felt horrible on NAL! Any feedback greatly appreciated

[Buffy40]

Hi everyone. Took my first NAL last night. I felt horrible! Only took 25 mg too. Got very dizzy, bad headache, nausea! My blood pressure shot up bad too! I forced myself to have 2 very small glasses of wine, just so i didn't go through bad withdrawl too, but they were not enjoyable at all. I was happy about that, but I can not live the way I was last night. It was just awful. Then when I woke up this morning, I felt so hung over it was unbelievable. Just starting to feel better now and its early afternoon. I know most people take 50 mg. I think I would die if I took that much. My pulse rate went up to 110 and my blood pressure to 153/117! (I have a machine) Has this happened to anyone else? I want to take only 10 mg tonight, but I am scared to. Sure know I will be able to quit drinking on this, smoking too cause I couldn't stand to even smoke. Does anyone know if this is only temporary? I truely hope so, cause if I didn't have this horrible reaction, I know this drug will work for me.

[hoping4better]

felt horrible on NAL! Any feedback greatly appreciated

Hi Buffy, most people have side effects when they first start nal. I was nauseated the first couple days. The good news is that the side effects usually last a week, at best. I don't know about the high blood pressure, you might want to look that up online or ask your dr. The thing is to keep taking the nal, I promise the side effects will go away quickly! Good luck.

[eight days a week]

felt horrible on NAL! Any feedback greatly appreciated

Hey Buffy

I had horrendous side effects from Nal. Different from yours, but pretty scary in their own right. The main ones lasted a couple of days. I started off on 25mg for a few days, then I just took the plunge one day (even though I really didn't want to take the Nal that day - in fact I was almost too scared to) and took the whole 50mg. I was pleasantly surprised (to say the least!) that there were no more SEs from 50mg than 25mg, and within a week I didn't notice any

That said, the blood pressure thing would worry me a bit (I'm a natural born worrier, and also suffer from GAD). Are you a worrier too? Could it be that the fear sent your BP and pulse up?

If I were you you I'd try 12.5mg for a few days and see how you go. The good news is that I've heard of no-one (among hundreds) that the SEs didn't stop for, and also that those who do have the SEs strongly at the start seem to get the best results from this med.

All the best, please keep us up-to-date with how things are

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[Buffy40]

felt horrible on NAL! Any feedback greatly appreciated

Hi Hoping and 8 days. Thanks so much for your responses. I went home last night scared to take another Nal. I hadn't heard anything from anyone at the time and I can tell you I was not too sure if I was going to continue. But I did! I only took 12.5 mg. I definitely had the same sort of feeling, from the med. I could tell it was doing something to block my need for wine, but I didn't get the same SE. I went for a nice long walk with my son to the park and didn't even have a drink until 10pm. Even at that, I sipped it slowly and only finished 1/2 a glass....normally I would be through a litre by now! The thing I find amazing too is that Nal is also making me crave cigarettes less! I only smoked 2 all night! I don't want to completely quit at this moment because I want to get my drinking under control first and then worry about the smokes. But I am just amazed at how well this med is working. I did have a slight hangover feeling this morning.......but hey....I didn't have that gross wine after taste in my mouth and a throbbing head.......and I remembered my whole evening. The best part about this is I made a couple very important choices on my own last night. I could have not taken the med out of fear....but I did. I could have started to drink an hour after...but I didn't. I also had a horrible night with my son after we got back from the park. Long story, but this would have normally made me want to drink so bad to get through it. But I didn't. It all worked out in the end and we had a great bonding moment and I think last night is the starting point of some real changes for me. I am so proud of myself. I almost didn't even pour that drink last night after my son went to bed. I told myself to only because I am still trying to get my body weaned off of the AL, but to my surprise the withdrawl has not been too bad....a little edgy but I think the med is making me a bit calmer which is really helping. 8 days....I have never been diagnosed with GAD, but I am sure I probally have had it my whole life (eating disorder and all). I have never been put on meds for it, but recently I started taking adivan once in a while to calm me. For some reason I have started to suffer bad anxiety at times. I have even gone into a few panick attacks I think. I think the AL has started to take a toll on my nervous system and how I relate to stressors! My body has at times felt shaky and then goes a little out of control.......horrible feeling! Of course to make it go away......I drink! I have read that AL withdrawl can spike your BP so I am trying to be real careful. 25mg Nal made me so sick and spiked it but last night I was fine. I am going to take your advise 8 days.......I am going to try 12.5mg the next 2 days and then maybe try increasing it to 25mg on the weekend. Good to hear the SE go away and even better to know that the people who get bad SE seem to do good on Nal. I am going to sit down and make a plan soon, but for now I am so happy with how I am feeling! Inspired and hopeful! If I can keep going like this.......I see my first AF day soon ahead! First ....to get through the weekend. I had to take a gravol the last 2 nights to put me to sleep. Worked ok but still tossed and turned. I am going to work this into my plan and do some helpful reading on this forum to see what else people are using to help with this.
Thanks again guys and hoping you have a wonderful day......I'm actually looking forward to going home today......not for AL for a change! But to take another med to see how I do!:thanks:

[eight days a week]

felt horrible on NAL! Any feedback greatly appreciated

Buffy, I'm so glad that you had a positive experience yesterday, and things went so very well (all things considered, I don't think they could have gone any better!!)

I've seen quite a lot of anecdotal evidence that the stronger your initial reaction to Nal, the more likely you are to have success on it, so please always bear that in mind as you slowly increase your dose

Please do be prepared, though, that your drinking will most likely eventually resume to your previous levels, or even higher. This is because your mind will be chasing that rush that you once had from AL, but that you no longer get. Don't get discouraged, it's part of the process! The very fact you had such a strong reaction is great news indeed (although I know it doesn't feel like it at the time!) and means this med will have a significant effect for you, imho. This is a longer-term 'cure' (perhaps 6 months plus, although a few people see significant improvement far quicker) so please stick with it, and keep us posted on your progress.

All the best!

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