I am now on week 10 of Nal. I was doing well. Started at 35 drinks per week, and got down to about 20. Now, in week 10, I am back to my 35 plus! What is wrong with me? I had so much faith in the sinclair method! Should I keep on going? I am in monthly therapy. My psych is not familiar with TSM, but is familiar with naltrexone. She won't let me increase my dose as the literature says that 50 is the recommended amount. I have been a daily drinker for about 11 years. I am so upset that I am back to my pre-Nal levels plus! I feel clarity while I am drinking, have no hangovers (but sometimes take ADVIL before bed). Whilst I have clarity while drinking, I sometimes forget my conversations I've had until someone reminds me of something I said the next day! I totally suck and am so bummed about this! Any advice/suggestions?
Thank you!
Spbx

spbx,
Most people on here have their ups and downs. It's not called the Nal rollercoaster for nothing! It's not unusual to go back up to pre Nal levels and then to level out again before seeing a reduction. Week 10 is still early days and you should definitely stick with it...you may be just about to turn a corner. I've gone up and down and am now seeing a more gradual levelling off of my consumption, but it's different for everyone so don't lose heart.

Are you following the protocol fully? Sticking to the golden rule...nal + 1 hour before any alcohol (it really is important as you don't want to let your brain get any reinforcement). Do you always take the full 50mgs?Are you tracking your numbers accurately? Sometimes it's about seeing progress in other terms, not just by looking at the numbers. Is your craving level changing? Is your relationship to alcohol any different? Do you feel changes (however subtle) when you are drinking?

I'm not sure how often you are on here but I have found it useful to read over progress threads. There have been very few that I've read that had a nice, linear decrease in drinking.

Don't give up. Oh, and repeat after me (in a very loud voice) "I DO NOT totally suck"

Ruth.

You do not totally suck. For ten weeks you've applied yourself at a therapy which often isn't easy. Someone who totally sucks would not do that.

10 weeks is a bit late for a post-honeymoon uptick, but nothing's impossible. Given that you're not drinking at levels likely to endanger your health, maybe just give it a little more time?

I'm hesitant to tell you to increase the dose against your doctor's advice. The doctor may have good reasons (liver trouble? side effects? something I don't even know about?). If I were you, I'd ask the doctor what the likely effects of going to 75mg might be. It's such a safe drug overall that going above the usual dose wouldn't be a problem for most people, so I'd want to understand the doctor's reasoning.

Thats normal. The course of treatment is typically 4-6 months. Starts out with almost immediate results (honeymoon period) than climbs back up to about pre-TSM levels (but can vary from individual to another). Then continues to fluctuate, and by 4th to 6th month it begans to improve again.

Thank you all for your responses…they truly are what's keeping me going! I really, really hope that TSM works! I am so scared that it isn't doing it for me! How will I know when it is not? Am I putting too much faith in it? I see a future in Hazelton

spbx

spbx,

Ups and downs have definitely been part of the process for me. You have to keep the faith. I am going through a mini up and down right now. I've been at this 28 weeks and have had steady progress, but it has been oh so slow. I increased my dosage two weeks ago and experienced some significant improvement, but tonight I feel like I've slipped back to my previous levels. This has happened before. I think I've crossed some threshold only to slip backwards. That is really frustrating and I fully understand what you are going through. However, I figure that I've spent 30+ years drinking so it's most likely going to take a little while to get over this. The good news is that I am seeing improvement. Overall I'm down 50% from where I started. Things never happen fast enough for people like us. Stick with it and follow the "Golden Rule" always.

Jms, looks like the overall trend is down.

spbx, have you been keeping a journal of your drinks? Most people find it helpful, because we can see downward trends even though it may feel subjectively like nothing has changed. Yeah, the lab rats never kept journals, but the scientists did.

If you truly have made no progress in ten weeks, it may mean that you need a higher dose. Some people have seen a dramatic change just by going from 50mg to 62.5mg, and a few need 75mg to be fully covered.

It's a shame that we can't all be under a doctor's supervision, learning these things through actual tests and monitoring instead of by experimenting on ourselves. That's not the way the world is set up, though, so we do what we can.

Sideeffect2,

Yes, the overall trend is down although it has been a roller coaster! The troubling thing for me is that the obsession has not left me. I confront it each and every day and usually lose. What has changed is my consumption patterns after I lose that battle. I am to the point where I have a fixed amount of drinks in a very concentrated period of time and then I am done. Those drinks are purely for effect and nothing else. As a result, the quantity that I am consuming is less, but my AF days are fewer and further between. The additional dosage has helped mask the effects, but there is still some trace effects getting through. I am considering upping the dose to 75 MG, but I am really afraid of the side effects. At this stage the side effects can be fairly severe. It seems that the real severe effects occur any time I consume over 8 oz of alcohol. Sooooo, don't do that! Have a great weekend!

I'm not quite sure what you mean here. Side effects of the naltrexone, or side effects of the alcohol? They don't interact in the usual sense, so drinking more than 8 oz of alcohol shouldn't increase nal side effects. It would of course increase alcohol side effects, like the hangover, but I don't think that's what you mean, because then it wouldn't have anything to do with maybe increasing the nal dose.

Can you explain this a little more thoroughly?