Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

[voetsod]

Hey everyone. I've been sober now for just over two years. I was able to quit by taking Campral. I was a pretty heavy binge drinker. I don't really crave alcohol anymore but do at times miss it. I miss enjoying a cocktail with family and friends every now and then. I've read allot about Naltrexone and am wondering if this could possible help me return to normal drinking. Will Naltrexone work for someone that hasn't drank in two years? I've read about the Sinclair method and am intrigued but am at a different stage in my drinking. Was curious if Naltrexone takes a long time to work even if someone hasn't had a drink in as long a period as I have.

Thanks everyone for your responses!

[Full English]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Hello Voetsod,
Of course everything is your choice, but my advice is don't try what you are thinking here with nal.
I was sober for 2.5 years and then picked up and have been drinking again for another 2.5 years. In my experience, once you start again, it is so hard to stop again. I have tried hundreds of times in the past 2.5 years to stop again and longest period of sobriety in this period has been 2 months.
Over the past 14 months I have been doing The Sinclair Method (TSM) (taking Nal an hour before I drink). While Nal seems to work for some people, and they can return to 'normal' controlled drinking there are many it has not worked for (Just visit The Sinclair Method Site). I am one of those it did not work for.
In some ways I am glad I tried Nal, because if I heard about it sober (like you) I would have been drawn to the idea of gaining control and being able to drink 'normally'. On the other hand I feel like I have wasted the past 14 months taking Nal, hoping that it would work for me. Which it didn't. I drank for 14 months thinking I was going to drink myself better - it has been a nightmare. My units have come down, yes. But I am not drinking safely or have not lost my alchie behaviours - ie sneaky drinking and most of all getting slaughtered on my own, and all the self-loathing that comes with that.
So my biggest regret is picking up again - if you have sobriety stick with it. It is very special and a hard thing to get a grasp on.
Nal may not work for you and you'll end up like me - desperate to stop again, but unable to.
Sad thing is that I would have been 5 years sober this October, and I really wish I could celebrate that.
This week I started Bac for the 2nd time because I am desperate to stop again, and I'm willing to put up with the side effects of Bac if it works.
As I say Voetsod, everything is your choice, and you should do what you want to do. But with what happened to me, In my opinion, I would say don't try your experiment. It is not worth the risk.
I wish so much that I could have what you've got now - 2 years sobriety without cravings.
Hope this helps.
Full English

[eight days a week]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Hi voetsod

Firstly many congratulations on your sobriety!!

I absolutely second what Full English has said (and FE - best of luck with the Bac, it helped me but I could only increase dosage very very slowly )

I'm afraid to say, from painful personal experience, that I think you'd be absolutely mad to try TSM after being successfully sober for so long...

I completely understand the attraction of TSM for you. I had six months of abstinence last year after detox, having nearly killed myself after months of 24/7 drinking. Without the confidence of a decent stretch of time behind me, zero confidence about avoiding drink for the rest of my life, and yet knowing that if I drank again I'd eventually end up back where I was, I looked at TSM and Baclofen again and decided to drink again under TSM.

A long story short - after five months (the book appears to suggest a 'cure' for 78% of people in a shorter time-frame than that) I was getting myself into a VERY dangerous situation again. At that point I added in Baclofen too, and after an extremely slow titration over a number of months I finally got some results.

So, the result was seven months of hell (on and off) and even more of my life wasted.

In all likelihood, your drinking will be back to square one extremely quickly. I know you were a binge drinker (that's how I started out too) and not a 24/7er, but I'm guessing there must have been extremely good reasons for you to quit yourself.

The reasoning behind the TSM approach means that your period of sobriety will make absolutely no difference to the process - it'll be no quicker for you than if you started in the middle of a binge. And whatever the book says, I know lots of people who've been on TSM for up to a year, or even longer, without getting the results they wanted.

Hope that might help, all the best

[Cinders]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

V,

Please read yesterday's thread on AF Daily, in Monthly Abs.

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...6-a-44832.html

Note Determinator's post. He had been sober for 2 1/2 years.

He is going through horrible withdrawals right now. He binged for 3 days.

I am not telling you what to do or not do. Just consider carefully that if you choose the Naltrexone method, you may find yourself drinking at the levels you left off and going up before it works.

