Thanks for the responses--I appreciate it! Maggie, I hear you--I actually plan to take NAL every day at 6 pm because I am a daily drinker. It's just that there have been a couple of times when I just plain forgot. Believe me I understand how it works--that was partly my point--it's unreal how well it works to tamp down that euphoria.

I guess I just need to be that much more vigilant and somehow make my brain remember that if I am thinking about booze, I should also be thinking about NAL.

I am also going to start trying a full dose a few times a week and see how that goes. I am really looking forward to being up at a full dose.

I actually think that may be somewhat a part of the problem. I've been focusing on easing up my dose to avoid side effects, and haven't really been taking it as seriously because I am not at a full dose yet. Seems like I need to do so!

All sounds good!! Nal on!! Newlife

Started taking a full dose this past week, and it seems to be fine! ALL of my SEs have diminished--I only have very mild and occasional stomach cramps that only last a few minutes. Onward!

My drinking is down a bit, probably 4-5 drinks a day rather than 6-7. I also rarely drink mid-day on weekends because I don't want to waste the NAL. So it all adds up to less, and I'm hopeful it will continue to decline with time.

Thanks for all the support!

Just checking in. SEs are all but gone. One thing I am struggling with is wanting to sleep and sleep and sleep. It may be allergies since fall is starting to kick in, but man do I want to just keep sleeping! Not sure if anyone has noticed.

It's been about a month since I've been on a full dose (8/24/15), and while I am consistently down to about 5 drinks a night, I'm not going down any more than that so far. But I am also not waking up with hangovers (which I was doing most of the time last year), and it's MUCH easier to stop at 5, so there's some progress at least. Still waiting it not really WANT to drink. I am also noticing it does seem to curb my appetite in the evening, so I appreciate that too!

BlouBird,

I have a hard time sleeping when I am not on the nal., so I welcome the sleepiness. I think you progress is going good and not waking up with hangovers is a big plus.

Keep up the good work,

Jaba

For me the sleepiness creeps in after about the second drink. The first two times I took Nal and drank, I was literally falling asleep sitting up. However, since I'm still so early in the process, I'm wondering if the drowsiness is just a short-term SE. Last night after my 2 glasses of wine, I didn't feel drowsy at all. Kind of a bummer, cuz (like Jaba), I totally welcome the ability to fall asleep easily! Oh well, it may be back to Unisom for me!

Keep on keeping on!

BLoubird, that sounds like a LOT of progress to me. For most of us, this takes a while. I would MUCH rather be sleepy than not able to sleep. Sleep is good for you, very restorative, I would just give into it.

xoxo Newlife

Hey BLouBird -

Caught your post over in Tish's thread.

Is your desire for the buzz messing up your Nal timing? Don't let alcohol touch you unless you've got your Nal shield in place. Maybe rubber band a pill container to the bottle or the like?

Please come visit us every at least once a week if you can, we can help support you, give you ideas, tricks, etc. There are new folks coming on board all the time. If you want, you can contact Joanna at joanna@cthreeeurope.com. She offers free informal counseling for TSM folk. There's also the message board at http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ , Joanna posts there fairly frequently.

So stick with us and let us help carry some of the load!

sounds like you're making some good progress, BLouBird. again, keep the Nal on you and write on your hand or something. it's really worth it to take it on time. that's when the results really start to happen!