Hi all - I'm not sure this is the correct place to post this. After 15 years of drinking, and up to a bottle and a half, to two bottles of wine a day, I asked my doctor for help. She discussed Naltrexone with me, and I have been taking it since Oct 31st this year. I take it every morning. I have NO desire to drink! AT ALL! It is absolutely miraculous to me!

I have had a few drinks since starting Nal. I actually can have ONE glass of wine, and leave an open bottle on the counter. That has not happened for as long as I can remember.

From reading through this forum, however, it seems that no one is actually taking Nal on a regular, daily basis, only when they think they will drink, so they don't drink AS MUCH. Am I understanding this correctly? If so...... I don't get the reasoning. Why not take it daily to stop the cravings from even starting?

I'm not trying to step on any toes, I am just curious.

Sarah

Hiya, Sarah.

For most of us, naltrexone doesn't stop the cravings. You're kind of lucky that way. We use it a little differently, to block the artificial euphoria of alcohol as we drink alcohol -- this retrains our brains away from alcohol. Once we're done with our treatment, we have no cravings whether we take naltrexone or not, because the addiction is cured instead of just controlled.

The key for the cure is to take naltrexone before drinking, but only before drinking.

It sounds like your first month of taking daily naltrexone is going well. Good for you. If you're abstaining happily, there's no sense in messing with it.

Thank you for your reply, Melissa. I understand the method better now.

In the early eighties David Sinclair discovered the important role of endorfine reinforcement in the development of addiction. Here he explains how pharmacological extinction works in a way that is easy to grasp. Today this treatment is proven very effective(close to 80%) in a multitude of clinical trails; the approach is widely accepted. But still many professionals have difficulty understanding why the patient must continue drinking for the cure to be effective. But that is exactly the condition!

Here is the link below to help you understand:

http://youtu.be/SnrQUU_7EHk

I also would highly recommend you reading "The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction" by
Roy Eskapa.

It's sounds to me as if you could be one of the magic extremely fast responders.

can I piggyback with a question in here?

Before anyone says 'read the book': I have read the book...There is some stuff in there I disagree with, and the hard sell stories and testimonials put me off a little. Just seemed a little too much 'time share sales tactic' to me. But I have been having great success with TSM and I am now about 8 weeks in...

When I asked if it was okay to just take 25 mg's of Naltrexenone, I was told to 'read the book'. The book clearly states the 'protocal' is to take 50 mg's. I have been doing that, BTW, and most of the SE's went away..But I wonder if I had stayed on 25, or if I run low and am waiting for the pills, is it okay to go back to the reduced dosage?

The other thing is the whole 'only before drinking' rule...As someone who is a daily drinker for 30 years, I just take the pill in the am after breakfast. Many, many times I have not felt the desire to drink at all while the pill was in me later in the day... Yet, 'in the book' it says not to do this. Why? I could have had a few AF Days, but I felt I had to 'choke down' at least one drink, because that is what it said 'in the book'. I also understand how 'extinction' works, but this still seems counter-intuitive. Do you really have to 'choke one down'? I mean, if you take the pill, and don't drink, that's 'bad'? I get how NOT taking the pill and drinking could screw up the extinction process, but what if I took a pill for three days, and didn't drink at all? After about 8 weeks in? I would think this would be great: I could pop the pill as a 'safety valve'. If I drink, Im covered, if not, good on me. Yet this is not what 'the book' says..

Am I wrong here? I'll go back and read it again, but I am pretty sure the book said not to take the pill if you are not going to drink...But that's because they want your body to have some 'special' days where you can eat a spicy meal, go running, have sex or do whatever usually gets your endorphins going.

I would like to take the pill and have the choice whether to drink or not. Then I don't have to worry about the one hour rule, I would effectively be on the pill regardless until I could start stringing together AF days. The after that, I could start pill free days, without any 'danger'.

thoughts?

Fun gus maybe you should start a new thread so we are not hijacking Sarah's. Anyway I have read the book and it does say to only take Nal on the days you drink but I have read many times here that people had taken Nal and decided not to drink on lot's of days. Most Dr's that do not know about The Sinclair Method prescribe Nal on the premise that you take it every day and NOT drink like my Dr did. I don't think it's the worst thing to do?
What I would suggest is that maybe when things start working for you with TSM try taking some AF days without the Nal when you are more comfortable with them. I have problems having an AF day more than once every few weeks at this time so I pretty much take Nal every day.
Nal On!