Or rather, if I'm in a situation where the opportunity to have a drink comes on unexpectedly and I pop a Nal and start drinking right away, how bad is that?

This isn't a major issue for me, 90% of the time I know when I'm going to begin drinking well beforehand, but I'm curious about those rare instances when you're caught unawares. Obviously you can just choose to wait. No one is forcing booze down your throat. I just wonder if when in such a situation, if taking a Nal and starting to drink 15 or 20 minutes later would be a major setback. It's better to at least take it, right?

For those who have experienced this and been with the program for a while, what do you think?

Not looking for an excuse to skip Nal or take it late or whatever, just genuinely want to know how big a screwup this would be if it happens. Like I said, 9 times out of 10, I know when I'm going to be drinking.

As you said this won't happen very often because you will always have your nal with you. And you can almost always wait. But if you do get into a situation when you can't wait just take the nal as soon as you can. Better to take it with the first drink than not to take it at all. The danger is that it becomes a lazy habit and the prelude to skipping the nal because you figure it's too late....

Others may have different advice but that makes the most sense to me.
Babs

I took naltrexone for about six months in 2011 and almost never followed the one-hour rule. I would wash it down with my first beer of the night. It didn't work. When I finally gave up, I was still drinking about 70-80% as much as I was before I started.

I'm trying again now, and am pledging to always wait at least an hour this time. I think the hour-long wait is probably critical.

Waiting the full hour gives you the best chance of success, less than 1 hour and I've only ever heard of very limited reduction in drinking. Your choice.

Waiting the full hour gives you the best chance of success, less than 1 hour and I've only ever heard of very limited reduction in drinking. If it's a problem take it earlier, I couldn't wait that hour initially so I'd take one tablet earlier in the day, just in case then topped up with another if I did drink towards the end of the optimum 4 hours window.