Without going into all the details, I was drinking too much, and had difficulty managing it myself. Not always hardcore drink every day alcoholic, but definately a binge drinker, and have had periods where drinking liquor in the morning, hiding it, throwing up every morning, etc. And got a DUI last year.

A google search for "cure for alcoholism" lead me to TSM. I'd never heard of it, but after reading about it, and other methods, and buying the book (which I've still only half read) decided to move forward.

Made an appointment for a checkup, hadn't seen a doctor in a couple years, and asked for a naltrexone rx. He wasn't familiar with it or TSM, so gave me an appointment at the chemical dependency dept. (This is at Kaiser in California USA). That doctor was some type of psychiatrist, I told him I wanted nal rx for tsm, he'd never heard of it, I showed him the book (I had it with me), he said it sounded interesting and would read it (took a pic of it with his phone), but referred me to a MD in their dept. So, third appointment asking for nal, doctor at least had looked up TSM and said no problem if I want to try it, but the directions on the bottle will say take every day, but I'm welcome to do whatever I want, but have to have a blood test for drugs/alcohol and liver function first. Fine fine, do that, liver tested okay, no other drugs in me besides mj which I told them I use but not concerned with, so she gave me a 30-pill rx on April 7 I believe. To get refill, I had to get another blood test and followup-visit to make sure it's not hurting my liver, etc, which I just did. She said in 6 months take another blood test, if all is well, then can just ask my regular MD to authorize 6-month refills (after doing blood tests).

So yeah seems to be working. Less cravings, drink less when I drink, exactly as expected. Drinking way way way less, and have actual had weekend days where I didn't drink at all - unheard of before.

Definitely some naseua/upset stomach on it. Nothing major. Also had minor headaches (which I never used to get) after drinking all day on it. Definately worse hangovers for the amount consumed than before NAL. But so far I'd say the side affects are worth it, although worse than I expected, I rarely get side affects from drugs until this one.

At first I was frustrated with the 1 hour wait, and did cheat a couple times and drink earlier than one hour a few times. Now I think I just take it earlier, I figure 2 hours before drinking is better than 10 minutes before drinking, am I right?

The other problem there is a couple times the desire/situation changed and ended up not drinking even tho I took the pill. Not sure how problematic that is - maybe I shoulda just drank anyway? Here's a real example of what I mean:

I'm currently a stay-at-home dad. one day while my kids (twins just turned 3) were napping in the afternoon I decided we'd hang out outside and bbq when they got up, so took a pill so I could drink beer, as I really really really enjoy drinking beer when I'm outside in the summer. Well, when they awoke they were moody and slow and we never actually made it outside before dinner, and I ended up cooking inside, thus never actually drank. Should I have chugged some liquor for TSM to be effective, or was it okay to not drink?

I noticed, especially at first, that the first-drink-of-the-day-joy is no longer as good as it used to be. But now it's kinda come back, is that normal? I'm definitely taking at least an hour in advance now...

Before TSM, sometimes my first-drink-of-the-day (or sometimes second) would cause me to feel warm and sometimes perspire (swett sic?). Not always, but often. Maybe I'm imagining it, but I think sometimes after I take the pill, before I drink, I get that swett? Any comments?

Okay that's enuff rambling for a first post.

Actually one other random comment. During registration for this forum, it asks for the name of Gilligan from the tv show. Seriously, who knows how to spell that right? I've never met anyone with that name before, never seen it in any book I've read, etc, so although I knew the answer, even tho that show was well into reruns when I was a kid, I didn't know how to spell it. And the picture was very hard to figure out. I kept messing up and it locked me out from registering cuz I couldn't get both of those right often enough. But I'm finally registered now

I started at 50mg. As mentioned, the doctor said the printed rx instructions would tell me their method, but I could TSM if I wanted. Their instructions said take 1/2 pill (25mg) at first (every day) for the first 2 weeks. I figured I'm a big guy (100kg) and high tolerance to drugs, so started with 50, but TSM-style (only when drinking). Maybe I shoulda started lower, but the neasuea is bearable, the hangover is bearable since it pretty much goes away by the time I get out of the bathroom after retching/vomitting/coughing/spitting into the bin while pooping; I tend to wake up first thing having to poop whenever I've drank the day before, even before TSM, and I'm used to doing that from drinking anyway. It just now happens even when I've only drank 5-10 drinks the day before, where before that much wouldn't really affect me much the next morning.

