DAY 1

I got my Nal in the mail the morning of April 11th.

My measurement is 1 750ml of 10% White Zinfandel = 5 units 1.5 liter = 10 (easier math for me)

The night before I managed to consumed 21 units in a few hours and passed out, woke up drank 4 more units.

Took Nal at 3:30 pm 25mg. Almost an hour after I took it the nausea kicked in, which wasn't good because I was in a car for 2 hours. My husband stopped as we left so I could buy a bottle of wine to drink on the way home because I took it (I wasn't driving). I generally suck down the first bottle in 30 mins or less, get the buzz and then move to the next one until I pass out. I took me an over an hour and 30 mins to finish it. It felt very strange. I could feel I was getting drunk, but no buzz. Nor did I want to really drink it, I think I did just to see what I felt.

By the time I got home I had a headache and I was exhusted. I wasn't sure if it was because of the late night on Friday/Sat morning drinking or the NAL. I took a nap. I felt spacey when I woke up 2 hours later. I also have this strange metal taste in my mouth. I watched a movie for a few hours and went back to bed. Slept a few hours got up and normal me would have drank what was left in the bottle. I couldn't be bothered. Read a few posts and went back to bed until 7am.

I hope the side effects go away soon like everyone says. Since I drink during the day, I'm going to take 25mg in a few minutes.

The side effects wear off rather quickly in virtually everyone. I have taken up to 100mg of Nal to see what it was like in the first week on the method with no additional side effects, but discovered that there is no additional benefit, at least for me, in dosages above 50mg. I don't get any side-effects at all while on Nal now as I am approaching week 5.

You are in the "honeymoon" period my friend! Most of us notice a difference right away with the Nal, and experience a dip in AL consumption. I did too. Usually, but not always, we return to pre-Nal levels of consumption, although without the buzz. You'll get used to the non-euphoric inebriation fairly quickly though, and it may seem like the treatment isn't working. So keep in mind it takes a lot of time (months) to work. It took us a very long time to get here, we should be grateful it takes a shorter time to get out.

I used to drink until I passed out also. I do not any longer, even though I seem to be drinking as much as I used to. I don't understand why, but I thought I'd share that observation. There are also a number of folks here that experience days where they get nauseous after a few drinks and stop drinking that day. Then they resume the next day per TSM. I experienced something similar during week 4, where I had 2 beers, got a 3rd one, fell asleep woke up to finish the 3rd one and found its taste and smell revolting; so I threw it away. Normally I have 6 Guinness Stouts per night. The next day I didn't have that experience at all.

Anyway, look forward to the journey, write down your thoughts and observations and share.

Wishing you the best,
Bob

Only a few days into this and not really feeling to good about this so, but I know it takes time. I took my Nal at 9:00am Easter sunday and drank an hour later. I continued drinking all day and and most of the night until I passed out. I drank a total of 20 units. I did not have the same feeling as I did the first day. I felt like it had no effect at all.

Monday and today I was off work because I was suppose to go out of town with my husband, instead we stayed home. I was going to go but after I got up and had some coffee I decided not to, I was going to go AF and just hang out with him and just go to work on Tuesday. Small minor house issue sent me to the hardware store, of course it's near a store that sells wine early in the morning, so I bought some, of course took my Nal (50mg) no side effect except a small headache that didn't last long. I drank 8 units before 12:30pm. My hubby and I went out for a few hours and got back home about 5:00pm, he ordered dinner and I continued drinking. I took another (50mg) of Nal just to be safe because it had been almost 12 hours and I was drinking like it was my job. I had another 7 units in a few short hours and pour what was left in my glass out which I think was pretty full and went to bed around 7:30. I woke about about 11:00 watch TV and drank another 3 units, when I wasn't alseep by 1:00 am I went outside got my "just in case" bottle and drank 5 units, passed out until 5am this morning decided I was still to drunk to go to work so I drank the rest of the bottle, another 5 units. Woke up at 7am after drinking a total of 28 units, I've decided to go AF today. Ugh..

Keep in mind that you just started this method. I wasn't that pleased with it either at first. Even now, I have my doubts. However, having tried every method that there is, I will try TSM for 6 months. If it works, great! If it doesn't, I'll probably discover something else. The point is we can never give up.

