Naltrexone Works!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Naltrexone Works!

Sorry about the hiccup ( pun intended) UKblonde. Glad you're keeping the faith and keeping at it!

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

Right need to drag this up the board again.

It's still working and I'm still ok.

How do I know this?

Tonight, feeling tired, hungry etc decided I was going to eat junk and drink wine. I had taken my nal mid-afternoon just in case since I had an idea I'd get an 'urge'. Poured a glass of white wine and cut open some nice cheese. I was ready. Took a mouthfull from the glass.

Hallelujah it did not do a thing to me.......no sireee. Tried another sip just incase. Nope just tasted 'flat'. No buzz, nowt. Did munch on the chocolate but I was hungry and low on energy.

No further cravings.

Even back when I binged once a week, if I ever had a drink on other days that would run into another bender (which is why I tried hard not to drink on other days).

Conclusion is that under normal circumstances the link is broken, it's just when odd situations come up that haven't come up yet whilst using Nal that need to be dis-something or othered.

I think I'm blathering, but I know what I mean.

Goal for this week is;

Get through the week with as many AF days as I can
Drink when I want and don't drink when I don't want
Keep taking 50mg Nal at least 1 hour before drinking
Be aware of odd moments of stress and new triggers

[SlipperyPete]

Naltrexone Works!

Blonde - I don't really have anything to say besides I'm glad you're finding results, and it's cool to see a successful thread about another med besides bac, so people know there's options out there. Anyways, I gotta go pop my handful of pills!

[bleep]

Naltrexone Works!

Hey UK. Your "binge" sounds similar to what I do every now again. I'm not entirely sure why I do them, habit maybe? The desire is gone though, so now it's a question of eliminating these crappy habits.

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

Naltrexone Prescribed!

Yes as the title says, today as the result of my efforts which started with a private prescription and ending with an appointment with the drugs and alcohol recovery team Psychiatrist, I now have an NHS prescription for Naltrexone. This is off-label and my GP is going to have to look at the guidelines carefully, to see how long she can prescribe this for me. At the moment it's on a monthly basis, for up to 6 months. It's not a repeat prescription too - I have to see the GP in person every month to obtain my next one. It will however make things a bit easier, and a lot cheaper.

I am very relieved, but considering the headlines a month or so ago, regards the cost to the NHS of alcohol problems then the process I've just been through shouldn't be necessary!

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

Time for another post.

Had another 'spike' last night. I've basically not drunk since my last one(apart from 1 glass of wine Sunday which I poured away after 2 mouthfuls), and most of the time without any problems. I was disappointed when I poured a glass of wine last night and started to drink more and more. I was wondering if I'd be calling a taxi and going off to the supermarket at midnight. As it was I did get to an end point, where I actually poured the last glass I poured away. I'd had enough and went to bed early. Woke feeling a bit down but then realised I'd only actually drunk 1 bottle of wine, which represents just 8.6 units - and I did get to a stopping point.

So I'm thinking this is just something I'm going through, and as advised by another member on here I'm just going to carry on taking the Nal, drinking when I see fit and not drinking when I don't want to. My belief is that these spikes will become less and less, which suits me just fine!

[KatieSmiles]

Naltrexone Works!

Uk, I think the spikes are part of the process and will happen less frequently as time goes on.

[spuddleduck]

Naltrexone Works!

thanks for all the updates uk. are you still just taking nal when you are going to drink or do you take it everyday just in case.

[spacebebe01]

Naltrexone Works!

Hi UK did you get nal from online chemists or fromdr chick or dr whatshisname in london

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

spacebebe01;1148059 wrote: Hi UK did you get nal from online chemists or fromdr chick or dr whatshisname in london

Spacebebe

I have got it from all three. Firstly I bought some online from Goldpharma thinking I might give it a go, then I went to see Dr Chick when I was struggling with hi-dose bac. He said he didn't think Baclofen was for me and mentioned Naltrexone. I said I was very interested, so he said he would write me a private prescription, and he sent me another prescription when I ran out. I just took the private prescription to the local pharmacy who dispensed it no problems - costs about ?1 per tablet. I then went to my GP and asked her to prescribe, she needed me to see the Drugs & Alcohol team for an assessment/approval. She is now prescribing to me on the NHS. I have bought some more online because I was worried about running out.

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

spuddleduck;1148043 wrote: thanks for all the updates uk. are you still just taking nal when you are going to drink or do you take it everyday just in case.

Spuds

A mixture of both, but I NEVER drink without having taken it. Basically if I know I'm having a bad day, or feel a bit 'odd' I take the Nal just in case. I have an idea Nal has a stabilising effect on my moods, plus I know being 'all-over the place' can be an indicator I may drink. I'm probably taking nal 4-5 days a week and currently only drinking 2 or 3 times. At the moment I prefer being abstenant even though I know drinking is 'allowed' with TSM.

[bleep]

Naltrexone Works!

"Ukblonde has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space."

If you prefer being abstinent, do you think you'll stop? It seems counter-intuitive to force drinks down, but I'm not entirely familiar with TSM?

[SlipperyPete]

Naltrexone Works!

Ukblonde;1148070 wrote: I have an idea Nal has a stabilising effect on my moods,

Could the Nal have a calming effect in the way that Antabuse does, in that once you take it, you know you won't get any pleasure out of drinking? (Or in the case of Antabuse, you can't drink)

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

[QUOTE=bleep;1148248]"Ukblonde has exceeded their stored private messages quota and can not accept further messages until they clear some space."

If you prefer being abstinent, do you think you'll stop? It seems counter-intuitive to force drinks down, but I'm not entirely familiar with TSM?[/QUOTE

Ooops.

I think I will do eventually. TSM is simple:

Drink when feel you want to, just take the pill 1 hour before you do so. By the way that doesn't give you licence to go off and get spannered every day, it simply means drink as you usually would.

That's it. Although I feel there is an element of mental effort too, I have a good idea I could drink right through the Nal effect if I wanted to, thing is I don't want to. At first I used the memories of how ill and fed up I was, now I feel it's more TSM working that's putting me off the whole idea.

[Guest]

Naltrexone Works!

SlipperyPete;1148258 wrote: Could the Nal have a calming effect in the way that Antabuse does, in that once you take it, you know you won't get any pleasure out of drinking? (Or in the case of Antabuse, you can't drink)

Nal blocks endorphins and I think I'm an endorphin junkie so figure I might be less up and down with Nal. My high from exercise and other things I enjoy such as music etc hasn't been affected though.

I will admit to using a little bit of baclofen when I'm feeling edgy, just 10mg and it does stop me from being jittery and hyper (this is often a pre-empt to drinking).