One Step at a time - May 2015

[Dottie Belle]

mama do u meet yourself at the door????

[Lizann]

Pauly, so why is Kelly taking baclofen? How did she make out at the doctor?
Mama, I worry about you. Take care please?
Nora, good for you for taking the Antabuse . Do what you have to do. I'm having some trouble with the anxiety as well.
Anyway just a quick check in for me. Gonna head off to bed and read a bit.
Love you guys. Goodnight.

[paulywogg]

Liz,it's a muscle relaxant I guess, doctors turned out fine, she got a little freaked out from the anesthesia cuz she was out for 20 minutes but she said it felt like hours, Mama, you sound rough,hope everyone has a nice night

[NoraC]

Mama - I'm really worried about you. You are burning the candle at both ends. Is it EVER going to slow down?????

Pauly - you are sounding good. :hug:

We went to the movies tonight with son & girlfriend. Fun time! I was in no mood to go but forced myself and had a great time.

Doctor appointment in the morning which I am dreading. :S

Waving to everyone - I'm going to go to bed and read for a little bit before I fall asleep. I think I'm going to be asleep before 8:30. :harhar:

[mama bear]

awwwww,,you guys re so sweet to me!
It has been insane and I don't know if it will calm down. It will as soon as I learn all the systems. I keep having to ask for help and that slows me down. But I have to learn everything and plow though and I am sure I will be fine. Everyone works like I do, so I am not there alone. Condos and board meetings are a whole new world to me..
Shower and out the door....I am actually looking forward to getting some alone time!

[Dottie Belle]

Morning all,
Off to lunch with a lady from church who also lost her husband suddenly shortly after I did. I dont know her very well so this should be interesting.
Tonight dinner with a widow/widower group. Bad for the diet for sure. I will try to find something light on the menu but the salt is always an issue for me.
I am venturing out and each day is something new.
Cool and beautiful out today.

[mama bear]

Dottie, you actually sound good!
I am enjoying an evening alone with a big steak and bed!

[NoraC]

Hello everyone - sorry that I couldn't get on earlier. Busy day. I went to work then went for my physical. Had her check my ears because they've been bugging me. Guess who has ear infections? She asked me how long they had been bothering me and I said a couple of weeks. I thought it was just allergies. Anyway, I've got antibiotics now. I also got a prescription for Naltrexone. I have to go back once a month for 3 months to talk to her & see how I'm doing on it. And then I can get refills. I will pick it up tomorrow. I have heard many positive things about it. I think it's worth a try.

Dotts - how was lunch today? How was dinner? I'm glad that you're getting out!

Mama - you just enjoy your evening alone. You deserve it!

Where is everybody today? Must be busy. Well - hubby just came in & put in The Lego Movie so guess we are going to watch that again. It is a cute movie.

[Dottie Belle]

Evening all,
Lunch with gal from church was good. She is very much like me. 10 years older but similar and seems that our husbands were similar too and both died suddenly. We will do lunch again and we exchanged email addresses.
Dinner was OK. Not really my kind of place but we did make plans for 2 more outings this week. Both are more to my liking so I learn as I go.
Watching the finale of DWTS....

[Lizann]

Nora what is Naltrexone ? Ear infections, you poor thing! Feel better soon. The rest of the physical went ok?
Mama, I hate to tell you steak and bed sound fabulous to me!
Dottie you sound great! Good for you!
So Mark got word today from his company that just today they forwarded his application to the Swiss government!:cuss: Seriously? This process started in February. He's supposed to start work June 1st. He's supposed to leave May 30th. Now they're saying it will take six weeks to process! We are hoping he can change his ticket or get a refund. He did take out insurance. We shall see. So that was my day. Hope everyone has a good night.

[NoraC]

Liz - how FRUSTRATING about Mark's application. That is ridiculous.

My appt went well, I'm just anxious to get the lab results. Stupid, I know - I drink knowing that it's harmful and now I'm anxious to get the lab results to know I'm ok. Duh!:hmms:

Anyway - Naltrexone has been shown to reduce drinking.

Alcohol dependence[edit]
The main use of naltrexone is for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Naltrexone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of alcohol dependence in 1994, following publication of the first two randomized, controlled trials in 1992. Since then a number of studies have confirmed its efficacy in reducing frequency and severity of relapse to drinking.[2] The multi-center COMBINE study showed the usefulness of naltrexone in a primary care setting, without adjunct psychotherapy.[3]

The standard regimen is one 50 mg tablet per day.

Naltrexone has been shown to reduce relapse rates after abstinence in multiple clinical studies.[4] Additionally there is evidence that naltrexone helps reduce heavy drinking when used in people who continue drinking while taking naltrexone, but that it is less effective in helping patients achieve abstinence.[5] Some authors argue that naltrexone demonstrated an advantage over placebo in reducing heavy drinking to normal levels rather than trying to achieve abstinence. Patients under what is called the Sinclair Method continue to drink small amount of alcohol when using naltrexone, which is proven to be the most effective way.[6]

As noted in the Pharmacogenetics section below, studies since the early 21st century have identified a gene, which is prevalent in roughly 25-30% of the white population, that results in a much more effective response to the use of naltrexone in reducing or ending dependence on alcohol. This gene is rarely present among blacks; it is common among 60-70 percent of Asians.[7]

Some people use it as in the Sinclair Method. I'm reading information about that but right now I am just interested in it because it seems to help control cravings, etc.

This is an article from Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...ber-naltrexone

Like I said, right now I am just reading information on it. I plan to take it daily and see if it helps with cravings. I know that some people believe that you have to drink while you're taking it but I don't think that's true for everyone. I will keep you posted on how it goes. I tried it years ago and know that I felt weird when I took it. I never gave it a fair chance. I am going to start with cutting it into quarters and then work my way up.

[Rusty]

Good Morning Everyone,

Nora, I took NAL for quite a while and it is very effective in reducing cravings. If you're going to drink, you would want to take it an hour beforehand WITH FOOD...otherwise it upsets your stomach. You don't have to be drinking to take it...that's the beauty of it. I wish you all the best on it. So glad you got a script for your ear infection.

Lizz-sorry to hear about more red tape with Mark's trip to Switzerland. :-(

Dottie-I am glad you made a new friend who can empathize with you. I hope you enjoy more outings together.

Early day for me at work and then it's off to the airport. Hope everyone has a lovely hump day.
Mama-I had a steak last night and crawled into bed, too. Heavenly! I took my mom out to dinner because she turned 88 years young today. She ordered one of her favorites....liver! Good thing it was disguised so it didn't look like liver to me!!! Hahahhahah

[Dottie Belle]

Morning all,
Gym later then my class tonight. I am tired today. Weird dreams again. I can tell that when I eat differently it affects my sleep.
Cool and beautiful today.

[NoraC]

Morning all....rushing to work so will catch you later.

Rusty ... Did you take it daily or only when you had cravings or only if you were going to drink? Thank you!

[Lizann]

Thanks for the info Nora. Let me know if it works for you.
Rusty good to see you. Keeping busy as usual, you are.
Had a pretty good day today. Just chillin with my boys and Lucy.
Sweet dreams.