The same is with Baclofen. It helps people here and I am working my way up but not there. However, if I had 2 years of sobriety under my belt, I might consider doing the Baclofen but I would not resume drinking until I had gotten past the switch.

Is this worth it to you?

The lure of alcohol is incredible. We so want what we used to get without the pain that we get today.

If you are completely committed to becoming a "normal" drinker, you can consider Naltrexone. That would mean stopping at a predetermined amount and going no further, IF YOU TAKE THE NAL 1 HOUR BEFORE DRINKING. You may have to do this for many months before you can consider it has worked.

Again, is this worth it to you?

However, I must say, do whatever it takes. If you are convinced you want to be a normal drinnker, then choose a path and go down it very carefully. You might get there. You might not.

I just hope you remember the "you might not" means incredible torture and horrible consequences.

Cindi

[gratitude]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

hello voetsod,
I have been sober 3years and have the same thoughts as you. so I know where you are coming from. have you thought of trying baclofen instead of TSM? titrate up to your switch which according to others on this site might be easier since you are sober. this might be a better way to go about it. don't drink while you are doing this experiment. then you don't run the risk of going into full blown binges again and loss of control. then and only then if you still feel the need you can test it out. it seems that a lot of people on bac that have hit their switch lose their interest anyway. a few seem to be able to have a drink and not really care about finishing it. that to me is what a normal person must feel like. just an idea that I might try also. I told myself I would have 5 years sobriety before I tried this. I think in a couple more years you will see this method in rehabs. maybe not the twelve step ones though. we live in a time of transition. good luck and keep posting.

[RV434]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Congrats on being sober for 2 years, that's wonderful

I wouldn't risk it and here's why:

I'll give you my experience - I was sober for about 8 months, used to be a binge drinker and like you, wanted to try some drinking using the Sinclair Method. Pop the NAL 1 hr before drinking and I drank away. Did this for a couple of months. Problem is I received some very bad news; popped the NAL 1 hr. before a real nice binge and drank myself right to the ER. Got copies of my lab reports and I had a BAC of .429 :egad: when they initially drew my blood!! Looked at the labs again today, they ran the test twice.

I'm an idiodic basement drinker so I don't drive around loaded. Where I live, anybody arrested for a DUI with a BAC at that level (over 5x the legal limit) would have made headline news.

Wound up having a seizure 5 days later. Since then, I personally can no longer subscribe to any program that encourages drinking.

Just my experience ...........

[eight days a week]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Some really great advice here from everyone

Cinders;954131 wrote:
That would mean stopping at a predetermined amount and going no further, IF YOU TAKE THE NAL 1 HOUR BEFORE DRINKING. You may have to do this for many months before you can consider it has worked.

This sounds incredibly hard to do, and however committed you are, if you're an 'unstoppable' drinker of any description the greatest determination in the world beforehand won't be much good after a few drinks imho.

Cinders;954131 wrote:

The same is with Baclofen. It helps people here and I am working my way up but not there. However, if I had 2 years of sobriety under my belt, I might consider doing the Baclofen but I would not resume drinking until I had gotten past the switch.

Absolutely! I personally think Baclofen is the only safe choice in this situation. From what I've heard it works best and side effects are least when already abstinent.

[gyco]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

vo is me,just kiddin,i to have stopped for a couple of years,did it on my own just woke up and didnt want to drink anymore,it was hard at 1st,but after a while other then outings it was ok,thats was back in 1984 i beleive,whether you consider yourself an alchoholic or just an addicted person,at least your thinkin about it,im gonna say a couple of things,there is a nack to normal drinking,like lerning anything drinking is the same,no one tot you,and no one will but you,do you remember your last drunk,i do,is it worth it,that is in the eye of the beholder,as far as nal,i went in to the doc and the pharmisist and asked if it would curve the cravings,in my case it didnt,but i wasnt drinking,there is a form here that could relate to what you want to do,i beleive valium would give you a better efect then nal,i wish you well gyco

[voetsod]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Great responses everyone. Thanks so much for your sincere and thoughtful replies. A good does of reality in this thread...Even though it wasn't the responses I was looking for. I've been convincing myself over the last 6 months or so that my brain has become deprogrammed. That my alcoholism towards the end was a result of years and years of abuse. That the chronic abuse changed my brain chemistry over the years (even though I always, well 99% of the time, drank to pass out since I started drinking when I was 13 or 14). For me alcohol was definitely a progressive disease that got worse almost every year. I like to think that the time away from alcohol has healed my brain. That taking campral helped restore my brain to it's pre addicted state. That now I'd be in more control. That also it would be easier to quit now since I was able to do it before (even though it was one helluva bitch). Before the two years my longest quite was maybe two weeks.

