drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

OMG Really? Your description makes me salivate I am locked in -42 degrees. usualy about -36 with a minus 42 wind chill .
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[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

I forgot to mention that my brother has lived in ft myers florida for the past ten years. he is a member of the public works dept. also totally religious

[Guest]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

potato, That's cold. my friend lives in Fairbanks, Alaska and it is really cold there, need to plug in your car when you go to the store or the movies. Yes, Ft. Myers, I used to go there in the winter from New York with my family, on the gulf, Sanibel Isalnd, great place to find sea shells. I remember a beautiful morning with my father and mother and some of my siblings, we awoke early in the am to go sea shelling and the sun was just rising and the crescent moon was setting on the horizon, the tide was very low and the colors of the sunrise were reflecting off the gulf water and the sand of the beach. It was still, quiet, and calm. AND my parents were not fighting. It is one of my favorite memories in my life. There you go, your turn. Are there hot springs at least? Where you be in Canada? Hey I am finishing up day 12!

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Hi Oceanocean, I am right in the middle. Winnipeg, Bad in winter. Great in summer. Congrats on day 12!! All the best. I find I am good if I watch out for tiredness or depression.

[evildiva]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Mike with a dream;512351 wrote: The book "The Cure for Alcoholism" addresses all of the questions that you have on Naltrexone. I strongly recommend that you buy it and make your own conclusions. So far it's worked for me. Nothing else has, so I'm sticking with it.

I'm going to run out right now and get that book Thanks, all.

[Bminor]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

rv9;512104 wrote: To anyone who is following the Sinclair Method or otherwise concerned about cravings while on Naltrexone:

You most likely WILL continue to crave alcohol while on the Naltrexone. Just keep drinking as you normally do. Don't make a conscious effort to reduce your drinking unless your safety or immediate health is involved. Trying to cut back or quit deliberately is just an exercise in frustration - that is why AA and other abstinence programs have such dismal success rates. Who wants to live with horrible cravings for the rest of their life?

Every drink you take while on Naltrexone chips away at the association your brain has made between alcohol and dopamine-induced pleasure. Abstaining defeats this purpose.
Your goal is to eventually see your cravings and inclination to drink diminish or disappear. This will happen naturally over the course of at least 4 months, perhaps longer. Don't rush it and try not to get frustrated by a seeming lack of progress. Just take your Naltrexone and drink.

I have been on Naltrexone for two months now and have noticed a dramatic decrease in my craving for alcohol. I'm still drinking and in fact, sometimes (only in the last week) have to force myself to drink even though I don't really feel like it.

As Dr. Eskapa says over and over: Drinking + Naltrexone = Cure. I would add time and a dose of patience to the equation.

Hello, I too am about 2 months into the Sinclair Method. It works!! Everything RV9 just said is truth. I am noticing I crave much less, and drink much less than I used to when i do drink... Just take the Naltrexone and drink as usual... it takes time but i too feel it working. The intense pleasure of drinking is just not there while on Naltrexone.

I too have sort of forced myself to drink as well... just to do it, not even feeling like i really wanted it. Like rV9 said, everytime you drink on Naltrexone, you are chipping away at the addiction.

Cheers!

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Someone posted a while back that they thought Nal worked better on men than women. I am trying to find anything that says this in the book but so far I can't. If anyone knows anymore about that please let me know. thanks.

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

I'm getting lonely here somebody please post on how their Sinclair method is going. I need the support. I am 4 months Feb 6th. But I was not a daily drinker. Just bingey
.

[rv9]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Potato - if you aren't drinking often then the Sinclair Method is going to take a while to work on you. It's the act of drinking while on Naltrexone that leads to extinction of the conditioned (learned) behavior of drinking.

If you aren't a frequent drinker you might do some research on aversion therapy. Places like Schick-Shadel in Seattle use this method. Basically they have you drink and give you an emetic drug like ipecac. In about 10 days you subconsciously learn to associate drinking with nausea and it's supposed to make alcohol unappealing. This might be more useful than the Sinclair Method, which seems to be geared toward those who, like me, are "hooked" on booze.

