Newbie here. I'm a stubborn old dude who quite enthusiastically enjoyed American craft beers. 4 to 7 a night at 7 to 10% alc. Finally diagnosed myself as an abuser if not an alcoholic. Quitting was impossible and AA out of the question as I'm a devout agnostic and did I mention quite stubborn. My brother-in-law has been preyed upon and abused in his AA program for years by unscrupulous members and sponsers. I read about TSM in an article about the failings of AA, talked my general practitioner into prescribing, and here I am. It seems I may be an early responder as my first dose was effective. My first drink of my favorite double imperial IPA left me feeling like "Really...That's it?" instead of "Ahhhh...I needed that! Can't wait for second (third, fourth, ETC.)" Also "Man this is some bitter, nasty ****!" Two beers was plenty. So far the same for my first week. I experienced mild diarrhea first two days and am still annoyed by vivid dreams. The dreams may be the result of not going to bed comatose every night.

First Question: Should I drink for a time to best program my body or can I try abstinence as soon as I want. I understand I may be feeling froggy due to honeymoon effect.
Second Question: I have read a bit about low dose and micro dosage. Micro is being used WITH opiates to kill pain while blocking addiction. It would seem NAL is very powerful at MUCH smaller dosages than 50mg but I haven't found any research or info linking low dose with TSM. Any info?

Thanks, Steve.

Hi Steve.

I only have 8 weeks experience. But based upon it I would say don't drink if you don't want to. Can't see a lot of benefit; if you really have a problem you will have the urge again soon enough and then you can use your nal.

Not sure re the low dose; I have been taking the 50 mg suggested.

Glad the nal is working for you and Nal on!! Newlife

I've been researching the low dose nal because I can't even do the 12.5 mg without horrible side effects. From what I have learned, the low dose blocks for 4 hours. My thought is maybe to take 6mg if craving. See if I need a drink. If I do drink and continue to do so, try another 6 mg in 3 hours.


Here is a bit of a read:
http://www.elaine-moore.com/Articles/Lo ... fault.aspx

The pill for abstinence prescribed as one 50mg daily. That provides protection for the full 24 hours until the next dosage is due.

There is a possibility that an extreme dose is not needed unless one requires 24 hour protection from cravings. These are just my thoughts, nothing scientific.

Here is the thing, and I am sure there are countless like me...I don't see me ever getting to the full dosage of 50 mg. It may take a good time just to get to 25. And then, me just being a binge drinker, will the side effects ever go away or am I going to be too terrified to take it?

The standard take is not to force yourself to drink more than you want in an effort to make things happen faster. It'll happen as it happens. If you don't want any -- even if you took a pill expecting to have some -- just don't.

Thanks, all. Mason, that's kinda where I was headed. Don't think I need 24 hr coverage. Seems like 4 hr would be perfect without blocking ALL the fun little rushes in life and maybe boost immune system as a bonus.
Steve.

Hi Steven,

Welcome to the board and congratulations with your results so far.

You could, like me, be a very fast responder On the other hand you could - as you suggest - also be experiencing a honeymoon with TSM. From all the many, many stories I have read here, it is very common to have a significant drop in alcohol intake during the first few weeks of TSM, then to be followed by an increase to 50-100% of pre-TSM intake, followed by a longhaul steady drop with a few spikes here and there.

If you should turn out to have the more common response, I would say your stubborness will come in handy. I would not tamper with the dosage. There are several examples here where people have done that and ended up exactly where they were pre-TSM. There is no indication that your size, age or how long you have been drinking have a connection to the number of receptors in your brain. The majority of the people here, who have taken nal every day for weeks and months do not experience lack of "happy hormones" in other situations.

So, I think you should continue and give it some more time. If you don't feel like drinking even after you've taken nal then don't! Have an AF day! And continue the extinction of your addiction another day.

I had similar SE and after nearly 30 years of drinking, the last 15 years with a daily intake of 4-6 units, I find that I am a fast responder. I really do believe that the majority of my alcohol addiction extinction took place with the first dosage. The rest is luck and grabbing the chance of going AF when it presented itself. I'm sure I have more to come, but I have my nal ready, should the cravings start to build.

Best of luck with your TSM journey.

Snowflake

hi Steven! Welcome to the community. I am a newbie myself, only about 3 weeks in. You can read my story in the thread titled 'two days in', which is now a misnomer... Lol.

I am neither a scientist nor a chemist, but I wanted to weigh in on your theory about using LDN instead of HDN for your dose.

I certainly am not educated on all of the science, but just from a brief consideration, I think this is a really bad idea. Here is why: do a quick Google search, on how long it takes alcohol to metabolize out of your body at the quantity you are drinking. Assuming that you take a pill, of a reduced dose, then wait your required one hour, that means that you really only have 3 hours for the alcohol to be in and out of your system before your dose wears off.

I'm assuming that it takes you a while to drink your 4 to 7 high alcohol content beers, right? at least an hour and a half or a couple ofhours. So that means that at the end of your dose, at the end of the four hours, you are still chock full of alcohol that has been in your system for just a very brief period Of time.

in my opinion, in the best case scenario, this would probably render your dose ineffective, or much worse scenario, because of messing with your opiate receptors during that time, you could even make yourself more sensitive to the opiates from the alcohol that is still in your system, and potentially even go backwards in your recovery.

Don't do LDN. If LDN worked in this way, everyone here would probably be on LDN already.

If you are worried that nal will kill all your enjoyment of normal life experiences like eating, lovemaking, working out, socializing, etc, don't be. So far I have not found that other life pleasures have been eliminated. I have changed how I relate to various situations just because my drinking habits have changed, but, I still am enjoying other things in my life.

I have found some small side effects like irritability, and have had to reevaluate some of my interests since I'm not wasted all the time, but the side effects are no more worrisome than those I've had in the past from a mild dose of a common SSRI (antidepressant).

I have found myself to sleep much more/better since taking nal, but that's a welcome change.

So, in summation: you should probably take your 50mg like everyone else. Don't over think it.

Best of luck to you in your journey! Please keep us posted

Again, thanks for the prompt and very considered responses. Quite right. I'm getting ahead of myself. I had NOT considered the problem of NAL wearing off before the alcohol in my body was eliminated. Fortunately I have not experimented and certainly will not after your logic slap. I found the very first NAL 50mg to be effective and still good going into week 2. From 40 units to 14. A flipfloppin miracle.
Thanks again. I will search out your advice before doing anything stupid in the future. Got no one else to talk to about this. When I attempted to talk about it to family, I got that concerned look like I had just joined a cult. My drinking excesses were well hidden.
Love you all.
Steve.

That is one of my questions and I will address it to you since you seem so knowledgeable. Is the alcohol still working on the endorphin/opiate system in the brain while it is being metabolized by the body. And if so, what are the factors and time frames. When does it separate from the body & the brain, if ever? And...if you could give me some references to read, that would be great. Mucho gracious. I am totally fascinated with this drug... even though it hates me....lol

Steven, if you can take the full dose without your brain blowing, by all means do it. I wish I could. Trust me, I am envious.