So all that plus the promise of a pill and maybe the ability to moderate and drink like a normal person.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

I, myself. wouldn't risk it. My relationship with alcohol toward the end was only bad news getting worse. There was nothing good, redeeming or beneficial that I gave up.
It sounds as tho you were pretty bad off too.
I think we and society tend to glamorize alcohol and give it special power. We theorize that we deserve to be able to drink like non dependent people. I feel I have given up on that possibility. It is actually freeing to not have to worry about it. I remember moderating in the past and always secretly wanting more. I don't want that again either. The Nal supposedly blocks the pleasure and reinforcing qualities of the alcohol. What would be the point of drinking if you didn't enjoy it?
Also, with respect to baclofen, how on earth would you know if you had reached the switch if you had already decided not to drink until you reached it?
No personal experience here on your topic but just a very happy abstinent person. (abstinent on bac since mid january 2010)
Sunny

[gratitude]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

i don't take bac so I can't really comment on the switch from experience. just going on what other members have said about it. it has been said that the SE's are much easier to deal with if you are AF so I inferred that they also hit their switch AF. maybe not? I also thought amiesen was AF when he hit his switch? anyway, the switch has been described by members as complete indifference to alcohol. I have never had this feeling especially in a group setting where everyone else is drinking and I'm not. I'm pretty sure if I just didn't feel like drinking that would be so foreign to me I would recognize it as the switch. again, I could be way off base. maybe others who have reached their switch could answer this question posed by sunny. how would you know if you hit your switch if you are not drinking? thanks. gratitude

[PhoenixRising]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

gratitude;955519 wrote: how would you know if you hit your switch if you are not drinking? thanks. gratitude

I drank right up to the switch.

What happens is as you near the switch, you start drinking and you aren't gulping your drinks (which is new) and then you just sort of feel "eh" after about 2 or 3 (also new), and eventually the drinking just sputters out (never happened before). You begin to think "I'd rather have some nice hot tea" or some such (absolutely unprecedented!). It took about a week for me to go from full speed ahead to indifference.

It's really that amazing. I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me. It's sort of gradual, not Screeeech..BOOM. Y'know?

I still have thought like "Gee it would be nice to be buzzed", then it sort of just fades away after I remember how shitty it makes me feel.

Oh and after all that, I just read your post again and you said how would you know if you hit your switch if you were NOT drinking.
See, I got all excited and typed before I digested your post.

[doramider7]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

eight days a week;954776 wrote: Some really great advice here from everyone



This sounds incredibly hard to do, and however committed you are, if you're an 'unstoppable' drinker of any description the greatest determination in the world beforehand won't be much good after a few drinks imho.



Absolutely! I personally think Baclofen is the only safe choice in this situation. From what I've heard it works best and side effects are least when already abstinent.

vo is me,just kiddin,i to have stopped for a couple of years,did it on my own just woke up and didnt want to drink anymore,it was hard at 1st,but after a while other then outings it was ok,thats was back in 1984 i beleive,whether you consider yourself an alchoholic or just an addicted person,at least your thinkin about it,im gonna say a couple of things,there is a nack to normal drinking,like lerning anything drinking is the same,no one tot you,and no one will but you,do you remember your last drunk,i do,is it worth it,that is in the eye of the beholder,as far as nal,i went in to the doc and the pharmisist and asked if it would curve the cravings,in my case it didnt,but i wasnt drinking,there is a form here that could relate to what you want to do,i beleive valium would give you a better efect then nal,i wish you well gyco

[goingsobermum]

Sober for two years. Thinking of drinking again and taking Naltrexone

Well done on your 2 years.
In Patrick Holfords book 'how to quit without feeling s**t'. He talks about helping people who had quit up to 20 years before with nutritional supplements and aminos. These were people who still missed drinking untill they used his methods to repair the brain chemistry.
There is also the stimulant/relaxant trap. We drink caffeine all day to keep us going and need something to relax in the evening.
Please try and find ways of feeling better without a drink rather than trying to drink.