drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

[lenaleed]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Great news John. Here's to a successful day 3! We all have to find what works for us. Eskapa seems dismissive of side effects, and compares Naltrexone to vitamins in their ability to cause effects that can be "felt" He says yoy don't "feel" vitamins. Not so fast: anyone taken a potent B-complex on an empty stomach? Buzzsaw head, nausea, flushing. You and I did not imagine what we experienced. And I do not believe our indifference to alcohol is a placebo effect either. I certainly guzzled my way through high doses of kudzo for days and drank w/ gusto after lots of glutamine, despite wanting badly for them to work. Eskapa acknowledges there can be an immediate decreased desire to drink but calls this a "weak artifact" of the opioid receptor blocking action. I understand that, and will work my way up in dose. But you are where you need to be right now, and that is what matters. Happy trip to Mexico!

Lena

[aurora borialis]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Hey, Have a super good trip to Mexico JohnR! Yes thanks for chat and we will chat again. I think i am in the "weak artifact" phase with my opiate recepters. Kudzo, Glutamine and the other things I did not notice any effect. I can't wait to hear how the Sinclair method is going for others who are doing it. Is anyone close to 4 months? How is it going for you?

[SpringerRider]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Howdy all,
Just started Nal yesterday. While on a bad hangover, I went to my MD and convinced him to write me a prescription. I had to teach him about Nal.

I am following Eskapa's book, word for word. I strongly advise others to do so. To abstain and take Nal is counter productive. You NEED to drink to teach your brain that it will not get the endorphines when you drink.

I am placing a lot of hope in Nal. With a degree in phych, I have a pretty clear understanding of what's going on though there is a degree of faith here.

I would not take any side effects that come from Nal in the first month too seriously. That isn't how it works. It is long term re-conditioning.

Thanks for letting me post here.

[lenaleed]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Thanks SR and welcome, to the board. I'm new here myself, although after the past few days it doesn't seem that way. I really hope to keep this thread thriving, so I'm happy you're here. I took 25 mg early yesterday and felt not much so took the other 25 w/ no problem. Drank a little over 3 w/ indifference. I'm rampin' up to fifty today. I understand the need for the full fifty to ensure coverage of all opiod receptors. But after my first-day experience and that of JohnR, I would certainly not discourage anyone from taking it easy the first couple of days. Eskapa recommends this as well. I still seem to be enjoying the short-term decreased craving and hope it stays around long enough to make my daily pattern 4 or less. But in any case I will do as Eskapa says and refrain from battling cravings so the extinction process is optimized in the coming weeks and months.

[ihavebeenherkind]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

This is an interesting and timely thread. I just received my Naltrexone and thought I'd take one to try it. I had planned on starting it on Monday because I intend to have a few drinks over the weekend. Well, it's very odd. I went from waking up thinking about how long it would be before the time of day that is acceptable to have a glass of wine, and now, about an hour later, I see the wine bottle on the counter, but I'd really rather have some tea! Is this similar to what you are experiencing?

[SpringerRider]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Thanks LenaLeed,
I am doing 25 mg for the first two days. I just took the second one minutes ago. There was a reluctance to skip today because I do feel a little "weirded out" but I will follow the protocol and stay compliant. I will drink until I feel sated.

I do wish I could get the 3 months of Nal behind me; where much of the re-learning has already happened. If this procedure works as specified, I will be extremely grateful. I am not concerned whether I end up as a totally alcohol free or as a casual controlled drinker. I like the idea that I can carry a couple of Nal's in my pocket and if I choose to drink, I can do so without the devatating results that it used to brink.

I had over 12 yrs. sober in AA but I was always one drink away from being a raving lunatic. Being one who often entertains clients, I was always on slippery turf.

We are pioneers on a journey to reclaim our sanity. By spring time, we should be able to know whether the Sinclair method is our salvation or simply another Grim Fairy Tale.

[rv9]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

oceanaocean;520902 wrote: I am reading the Sinclair Method, but am not sure if I can do this, reason being, if I drink, my husband will final the divorce, if I do not drink, we stay married.

oceanaocean: I was very concerned that my wife would resist the Sinclair Method because it involves drinking and my concern wasn't unfounded. I was furious with her for being either ignorant or cruel and basically told her it wasn't up for discussion unless and until she read the book, because unless she did she was speaking from a position of ignorance.

Now our marriage wasn't/isn't on the rocks so I was able to take a hard line with her. I know your situation is different. As it is, I don't think she's read the book fully but we haven't discussed it. I am simply hiding any drinking from her, which makes me angry but is working out so far. The sad part of this is that when I am finally cured, it won't have been "because of her loving support", but "despite her" and "no thanks to her". I don't think she realizes this.

As you might know from my other posts, the Sinclair Method appears to be working for me and my cravings have diminished significantly. I've been on it for almost exactly two months.

Have your husband read the book and he needs to understand two things:

First is that is that perhaps with the exception of (very expensive) aversion therapy, no treatment other than the Sinclair Method is going to relieve you of your cravings. Any other treatment might help you stop drinking, but it's going to be a cruel, day-to-day struggle for the rest of your life - who would wish that on anybody? The Sinclair Method should result in the elimination of your cravings and the ability to stop drinking painlessly.

Second is that drinking while on the Sinclair Method isn't just something you're allowed to do. It's not a pleasant benefit of the method. It is something you MUST do for it to work. If you don't drink while taking the naltrexone, you're not accomplishing anything except wasting medicine and delaying your cure.

You're looking at 4 months, give or take, for it to work. In the grand scheme of things this isn't that long a time.