Hi Enigma--I am going to my MD tomorrow (Kaiser) --she is pretty cool so I am hoping she gives me a script without having to go to the chemical dependency center. I am so scard now of side effects--I will definitely start with 25 mg. By the way, this is a dumb question but how do I start a post on this forum?

Click the "New Topic" button. it's right next to he "Post Reply" at the top and bottom of the screen you're looking at now.

And good luck, hope your regular doctor does it and saves you the extra visits. I expect she'll probably still require the blood test for liver disease, but that's simple enough. Plus I found it very reassuring to know I haven't already damaged my liver, my uncle was only ten years older than me when he died from alcoholic liver disease. If you do get referred to chem dependancy dept in San Jose, the doctor that prescribed it for me was named Ogbonna, although I imagine everyone would be fine. Before trying myself, I'd read online that sometimes people had difficulty finding a doctor to prescribe it, but for me it was simple enough (other than having to go thru three doctors and thus three appointments.)

And yeah prolly good idea on the half dose at first. If I was to start over, I'd do that, hindsight is 20-20! I just (incorrectly) thought I knew better since I'm a big guy, high tolerance to most drugs, and usually on any rx i've ever had there's a long list of side affects and never had any before - and I just wanted to get on with it as fast as possible. But reading on here, apparently the exaggerated hangovers ("nalovers") don't go away, but the nausea/headaches should go away once I'm more used to it. I certainly hope so! Fortunately I haven't experienced some of the other side affects people have mentioned, such as feeling groggy/spacey/tired.

Hmmm, I wanted to start this week cause I am going on a cruise 5/31 with my family ( who are tired of my overdrinking) but I also want to enjoy myself and not worry about feeling crappy--ugh, what to do??

Welcome to the community, Maggie!

You might consider starting up after the cruise, but if you start during the cruise, maybe throttle back to 12.5mg. If that feels ok, bump it to 25 and stick with that till the cruise is done. When you're going to be home the next day, try 50mg.

I'd imagine you'll have good luck with your doc. We've had others on Kaiser mention they had no trouble getting oral Naltrexone and the doc even suggested taking it before drinking. They didn't know of TSM by name though.

A hearty welcome to you too, Enigma!

The puzzle you mention is a bit outdated, but it seems the admin that owns the site doesn't have a lot of time to change things around. The side does get slow at times and has disappeared entirely, so you might want to check out http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ as an alternate, it's usually pretty lively.

It's the rule rather than the exception to get an initial reduction with TSM, followed by an upswing (search on "Honeymoon" here). Just keep taking the pill an hour before drinking and it will settle back down. This just seems to be the pattern with TSM, it's one of the reasons we suggest people use a drinking diary/log. Here's one from the other site that's a spreadsheet/graph combo:

http://optionssavelives.freeforums.net/ ... graph-tool

I hear of people getting a bit of a sweat with Naltrexone, it's not one of the more common side effects. I expect it will pass in a week or two as you adjust to the medication.

Gotta start sometime. Just do half a pill with food and I bet you'll be fine.

I realized, after reading more here, I should have eaten before taking the pill. Pre-TSM I usually started drinking on empty stomach and often didn't eat anything at all until the evening. I know this is unhealthy, but so is drinking too much, and I figured it gets me drunker faster and the less I drink and eat the better cuz I'm already carrying an unneeded spare tire. The instructions for NAL say it can be taken on empty stomach, so when I started TSM I did the same thing, pill on empty stomach then drink on empty stomach.

So the past few drinking days I ate first, and it seems to have solved my issues, no more headache at all and very minor neasea. Of course I may also be getting more used to the NAL too. Still have the brief nalover tho. This morning for example five minutes after getting up I'm retching into the bin for about five mins, then I'm perfectly fine afterward.

Something weird happened to me this week. I was at a bar&grill, drank a tall beer, ordered some food, beer almost gone so got another, then only drank a few sips of it. Actually left an almost full beer. I just didn't feel like drinking it. It was really weird, I don't think I've ever left an unfinished drink at a bar before in my entire life. So this stuff does work. Still seems weird to me.

Not taking pill on empty stomach is going to be a challenge for me tho, unless my patterns change. Cuz sometimes I purposely will go somewhere to eat and drink for lunch. In such situations it's already hard enough to wait the hour after I take the pill to start, so there's no way I'm going to the bar&grill, order and wait for my food and eat some then take the pill, then wait another hour before I have that first drink; I'd have nothing to do for that hour. I usually finish my first drink before I even order food, often (pre-TSM) quite a few before ordering food.

Enigma, once the side effects subside, you can take the pill on an empty stomach. In the meantime, even a sandwich or a couple of energy bars should do the trick.