Hmmm... Interesting. I have had a number of eating issues that have been concurrent to this treatment. Usually, it is loss of appetite, but not always. Some days I have something to eat and it is SO good, I have to eat more and more and more. I suppose when I'm not taking Naltrexone, good things seem very palatable, whereas when taking Naltrexone, nothing is that good.

BTW, I have lost almost about 7 pounds since I started treatment 5 months ago. Not much, but I am not looking to lose weight. It just happened.

Bob

"Before, I was making the reasonable exchange of endorphins now for a hangover later, and I thought that to be such a great deal that I took it, time and time again. Now that I'm not receiving the endorphins, the deal doesn't seem quite as good, and the hangovers less acceptable. With a lack of craving and reward, the rational response to the hangover now is to drink less in future."

This is a FANTASTIC observation. This really captures it for me. Pre-TSM I'd get hammered and know I was in for a hangover but did it anyway, because I had so much fun and it was worth it. Now, without the endorphin rush, the hangover simply isn't worth it. AJ, you are a man beyond your years.

I am definitely going back in time with my drinking. Had a huge trigger last night, tried to tie one on, had a small fraction of what I used to drink pre-TSM, and woke up with COTTON MOUTH. I remember waking up with cotton mouth in high school when I was a newbie drinker but that stopped happening during the Reagan Administration. I also have a hangover where pre-TSM I'd be feeling fine. TSM is definitely a sort of regression, a gradual passing back in time to the way we were before we were addicted. It's really amazing.

I can't say alcohol is making me sick, but there are some changes. I'm just starting my 10th week on TSM. Haven't been able to do any Al-free days at all yet. I wonder if the very act of taking the pill at 4 pm acts as a trigger that makes me wait impatiently for exactly an hour, usually to the minute, when I can have that first glass of wine. That hour passes so slowly, time seems to stand still. That's now, and why I'm posting right now to help the required time pass more quickly.

Naltrexone has not yet reduced most of my normal pleasurable activities, including drinking. But my reaction to the latter has changed. I, too, have noticed a decrease in tolerance. Three glasses give me quite a buzz, where it would take twice that before. Also the buzz has a different quality. I still enjoy it on one hand, but on the other, I'm growing to increasingly dislike the effect and wish I could back up the consumption to the point where the buzz would instantly disappear. However, I stubbornly and stupidly continue downing my accustomed 6-8 glasses of wine. By then I can't stay awake any more. Around 8 pm it's nite-nite to all.

Strangely, if my wife happens to be out at one of her many civic and social meetings and returns at 10 or 11 pm, I wake feeling quite refreshed. I usually get out of bed and surf the web a bit or read a few pages of a book (TV or Netflix movies bore the tears out of me--maybe that's one of the former pleasures being extinguished.) Then we both hit the sack at a reasonable near-midnight time. I have vivid dreams, some very weird, some filled with the frustrations of not quite being able to accomplish something usually very simple that is so common in dreams, some with patently evil and scary content that I would classify as paranoid-schizophrenic (which I definitely am not in my waking state). I know now for sure I dream in color, because the color of red blood lingers in my consciousness next morning.

In the mornings, I awake refreshed with no hangover, no remorse, and no urge to touch any alcohol until that magic hour returns. I need to get myself some Al-free days so the needed washout period can kick in, but so far it isn't happening.

Bottom line, I do notice a change, but my subconscious reptilian brain seems to be fighting it like crazy.

Twenty minutes to go now, until cave-in time.

Mike

I can totally relate to the weird dreams. My regular dreams involved some sort of mortal combat and always involved conflict, especially in my first several weeks on TSM. The theories on this board were that my subconscious was locked in a battle with the Beast. Anyway, this is good news, it means naltrexone is clearly impacting you. And I haven't seen anyone here yet who didn't see an eventual sharp reduction in consumption/cravings when the naltrexone was having a clear impact on them.

I hope you have your AF days soon. But the good news is, the naltrexone is definitely having an effect.

I "reverse imbibed" two nights ago and it definitely wasn't an SE of the nal as I'm on day 20 or so. It was a direct effect of drinking, and that NEVER happened to me before. and

It wasn't the amount though. It was a reaction, the stuff just tasted so vile going down.