Whether you can ever drink socially again is a question that can be dealt with in the future - it is not the primary goal of the Sinclair Method, just a possibility for some people. You might find that you have no interest in it at all. But cross that bridge later and don't even discuss it now.

[lenaleed]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Oceana -- Maybe the baclofen is working. When I looked into it I noticed at least one study that showed significantly reduced consumption in alcohol-preferring rats. I find rat studies more encouraging because rats are not subject to a placebo effect! I did not read the French physician's book so I can't comment on that but it baclofen certainly seemed to work for him. I'm certainly not offering medical advice but maybe you could wean off the nal if the baclofen is working and know that you have an alternative in the Sinclair Method if need be.

Is hubby by any chance going to Alanon? Is he a 12-stepper himself? I went to Alanon and got some good out of it to learn boundaries and the like but one thing I know: Any 12 stepper holds on like grim death to the notion that it is abstinence or nothing. In fact, it is AA or nothing. Period. No discussion. That is why, when I became a problem drinker myself, I looked for AA alternatives and found this site. I reject the notion that I am powerless. You don't strike me as the powerless type either. The rigid divorce ultimatum just sounds sort of Alanony to me.

Take care -- Lena

[Carolelynn]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Sounds very encouraging. I really don't want to ABS drinking. I just want to go back (many years) and be a social one again.

[rv9]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Carolelynn;523499 wrote: Sounds very encouraging. I really don't want to ABS drinking. I just want to go back (many years) and be a social one again.

Carolelynn - just do the Sinclair Method and don't worry about whether you'll be a social drinker. Ultimately you may not even want to be, but even talking about it now just gives ammunition to those who would mischaracterize the Sinclair Method as a way for drunks to continue drinking. That is going to be the #1 complaint of AA and Alanon types, who can't get off the ABS crackpipe long enough to listen to the rational scientific basis for the Sinclair Method.

Use the Method to get your drinking either stopped or within the limits of safe social drinking - then whether or not you continue as a social drinker will happen naturally.

[Carolelynn]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Drinking on naltrexone (sinclair method)

"ve read all of this thread. If I understand this correctly Naltrexone is not really for people whose goal is abs, but for people who want to have control back and reduce their consumption of alcohol ? Which is why it's not paid much attention to in the States. My doctor and I chose the correct medicine for me.
Good deal.
For those of you on the "Sinclair Method", what is the best way to do this in the beginning? In other words, take a drink on day 2 or 4, or wait X# of days before taking the first drink? What does he recommend you to do for, say, the first 2 weeks regarding drinking/not drinking

[Guest]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

Hi all, I have been out in the woods, no electric. I am back now and have read the posts, thanks for all your thoughts. I will re-read and I shall write more later or tomorrow. As it is I am on day 24 AF and I feel good, I definitely feel the Nal in my blood, but I have a head cold and it's difficult to know how I am really feeling. Anyway more to come. What a great thread and I agree with Lean, let's keep it up. Lots to think about......OO

[SpringerRider]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

rv9
Thanks for your input. I am on day 3 with Nal. I have studied it thoroughly and have also read Eskapa's book. I have been around this disease for some time as both a clinician and a client. Nal appears to offer more promise than any other. The idea of bringing an addiction to extinction is extremely gratifying.

My goal is to go where Nal takes me. If after 3 to 6 months, I can drink socially I will take it. If I am left with no desire to drink, I will go there.

My most reacent stretch of sobriety was over 12 years. When I returned to drink, I was very aware that I could drink to a certain point without reawakening the craving and convultion. Basically, if I stayed at a drink per hour, I never seemed to enter the alcoholic state but once crossed, it was very hard to get back to that state.

It is at the 3 drink state that I could feel an altered state take place. Before then, drinking would may me drowsy and mellow and often sleepy. This is where my non-alcoholic wife ends up. After two or three quick drinks, I pass through that phase and am into something different. It is then when I get the release of endorphines. It is then that I pass the point of no return. I quit feeling drowsy and feel alert and confident, assured and powerful. My wife never gets there. One I am there, I drink to preserve it but simply end up passing out.

While studying Eskapa's book, it made so much sense to me and I understood the process. Even while I am new to Nal, I notice that when I drink, I do not enter that second state. I just get a little sleepier and drunker. In some sence, it makes drinking less rewardable but drinking had lost it rewares quite a while ago.

Oceana, the Sinclair Method is backed by some pretty serious studies. What is interesting is that it was discovered by accident when some members of a study were lying and cheating. Back then, the protocol was to take Nal and abstain. 17 opioid users ina monitored group were sneaking opioids while on Nal and as it turned out, they were doing better than thos that abstained. After time, their interest in opiods lessened and they were actually the most successful. That was the birth of the Sinclair Method.

This is a revolution in recovery and like any revolution, it will be met with resistance. A lot of money and power is behind AA and total abstinance. There will be people exclaiming that you will have to pry their Big Book from their cold, dead hands.

[Carolelynn]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

5th day of Naltrexone. Last nite I drank 3 beers and a shot of vodka. One of the beers I drank earlier just to see what it was like. No big deal. The other 2 beers and vodka I did catch a buzz with. Especially when I smoked some weed. I think I will try not to do that when I drink. I think it might taint the results; it certainly accentuates the alcohol.

[rv9]

drinking on Naltrexone (sinclair method)

SpringerRider;523759 wrote: After two or three quick drinks, I pass through that phase and am into something different. It is then when I get the release of endorphines. It is then that I pass the point of no return. I quit feeling drowsy and feel alert and confident, assured and powerful. My wife never gets there. One I am there, I drink to preserve it but simply end up passing out.

I thought you were describing ME for a second. That is precisely the way I drink.