Hello all, I have been following these boards for the last couple of week, I know there is a thread to introduce yourself but I like a bit of info on the weekly progress so I'll do both here.

I'm 45, married with 2 kids one of which has just left for uni. I live in the U.K and started research into this method after the UK started to think about approving nalmefene for the treatment of alcohol problems. A google search brought up the sinclair method and I had a bit of an emotional moment when finally something made so much sense.

I wasn't that fussed about booze when I was younger, I used to drink just to get drunk as a teenager and had no problems not drinking inbetween. In my 20's at university I drunk more often but still had no problem not drinking. Things then got steadily worse once married and with small children, wine drinking became a habit and the reward of a bottle of wine after the kids were in bed meant that I woke up one day realising I had drunk every day for 7 years.

I changed jobs and now I run a vineyard (I have been asked whether I do that for my alcohol problem!), it can be immensely stressful and with a teenage family my drinking has just continued to rise. I know I have a problem and I can't tell you how many different solutions I have tried from no drinking in the week/sitting room/house/every other day/at a certain weight/whatever my wife drinks, to total abstinence, to units out at the beginning of the week, to week on week off etc etc etc and they ALWAYS fail I've managed a couple of month off but once I get back its always as bad as before.

What struck me about the Sinclair method was firstly that it seems to work, but the re programming made so much sense.. I definitely get a real high out of booze, I drink because I LOVE it, the taste the buzz the feeling, the habit, the comfort etc etc.

I have measured my units over the last year, and using UK measures I drink on average 55 units a week, that's about 6 bottles of strong 14% wine. I don't drink in the daytime.

I'm so sick of it, I am so tired of waking nearly everyday and wondering why I have just drunk to much again when I had promised myself I wouldn't, I'm so sick of saying to my wife that Ill have a day off only to open a bottle 6 hours later. The alcohol is locked away in a cupboard and its painful to have to ask her to open it for me for a drink.

Anyways I actually feel that this will work, Ive read so many success stories, and the science makes sense. I have ordered and received my pills from goldapharma...came in a week.

So here I am at day 1

Yesterday I took 25mg as directed. I had a bit of a hangover so was feeling mildly nauseous in any case. We are busy harvesting so I had to keep active and work as well, laying out plastic crates.

After an hour I feel more nauseous, but it was controllable and helped a lot by eating. The largest effects were a real sense of being out of it, I certainly couldn't have driven, my attention wandered and I found is slightly hard to get the right words when speaking. This did diminish after an hour or so.

I drunk a normal amount for me, a beer and a bottle of wine. Very noticeable was it took me a while to finish the beer.. about an hour compared to 10 minutes, and the wine sat next to me most of the evening rather than finishing quickly.

I plan to take another 25mg tonight, I am nervous about how spaced out I felt, I think it would totally knock on the head any ideas of a glass of wine at lunch, I couldn't operate like that... will this get less? what will it be like at 5mg?

Last question is my other endorphin releasing activities would be long walks (25 miles or so), sex and spicy food. Do I really have to give these up for 48 hours? or do you find they are ok the day after?

Welcome nigeir! I remember the feeling of being out of it and slightly nauseous when I first started too. This is quite normal. My recommendation for you at first is to be in the privacy of your own home. You want to keep things safe as possible as you adjust to the effects of the naltrexone. The side effects should diminish with time. As far as the other questions, I believe you need to be aware that the naltrexone will target all things that excite you. Pushing those activities out 48 hrs is a sure way you don't extinguish them. Best of luck, keep us posted. Peace

Day 2. had the next dose of Nal another 25 mg an hour before drinking. Actually passed some wine to my wife as I didn't fancy it at all.

side effects:- this time no dizziness or nausea which is great, however here I am next day, I took the Nal about 5pm yesterday and at 11.30 am following morning I still feel spaced out, its meag busy and I am having to weigh tonnes of grapes and organise 40 people, 2 tractors and 2 vans and I am struggling. does this spaceyness get any better? I am coping but so much slower, I feel mildly stoned.

I am thinking of keeping the dose down at 25mg for another couple of days, or stopping totally and restarting when harvest is done, but the positives and the want to get on with it are strong too.

DO NOT STOP ONCE YOU HAVE STARTED.

I can't emphasize this enough. You will undo any improvement that you have seen and make it harder for yourself to start again.

TSM does not work without near-complete lifelong compliance, which is honestly not that difficult for those who benefit from the treatment (as you appear to).

The spaciness does get better, for those who have that trouble at all, but it may take more than two times. Usually we go to 50mg after the first two times, but the point of the lower dose is to make sure we tolerate it well, and you're having some minor negative effects -- maybe another two times to get used to it?

I'm glad you're feeling a clear difference. That is a good sign. You'll probably need to go to 50mg eventually, but you don't necessarily have to do it the third time.

I definitely agree with epenthesis that you shouldn't stop totally. That's a bad idea.

