I have contacted Dr. Eskapa. He said that my BF should try to stick it out until the side effects go away. But at this point it's like he's on a full time acid trip, even with only 1/4 dose. I don't know if I can talk him into sticking it out a few more days to get used to it. It doesn't seem like the effects are fading at all, except for maybe the nausea.

I don't know, maybe he's not going into withdrawal. That's what it seems like, but it's hard to say at this point since he feels like crap whether drinking or not now.

As far as the job goes, yes he could probably get a doctor's excuse, but it is a contract job and they have no problem dropping him to replace him with someone else. And of course he has no sick or vacation so he's not getting paid if he doesn't show up. Frankly I'd rather see him lose his job if it means succeeding with TSM.

Ugh this sucks.

I feel so bad that you're having such a difficult time. Is he able to drink much at all? My withdrawal issues were primarily horrendous hangovers, with migraine-type headaches, where I would throw up all day - sometimes to the point of seeing blood in the toilet. My only hope to rectify this before the vomiting would start was to get some alcohol into my system as quickly as possible, even doing shots if I had to. Then I'd try to sleep until I could get up later and function (barely). Ah yes - the good old days...

I also think it would be best if he didn't have to work at all while going through this nasty phase. If it's possible from a financial standpoint to take a break, I think it would be worth it, IMHO. Bottom line is that if TSM works for him, it will most likely save his life. Nothing is more important than that. I wish I had an answer for you that could end this suffering, but all I can offer is my thoughts and prayers. I truly hope you'll get through this soon. Try to hang in there - we're all pulling for you.

nmarie33,

So sorry to read of your problems and hoping these issues will soon be a distant memory for you and your boyfriend.

A couple of questions:

Has he taken Nal everyday since starting TSM and followed that with drinking as normal?
Has he drasticly cut back on his drinking creating withdrawal for himself?
You mentioned the last three occasions: I can understand if he has not eaten with Nal that that could bring about problems, but I also wonder if the drug his doctor prescribed to take for withdrawals has created problems for him when TAKEN with Nal?

My suggestion would be to continue with Nal increasing slowly and always on a full stomach and check out the dr's drug for withdrawal symptoms to make sure there are not problems with the combination. Don't sharply reduce drinking. This is my opinion only and hopefully may be of some help.


Wishing you and your BF all the success possible,

BB

Here is exactly what he has done since 8/17:

Day - Drinks - Nal dose

8/17 - ? - 25
8/18 - ? - 25
8/19 - 13.5 - 25
8/20 - 12 - 25
8/21 - 10 - 25
8/22 - 9 - 25
8/23 - 9 - 25
8/24 - 9 - 0
8/25 - 7 - 0
8/26 - 11 - 0
8/27 - 8 - 0
8/28 - 8 - 12.5
8/29 - 11 - 12.5
8/30 - 10 - 12.5

I figure he was drinking at least 14 drinks a day before on most days. So that is the difference in the before/after quantities, I don't know if that's enough to have withdrawals start to kick in. He drinks pretty much 24/7.

The withdrawal drug he took yesterday was very bad. It knocked him out cold for several hours and messed with his head well after that. I'm sure that's part of the reason he felt so awful yesterday, not just the nal, but now I'm having a hard time convincing him to continue with the nal even one more day. But if he quits, he'll either have to continue being a drunk or stop drinking altogether and go through withdrawal hell for several days anyway...in my mind, it's worth it to keep on with the nal, because it's the only option I can see where there's a light at the end of the tunnel. But at this point I feel like I'm putting him through a torture chamber by insisting that he take it. I am so confused about how to proceed.

Hmmmm....... I don't know about withdrawal really and wonder if the difference between his pre-TSM drinks vs. now is enough to cause problems. Evidently, he must have felt like he was having symptoms because he took the med his dr.
wrote for that purpose. Maybe some other Sinclairians have an opinion on that.

I am with you. I would rather see him drink "as he normally would" while taking Nal everytime 1 hour in advance on a full stomach than imagine what lies ahead for him. In reading this board, some members have gone thru hell and back before finding the TSM program which has been a lifeline for them. I truly hope he can/will continue so that he can possible get his life back with no further heartbreak for you both.

Beg him to continue - it is his best shot that we know of and it works in most instances.

Best of luck.

BB

PS. What was the medicine he took for withdrawal that knocked him out?

I think it was chlordiazepoxide (don't have the bottle in front of me but pretty sure that's it).

I was reading some stuff about naltrexone used to help people with MS. From what I read these people are taking as little as 4.5mg per day, and still feeling side effects. I wonder if I could get him worked up to a good dose very very slowly. I saw some instructions saying to dissolve a 50mg tab in 50 ml of water in order to be able to draw off tiny doses. To me that might be a solution, even if it takes a long long time for him to work up to a dose that will be consistent with TSM. After yesterday, I would consider it a victory to get him to take 1 mg.

Thanks for all the support everyone.

UPDATE

Hi everyone. My boyfriend is now registered here, but he hasn't posted yet. He wanted me to update you all on how he is doing.

First off, I think that at first he was definitely going through some withdrawals. After I adjusted the spreadsheet to compensate for the higher proof alcohol he favored before, it is obvious that he took a pretty big cut on the booze in the first couple weeks. Last week he seems to finally have gotten over that hump, and has been feeling very good and maintaining at about 8 units per day. No more puking, shaking, etc.

Last week during the work week, it was important that he be able to function in order to keep his job. So, we decided that he would go off the nal and start again over the weekend from scratch, and work up from very small amounts to minimize any side effects. During the work week, he hit a few great milestones just from his own determination to cut back on alcohol. For example, he's gone a few days in a row now with a 12-hour gap between drinks...normally he would have trouble going 2 hours.

For the past 3 days we have done tiny doses of nal, with the goal of increasing every time. He is still getting side effects from these little bitty doses, but I think they are becoming less and less, so hopefully we will be able to bump the doses up to effective levels. At this point I think it's just making him feel pretty loopy. We started with a 3 mg dose, and will go to 5mg tomorrow. I realize this is far below the regular dose, but we will get there. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THAT ANYONE ELSE CUT DOWN TO SUCH A LOW DOSE. This is just the solution that is proving livable for us. A much better solution than giving up altogether, and I think it will work with some time.

It looks like today will be the first day since I can remember that he gets through the entire workday without one single drink. He has not been drunk once in almost 4 weeks. Even with the off-and-on nal use, it seems to be having a positive effect.

The best thing of all is that I can see the sweet boy I love returning to me, more and more each day. He actually arranged a wonderful birthday surprise date for me last week and was sober and happy throughout the whole evening. A month ago that would have been completely impossible. He would have been passed out drunk before we could get out the door.

We are going to strive to get the nal doses up for proper extinction. My opinion is that we will be able to bump it up much quicker than he expects. In the meantime, we are both very happy with how life is turning out. Thank you all so much for your help!

That is wonderful news, so happy for the both of you that everything is on track, and that you're working the Nal dose up slowly so he can cope with it but will finally be heading for extinction. Fantastic news!!!!

You two are unstoppable. Churchill said, "When you are going through hell, keep going." He might have been speaking of you. All good wishes for continued progress, no matter what it takes.

Love the avatar!