Started TSM on August 4 after two years on Baclofen. I consider myself a heavy drinker on the way to dependency. I have always been functioning, but at a lower level in life than I'd like for myself. I'm sick of feeling like **** all the time!

Baclofen helped me a little, but I never hit the switch that people at MWO talk about, and Im not willing to go higher than 150mg. It's just too much.

TSM has, right out of the gate, done much more for my drinking than bac. I still crave a beer at the end of the day, but it's hard for me to even finish two. My units have gone way down, so that's great news, but those side effects..

I've gone from 25 to 50 and now back to 25 for the last week. Nal makes me feel cranky, tired, and "off" in general. I just don't feel very good. It's hard psychologically to crave a drink, take a drug that makes you feel bad and does nothing for cravings, in order to take the pleasure out of that drink!

Hats off to all of us, this is not an easy road.

wow friedchickn, I am so sorry about the lousy feelings!! that sounds just awful and it also sounds like a really long time. I can offer sympathy but can't think of any words of advice. I admire you for hanging in there with it so far, though. Others? Newlife

Hi Fried Chicken - and welcome.

I can totally relate to how you feel, but it is really early days for you and I promise it does get better. I am taking Selincro (which is a form of Nal available in the UK - it works in the same way as Nal but isn't processed through the liver) The side affects of Selincro were horrendous for the first week (feeling sick, totally blah, couldn't be bothered to do anything, depressed, couldn't eat - let alone drink). However, over time my body has adjusted to it and I barely feel any side affects now.

I have been a very slow responder - I'm 9 months in (in some respects I think that has been my own fault, as I thought it was a case of taking a magic pill and I would miraculously be cured! I now understand it doesn't work like that. I am now putting in effort by choosing not to drink on some days and it is only since I've been doing this that I realise that TSM really is working.

In the past, if I attempted an AF day I would be climbing the walls, feel stressed, angry, and basically ripping my hair out. I now realise that the addiction / craving aspect has probably 90% disappeared. The only real discomfort I feel by not drinking now is the loss of habit - not really knowing what to do with the time that I usually spent gulping down wine and blacking out.

The extinction process takes time - but I believe it does and will happen for you if you are patient. BUT don't make the same mistake as me. Start thinking mindfully - ie: analyse how you are feeling when you THINK you want a drink - do you really crave it, will you get a buzz and feel better after drinking, could you feel satisfied if you ate something or drank something non-AL? The good thing with TSM is - if you do really crave it etc - then go ahead drink it as long as you take your Nal one hour before. However, if you keep thinking like this and questioning it, one day you will think 'No - I don't crave it and actually I'd probably feel just as happy with a soda'

In the past I tried Campral, Antabuse (never tried Baclofen) and had no results at all. TSM does work, but you need to stick with it and be patient. Good luck and keep posting and sharing your thoughts. We're all in this together. xxx

Thanks for the responses. Snapdragon, thank you, that describes more accurately how I'm feeling. Blah, depressed, tired, irritable. Not wanting to get out of bed. I feel confused about it because I'm not even taking a full 50mg, and its been over 3 weeks.

I am reading a lot of threads that mention feeling that way if they take Nal for multiple days in a row, so it looks like my next step is some AF days.

Hi Fried Chickn,

Yes, an af day or days might help you a lot. With the nal. out of your system please make sure you do something that is pleasurable to reenforce the extinction process.

The side effects should dissipate within a month. If they don't you can try to take 1/4 a pill for a while and then increase it to 1/2. I think Carlic was only using 12.5 mg. and she was seeing some results. She was having a hard time with the side effect as well.

As far as that blah feeling, I am on Wellbutrin for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) so I had that blah feeling before I was on the nal.; however, there are days that I feel that way. I think depression and addiction to alcohol can go hand and hand.

Hoping your side effects dissipate soon,

Jaba