Oh Ives.... so sorry to hear about your relationship turmoil. Even when you know it's for the best, it's still a loss and an adjustment. Life as you'd been living it is substantially changed.

Hang in there and just do the best you can! The future is wide open for you!

Ives,

Anytime you let go of someone, or something, that is in your life is hard. My heart goes out to you, for I do know how hard that can be. BUT, I agree with you about being with someone that doesn't drink as much, for if my husband would drink heavy like I did, I would not have been able to cut down. I guess I am just weak-minded when it comes to alcohol, for if it was cake I would care less (dark chocolate might be a different story, but not as tempting as al).

I think knowing it was the best thing for you will make it a little easier, but keeping busy will help distract you. I hope you continue to post, for your progress is still looking good!

Jaba

Disappointing numbers lately. The downward trend line on my graph has gone flat and I am averaging 8/day again over the last 3 weeks. The 6-or-fewer-drink nights are becoming rare again.

I have done a poor job of following the 1-hour rule, forgetting to take the pills before I leave work, or forgetting to bring them to the gym with me so that I can take them before I head home. What sucks is that you're not supposed to take naltrexone before doing a healthy activity like exercise, but after exercise I always want to drink badly. I'm left with two choices: One, take the pills before I go to the gym, so that when I get home it's been at least an hour, but ruining the selective extinction effect and blocking the endorphins that I should be getting from the exercise. Or Two, take the pills near the end of my workout, so that I get some of the selective extinction effect, but ruining my chance at a 1-hour interval -- which is what I have been doing. When I get home, I will be drinking within five minutes. I can't take the pills and then sit there and wait for an hour, the urge is too strong. I guess I will start taking the pills before I even go to the gym because trying the second approach breaks the 1-hour rule and obviously isn't working.

Week 0 (09/23-09/29): 60 (8.3/day)
Week 1 (09/30-10/06): 56 (8.0/day)
Week 2 (10/07-10/13): 53 (7.6/day)
Week 3 (10/14-10/20): 45 (6.4/day)
Week 4 (10/21-10/27): 54 (7.7/day)
Week 5 (10/28-11/03): 55 (7.9/day)
Week 6 (11/04-11/10): 60 (8.3/day)

It might be comforting to know that even the scientists question whether endorphins should get the credit at all for the feeling of well-being that comes with exercise.

That fits with a lot of anecdotal evidence on the forum that people don't find their enjoyment of exercise blunted while on Nal.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/0 ... ners-high/

This research suggests that the exercise induced well-being may have nothing at all to do with the opioid receptors that Nal targets.

So following the Golden Rule may not be interfering at all, and exercise is a nice alternate activity that is as rewarding as it ever was.

Ives I've been racing bikes for the last 20 years. Last Saturday there was a day of cyclocross racing. Long story short cyclocross is kind of a mix between road and off road racing and the races last one hour. Beer is part of the culture. It's everywhere. The first race of the day I took seriously. The second not so much so I took Naltrexone so I could drink beer from one of the spectators who always hand off beer drinks to the riders. I ended up 3rd place in that race. I could not believe how good I felt for that race and in fact was wondering if it was some kind of doping in sports!

I would not worry about it. At least go ahead and try it and see how you feel. I and many others have not made a connection between exercise and TSM.

You absolutely have to follow the golden rule no matter what or else as you know it won't work and you will take giant leaps backwords. So just try it once or twice before you go to the gym and see how you feel.

Mrs. Truffle, thank you so much for your informative posts. I respect your knowledge.

Chris

Hi Ives,

Anecdotally, I haven't noticed a difference in how I feel after exercise since starting Nal. That is to say, I don't hate it any more than I used to before the Nal. Sadly, I'm not one of these people that experiences "runners high" after working out. But I also didn't feel a complete aversion to exercise after taking Nal, so that should be a good sign. I think if you want the best shot at extinction occurring, you should really try to adhere to the golden rule of one hour. Take your Nal before working out and see how your numbers look...

MinneMom

Thanks for the input, folks. Actually, I used to always take the pills before leaving for the gym, and I remember I usually had a great time. Having the naltrexone in my brain didn't seem to make it any less enjoyable. I am definitely going to prioritize following the 1-hour rule from here on out.

I definitely don't get a "runner's high" either, but when I say "gym" I mean rock climbing gym. All of my exercise involves climbing, which is super fun, and I can't recommend it more strongly. Great workout for your whole body, and never feels like a chore. Once I discovered climbing, I gave up my membership at the regular gym within a week and never looked back.

Turned week #7 around by finishing it up with a 4 and a 3. The 3-drink night marks my lowest consumption point in about a year.

The following night, I went out to a friend's going-away party, went way overboard, and a 9-drink night led to a really nasty hangover yesterday. Ugh.

But then, yesterday night I had another 3. Nice.

Generally feeling like I'm back on track. If I can make 3 drinks a regular occurrence on weeknights, that would be huge for me.

Week 0: 60
Week 1: 56
Week 2: 53
Week 3: 45
Week 4: 54
Week 5: 55
Week 6: 60
Week 7: 48
Week 8: (in progress) 9, 3

I am glad you are back on track, Ives!