this morning, but I think I'm suffering from allergies. Never have before, but for the past several days my eyes are all bloodshot, and nothing seems to clear them up. Since my AL consumption is down, I'm pretty sure it's not that. Gonna get an exam on Wednesday, so we'll see.

Kids and grands are coming over later for dinner, and I plan to keep a very low drink count. I want to demonstrate progress to them, since they could all benefit from TSM as well. Wish us luck. . .

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Yes, G4M -
Want to hear how the day went! I love the daily stories of real people and their real lives. Have not posted a progress site of my own tho - ehhhhhh - no real interest, I think...but may be good for my own journalism nonsense at some point...dunno