Took my first naltrexone last night (25 mg) and then drank.

It was weird. I didn't enjoy it at all. There was no buzz of any kind, and it didn't taste good either.

I wanted alcohol fairly strongly before I took the naltrexone. Besides simple craving, I also had a bit of withdrawal going on. I figured out only recently that many of my "colds" were actually alcohol withdrawal -- you'd think that would be quite obvious, since they appeared two days after drinking and were fixed by drinking, but I'd just never heard of alcohol withdrawal presenting as "a touch of the flu" before I became suspicious and looked it up.

Anyway, I wanted to drink. I actually stocked up on more beer, figuring that I would drink much more than the six that were in the house. I didn't even quite manage to wait the full hour from nal to al -- I only waited 45 minutes before I felt overwhelmed.

It was odd, very odd indeed, to get no rush of pleasure from that first big gulp of alcohol. It was even more odd, as the evening wore on, to experience the agitation of wanting "to drink" and yet drinking wasn't fixing it.

I drank two beers at a more or less normal rate, a third slowly, and a fourth in little nips throughout the evening. The fourth one had to keep going back in the fridge so that it wouldn't get warm.

So . . . that was interesting. It's clear confirmation that this will work if I follow through, and I will follow through.

I've seen other posters say that they still get a buzz from alcohol, that they even get a buzz at lower levels. I got no buzz at all. It's a bit early to draw any conclusions from that.

My brain still wanted a kick. With the alcohol not working, my mind kept turning to things like a big ol' buttery croissant with egg and cheese.

Overall, I'd say that day one of week one was successful. I realize that there's often a re-increase in drinking after the initial honeymoon, although right now I can't imagine how that could be.

Any thoughts? I'm especially interested in the "no buzz" phenomenon, which I gather is unusual. How many do and don't get a buzz from drinking while using TSM?

I find the buzz to be different. Kind of impaired actions w/o the initial feel good feelings. I too find myself drinking a lot slower and lots of time tossing the end of the beer cause its warm. Craving are also not as strong to keep drinking.

Interesting. I can't help but wonder what the point of such a buzz is.

The no buzz is exactly the point.

Yes, you should eat instead of drinking. You need to replace the calories that you would have drank. I went nuts with ice cream my first two weeks. Cutting down on that now.

A lot easier to quit ice cream, imho.

I did eat. I haven't stopped eating. The food fantasies were a "treat" thing, not a need for more food.

The buzz issue that I don't get is that some here say they do still get buzzed on naltrexone. The part that's interesting is that they say they get buzzed more easily (rather than with more difficulty, as I would guess would be true if receptors were only partly blocked).

I'd like to understand that. Some people reach the cure point and continue to drink occasionally or moderately, and right now I can't imagine why anyone would want to drink alcohol after naltrexone. What's the point?

Others must be experiencing it differently.

Well, this is only my second day. My experience may change.

It's a pretty long thread to cover only two days, isn't it? I tried to talk about this issue in the existing thread about the experience of drinking on naltrexone, but nobody else picked up the ball.

Since this is my progress thread, I should probably report on my progress. I want to drink, so normally I should take naltrexone and drink, but it's also Halloween. I want to take my son trick-or-treating, so I think I'll force an AF day.

It's interesting that I want to drink on the day after a drinking day. Usually that doesn't happen to me, not since I was young. I suppose it's because I didn't drink "enough" yesterday.

Tonight I shall take the little guy around and then munch on leftover candy. I'm cravy cravy, but I'd rather push through than mess up the family's Halloween.

My point is not that you have stopped eating, but that if you drink less you should eat more. Why not have a treat?

I havent read the book, but there are people who are wired differently and nal doesnt work for them. There has been talk of a test to see if someone is a candidate for nal, but i dont know what stage that is at.

I have very little desire to drink again. Its no fun on nal, and the next day my brain is shot. But yes, nal completely shuts down my buzz and enjoyment of alcohol. Perhaps others drink for reasons other than the buzz.

Others, like me, have reported very quick cures, within 3 pills or so. I imagine it happens more, but, in general, you wouldnt see those people on here. I wouldnt be on here but for my hallucinations.

Ah, I see.

I didn't think I would really enjoy the junk food, at least not in a satisfying way, since at least some junk food pleasure comes from hitting the same receptors that the naltrexone blocks. I do think I'll have some leftover Halloween candy tonight, though.



I'd like to see more research on the subjective experience. It would be nice to have an idea of what the experience will be like, or at least of what general patterns there might be.

Just for grins, run your drinks through a calorie counter. I was drinking anywhere between 200-1000 calories a night. Since I quit, I have been eating a LOT more. I think a large part of my craving for alcohol was my body's desire for calories. I just wasnt eating enough without the alcohol.

Unless you keep gaining weight, i think most drinkers replace food with alcohol.

Well, here I am at the end of week one. While I'm not exactly done, I am quite optimistic.

Yesterday I didn't wait the full hour before the first beer. Perhaps some evil little part of me was hoping to enjoy a bit of buzz for a while. It didn't work, since I had cut the pill and could absorb it quickly. So, good.

I'm not done. Alcohol still figures too largely in my mind. I'm confident that that will come with time, though.

A little more worrisome is the semi-separate and ongoing desire for euphoria. There's an idea kicking around in my mind that it would be great to drive to Washington and get some pot (it's legal there). This is ludicrous on the face of it, but it stays as a daydream.

If this desire became big enough, it could encourage me to ditch the naltrexone. That would be bad. I need a plan for dealing with this.

Hi melissa, good to see that it's working and you're experiencing changes.
The desire to get the euphoria/buzz that's now missing isn't uncommon. I know I went through a patch of trying to replace it but that's gone away now. I wonder whether that's why people continue to drink through the Nal.
Let's see what week 2 brings for you!