Hi nigeir

Our paths have crossed a few times on the TSM blog, we seem to have a little in common. As well as both being Brits, I'm somewhat older but must have started late because my wife and I also have a teenage family. Three kids and yes our oldest is just off to uni too. That hit me harder than I was expecting.

Anyway, seems we started TSM around the same time me on Nalmefeme and you via Naltrexone. As I said in an earlier post the side effects of Nalmefene for me were hardest the first 3 days with nausea, abdominal pain and crushing fatigue. Apart from more modest tiredness things have settled down well.

I've gone from 18/19 units per night to 11/12 which happened the first night and then stayed the same. No real reduction in cravings, however a much earlier on set of tiredness which allows me to go off to bed an hour or two earlier and this seems to be where my reduction is coming from. The opposite of what I thought may happen. Instead of not wanting a drink at the start, I still crave that first ice cold beer but seem to be happy not continuing as I once would have. Staying up long after family were in bed and continued to drink. I used to think that this was my time to relax.
Good luck, I really hope this works for you.

So end of the first true week on Nal. I have an alcohol tracker on my phone and had to alter my signature a bit when I scrolled back to actually see what I am drinking!

The last two weeks have been really stressful mid grape harvest and its a time I drink heavily to unwind at the end of the day
So there has not been a lot of change in units drunk, and to be honest I am not that surprised

There have been changes however, twice I left some wine in a bottle at a restaurant.. (even though I had paid for it!!!), I have drunk steadily rather than bingeing and the wine I pour out last the whole evening so I am not roaming back to the kitchen looking for a top up.

My weekly intake runs Monday to Monday, so it won't be on the results in my signature, but yesterday I had an af day.. af days are not uncommon for me, but normally they need to be forced and often if I'm brutally honest I have a low alcohol larger or a large swig of wine and don't count it!! anyways yesterday had an af day with ease, no craving at all, went out and watch a film with my son and it was a total breeze.

Side effects on Nal have eased considerably, so happy I followed protocol, in fact I had 3 days at 25mg as I felt so spaced out. I now take 50mg o.k but still get slightly woozy/spaced/stoned before I have my first drink.. after that I can blame it on the drink!! No nausea anymore.

I have made an appointment with the G.P, I self prescribed and brought from the states, but feel I should come clean and have them alongside, my G.P has always been very understanding so I am dreading this but hopeful she will come onside.

I've been giving a lot of thought to a life without booze, reading between the lines, TSM is effective and its sold as a plan that you can have your cake and eat it..i.e. still drink, however I can imagine without the rush of endorphins with drinking, the fact that Nal basically removes endorphins from other activities, and the side effects that most chose to just go AF most of the time.

I've reflected that this isn't necessarily a bad thing as a life without alcohol with no craving for it is way better than one with too much (the no craving is the important bit). I don't want to plan ahead as its only early but why would you want to drink if there is no thrill to it? As someone that produces grapes for wine you would think I would have an answer but my gut feeling is that if I have to take Nal to suppress my normal feeling for alcohol I might just not bother!

Applause! You finished your first week of compliance to TSM protocol. Your side effects are easing. You are journaling your drinking history. Well done nigeir, now .....stay the course and watch your brain heal itself.

Sounds like you're doing really well - keep at it.

Read my earlier posts for bit of my background but like you I'm in the UK and we certainly have some threads in common.

I'm just into week 3 (my wife too!) and I must say it's all been a bit strange - but we're determined to stick with this as I'm confident
this will work, given time.

My drinking's been steady at two bottles of wine daily last week - last night managed one and a half. Tonight I'll likely down two as I've had a crap day and even though I'm not glugging the stuff, as I used too before TSM, I look at the stuff and think "right - it's here I'll have you" but at the same time am thinking "I will beat you and if I follow the method religiously I will DEFEAT YOU!" - talking to the wine, all a bit strange but this TSM has given me some mental strength and hope that I was lacking before. People on here seem to stress the importance of sticking with it.

As a drinker of twenty years I have a love / hate relationship with the stuff - to be brutally honest part of me likes "that buzz" and never really fully wants to let that go. But whether I will let go or not, with TSM, I think deep down I have long since decided I would probably rather not be a "drinker" any more, and all the negatives that go with that. At least the TSM gives us the option of "having options" - without that very final, scary notion of 100% teetotaller.

I think this is going to take time, for us all, depending on all the various factors and randomness that seems to come into play.

My wife's had more nausea than me. Both started on 50mg from day one. Main side effects for me seem to be really vivid dreams, weird ones, but fortunately nothing too dark or nightmarish! Also when I wake in the night (2 or 3 times) I'll likely go for a pee then head back to bed and get straight back to sleep. Before TSM I would wake and then "PING" - wide awake, racing thoughts, panicking, stressing about job/family/bills etc. I seem more relaxed now- maybe that's the slightly sedative effect, I'm not sure.

Anyway - keep at it - you're doing well. I'll keep an eye on your situation - but it's nice to be able to speak to others going through the same, albeit with our different lives and stresses - this does feel a nice community to be a part of, for now at least.

Keep on keeping on

Jalapeno