I noticed that last year, for instance, I had more alcohol-free days than drinking days because of SMART Recovery, but I kept going back to my old drinking patterns due to the Alcohol Deprivation Effect. I can stay abstinent with some effort up to 90 days, but no more than that. I have a suspicion that I'll still be drinking at the end of 6 months. Then, I'll go back to SMART Recovery and be successfully abstinent because the Sinclair Method will have mostly extinguished my alcohol craving and I'll be able to use their method's far more effectively.

Sorry, I talked mostly about myself, but it's my only point of reference.

Don't give up. Give it a try.

Bob

I'm not giving up yet, just more disappointed in myself. I think I'm just so up tight because I've tried everything only to go back to drinking myself to death most nights.

I'm going to stay on the SM path. I didn't drink today, but I wouldn't have without the SM. I always try not to drink during the work week. I make it up to Wed or Thurs, but since I drank Sun and Monday, I needed a night off of drinking.

I will follow the doctors advice, I'm not going to go AF, but I can't drink and go to work. I'm afraid if I don't drink everynight it will impact my chances of this working.

Can you drink less while on Naltrexone? If so, that will allow you to maximize the treatment. If not, it may take a lot longer. You may not be able to stop once you start, I certainly understand that.

Bob

Providence, I think you would benefit from a quick brief on how naltrexone works. Naltrexone has two effects on drinking that you will notice.

The first is referred to "the first drink effect". When you drink, endorphins get released. This feels good, so you drink more. The more you drink, the more endorphins you get, and eventually you pass out. Although the naltrexone blocks this effect it doesn't prevent you from drinking until you pass out because, subconsciously, you're still looking for that effect, waiting for it to kick in. Don't be disappointed in yourself. This is how your body is SUPPOSED to work. It's just that alcohol has hijacked a path that is used by a lot of healthy activities.

The other effect it has is a long-term thing. Right now, when you're trying to decide what you do with your time, drinking has a ridiculously strong pull. Over time, that pull will slowly decrease. This is VERY slow compared to most drug treatments, it takes at least two weeks, and sometimes a few months to be noticeable, and a lot of months for the process to get you back to the point where you don't care about alcohol any more. You've been building this addiction for a long time, it'll take a little time for it to go away.

You're still in your first week. You might notice the first effect while drinking, but the second one has hardly had time to start. Trying for AF days this early is actually counter-productive. You'd be better off keeping track of how often you drink (keep a notebook) and trying to keep your alcohol blood content at a reasonable level. You'll know that you're ready for an AF day when keeping track of stuff in the notebook is too much effort just to allow you to drink.


This is not an accurate statement. If you don't drink every night, it will impact the speed of the treatment, not the effectiveness. You will only impact its effectiveness if you drink without your naltrexone. The most important detail about drinking with TSM is that you drink as if you weren't on the treatment whenever practical.

Yes, I agree with Rob here. You are WAY too early in the treatment to even think about AF days. . .unless you normally have AF days, that is. I think most of us tend to try to mix a combination of 'willpower + The Sinclair Method' when we get started - and that's ridiculous. Willpower didn't work before, or we wouldn't be in this predicament! Then, when we count on willpower and IT doesn't work. . .we assume it's The Sinclair Method that's not working.

So, here's the deal: drink completely as usual, but always take Naltrexone one hour prior to drinking, and keep track of your drinks. Don't give it another thought. Don't expect results for at least a couple of months - and even that probably won't be dramatic. I'm into week 8, and have gone from an average of 10-12 drinks per day, to 8 or 9. Plus, I'm more 'sober minded' when I drink than I used to be. Subtle differences, but real. I've only had one AF day, and I've decided not to worry about it. It will come when it comes.

It takes several months for this method to really work, and extinguish our overwhelming need for alcohol. Give it time. . .hey, and enjoy!

I agree with all of you. In the past I can do a few AF days in a row or at least every other day with no regrets or great pains to have them. I don't want to drink every night because I think I have to in order for this to work. My goal is to get to where I can look at the bottle and say "Not tonight honey I have other things to do" and then not wake up in the middle of the night saying "oh **** where are you".

So tonight I took my 50 mg right after I saw my "the_rapist" (which is my norm) and going to have a few glasses of wine before dinner and see what happens.

Thanks for the support. I think I just need to remember, much like my drinking ... I need to slow down and wait for the magic to happen.

Welcome, Providence -
Hang in here - we are all doing the deed together. Be strong, and even if it's tally marks on your calendar, count your drinks. Cheers!