Hey, Cheeto - How are you getting along in the Great Frozen North! Is Spring springing yet?

Hi Joe, spring is coming along. Was a super warm sunny day yesterday and suppose to be warm all week.

I went back to 50 mg the last 2 days cause the 75 mg was not doing anything for me. I stayed with 75 mg for just over 2 weeks and my drinking seemed to go up so I think I was just wasting the pills taking more.

I am up early this morning cause I can't sleep and feel so stressed during the night and early morning that I just end up getting up to stop the tossing and turning. Not sure if it is the Nal+Drinking or just the alcohol that is stressing me and making me so agitated.
I now am grinding my teeth at night and have to wear a mouth guard as I am wrecking my teeth.

Wish I could just get this alcoholic beast off my back!

Nal On!

Cheeto,

It breaks my heart to hear you are having a hard time, and I do hope that things change.

Are you taking anything with the Gabapentin for sleep? I still have to take OTC sleep aids to be able to sleep at night. My favorite herb is valerian root. Smells awful, but it really takes the edge off. I actually would use it before TSM and trying to be sober. It helped take that anxiety away, and gave me a mellow buzz (for lack of a better word). But there are other herbs out there that can work.

It could be the side effects of the nal, or it could be how you changed taking the Gabapentin. I wouldn't think it was the Gabapentin only because you are taking the same amount, but you never know. Some of the people that take LDN report that wired/tired feeling, and unable to sleep, so maybe your body is responding to the lower dose (even though it is 50 mg). Our bodies can be so very frustrating at times like this.

I do know when I felt that way it made me drink more, so be careful.

Keep the faith for you will get the beast off your back!

Jaba

Hi Jaba, don't think it's anything to do with the Gabapentin as I have been taking it on and off for over 12 years since my back surgery. I actually started to take it for Sciatica and now take it for Hot Flashes and to sleep.

So where do you get the Valerian Root, a health store? Is it a pill? May need to try that as I don't get much sleep these days.
Thank You

Cheeto, is your TSM doc giving you any feedback on this?

The first day I saw mine, he said (wrt dosing range) some get along just fine with 25mg, while others need as much as 100mg. Do you tend to metabolize drugs faster on the whole?

Hi joe, I am doing this mostly on my own now and don't have my own Doctor anymore as she retired.

I usually have a low tolerance for drugs but can drink a bottle of wine no problem, hence my alcohol problem.
So I think taking 50 mg is good for me. I just wanted to try 75 mg for 2 weeks or so to see if there was any difference with my drinking but it just went up so as I said it's a waste of Nal when it costs so much. Of course if it worked for me I wouldn't worry about the cost as I really, really want to get to the Cured List more than anything.
I just want to be a normal functioning person who can live a life without everything revolving around alcohol and using it as a crutch also. Anyway I will just stick to the Golden Rule, have more patience and hope to God this will work for me sooner than later!

Hope you all are doing well with TSM....

Nal On!

Ah, I'd thought that you'd connected with a TSM doc, sorry for the confusion.

Well, I admire your faith in this, Nal on indeed!

Maybe then keep working the mindfulness angle to see if you can find some indifference in the habit part of drinking. That's where I've gotten a fair share of my gains, asking if I really need to keep the drink in my hand, do I really need to start at 5pm, etc. I still fall into taking my beer with me when I have a smoke and the drinking machine really takes over then, so I'm back at leaving it in the refrigerator when I smoke. You'll probably come up with your own techniques here.

Keep on posting, Cheeto! We luvs ya!

Aww thanks joe, glad to have support here.

Good on you keeping the beer in the fridge when smoking as I know for a lot of people that goes hand in hand. I actually quit smoking about 27 years ago and quit going to the Pub at that time as I loved to smoke with a beer too. Those days you could smoke in the pubs and I rarely drank at home.

Yes mindfulness is something I need to keep working on for sure!

Cheeto, just like you I have been working on this for a long time!! Have seen a lot of progress but still not where I want to be, and it has been over a year for me.

Still, like you, I WILL NOT GIVE UP!! Keeping the faith, xoxo to you, Newlife

Cheeto,

I would buy Valerian root from GNC in the tablet form, but any herbal store should carry it. Our grocery store carries it by a brand called sundown (I think), but I never tried that brand.

I want to warn you that valerian smells awful.

If you cannot find that, maybe an herbal blend might help. Anything that says clamming or stress reliever could help and would probably have things in it like hops, gaba, skull cap, passionflower, chamomile to name a few. Another good one for sleep is Phosphatidylserine and that I purchased off of amazon (not sure what the laws are in Canada about shipping herbs), it is a tad expensive but it would put me out and fast. I have read that wild lettuce is another great one, but I haven't tried that yet.

I also have used z-quil which is basically Benadryl, and that can make me feel pretty groggy in the morning.

Hopefully this doesn't last that long, and you will be getting some uninterrupted zzz soon enough.

Jaba