It sounds to me like it was mainly the Nal. It blocks the opioid receptors, but it doesn't block the GABA receptors at all, so you may well still feel the warm, relaxing effect of alcohol. As I understand it, it's primarily the lack of alcohol's effect on the GABA and Glutamate receptors that cause the bulk of withdrawal effects and that takes a while to kick in anyway.

Had you taken any medications, even painkillers, that had opiates in them? Oxycodone, codeine, etc? That would have caused opiate withdrawal in pretty short order.

Yeah i totally felt the warm stomach feeling, thats my biggest thing i enjoy about starting drinking and I felt it fully, got the wobbly effects later so i know i was inebriated, had a slightly less buzz but still a buzz, but got a huge headache and then massive stomach ache. another weird thing is I noticed a substantial drop in anxiety, it was pretty bizarre. that was last night before drinking, while the nal was in my system after about 30 minutes and then this morning also

the only medication I take is divalproex, generic depakote and thats it. no opiates, no other drugs whatsoever

That is odd. I've heard of people having increased anxiety on Nal, but not decreased. Did you get the Nal from the same doc?

got the nal online, its naltima brand naltrexone. I think my anxiety issues are solely stemmed from the destruction of every aspect of my life as a result of alcohol, mixed with having STRONG urges to drink everyday, creating a sort of stockholm syndrome. its not a typical anxiety problem that most people deal with, its more of an oh sh*t when is the monster going to jump on me and just fighting it off every single day, not knowing when Im going to get smacked. in that sense i think its more of a fear of the urges and cravings, fear of knowing i dont have control and waiting daily for the next **** storm. but if that is the case, and nal does in fact diminish the cravings and urges, it would make total sense that it would deplete my anxiety. btw i feel way better today stomach wise so im gonna start tonight or tomorrow, think it would be better to go 25 or 12.5 at first?

Great post, hadn't thought of that aspect of the anxiety. Try 12.5 and see how you feel. If that works, then bump it to 25 the next day.

This is where having a TSM doc would come in handy, as gabapentin might be a good addition. I don't know if it would be good with the Depakote though.