[lenaleed]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Then Naltrexone will work well for daily drinkers like me? I am so hoping it will work. I have the book now I wish my rx would get here from River. Please, Bminor, rv9 and others let us keep hearing success stories. You too, Potato:new:
Thanks, Lena

[Guest]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Just wanted to touch base. I am on day 16 AF using Nal and Baclofen. I have been under extreme stress because of marital issues (divorce) and I am able to not drink. I am amazed. I do have the book about Sinclair Method and will start to read it today. I want to share the link to the Ginger-Ale recipe.
How to Make Ginger Ale - wikiHow
Hope you all are doing well.

[rv9]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

lenaleed;515944 wrote: Then Naltrexone will work well for daily drinkers like me? I am so hoping it will work.

lenaleed: Naltrexone works best for daily drinkers. Taking Naltrexone and abstaining is just a waste of medicine. Not only that, it is potentially hazardous because it causes receptor "upregulation," which means that if you later drink without taking the Naltrexone, your drinking habit will be reinforced rather than diminished.

I don't know why docs prescribe Naltrexone with instructions to abstain because there is no pharmacological basis by which you would expect Naltrexone to reduce cravings - it doesn't. It prevents reinforcement of a habit by the endorphin systems in the brain.

Read the book and you will see that the advice given is to take Naltrexone before you drink but not if you're not going to.

Of course, it is better to take it and not drink than to drink without having taken it. So my approach thus far has been to take it at lunchtime each day and then drink during my normal time, which is 6-10 P.M. I typically have 4-8 units of alcohol during this time, depending on the day and what I have going on.

What I'm finding is that my desire to drink is diminishing. Often I'll still drink even though I don't really want to - because this too reinforces the "extinction" process we are trying to achieve.

I'm only two months into a 4-6 month process so seeing some reduced cravings is a real milestone. Based on this observation, Dr. Eskapa is certain it is going to work for me. Remember that a small percentage (8-10%) of people won't be helped by this approach. That is because of a genetic thing that is too complicated for me to understand, much less talk about.

Stick around. I'll post as I make more progress. I have a lot of hope in this approach.

[lenaleed]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

rv9: This is precisely the experience I hope for. The extinction principle in the book makes so much sense. I had concerns about positive things I normally would do such as working out more, improving food habits, etc. but want to work with, and not against, the extinction principle. I love Sinclair's idaea about a vacation after 3 weeks to indulge in/reinforce healthy pleasures. My gut tells me this is the thing for me. Fingers crossed for us all, and please keep posting. Thanks, Lena

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

rv9. thanks for the info on aversion therapy. So would that make it so I never would want a drink b/c I'd associate it with nausea? So far I have done the Sinclair method since Oct 6th and I have followed it perfectly but I am the kind who drinks to excess about every second time I drink and usually drink once or twice a week. This is also the only time I smoke cigs as well. A cognitive behavior therapist told me I was doing it because of anxeity. I am not sure but I will look into the aversion therapy and I'm going to keep doing the Sinclair method but you are right. It probably will take longer on me. I have suspected that. I would just like to not have anymore horrible hangovers and the sore lungs from those nights. Good luck all! Potato.

[Guest]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

to all and rv9,

I read what you say about the Naltrexone, but for me am continuing to have good help, day 18, using Nal and Baclofen. I am more afraid of drinking to not yet want to try the aversion therapy. I do have the book, Sinclair's Method and I will try that if I drink again.

Maybe we are all different, I do not think I am wasting pills or money, I am thankful I am not drinking. And this is during the most stressful period of my entire life.

potato I really wait to see how you do, our drinking behavior is much different, as I said before 24/7 for me, no blackouts, no real drunk escapades just a constant stream of AL in my system. Thanks :heart: for being there all,