nalmefene for 9 days now and no change to desire to drink.
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hi everyone
This is a long post as its my first ever. I’m looking for some advice and information from anyone who has been in my position. Apart from short breaks I have drunk alcohol every evening of my life for over 35 years now and I recently decided that it is time to tackle it. I drink about two bottles of wine a night, and sometimes a couple of Gin and tonics etc. I drink on my own while making dinner and don’t really then stop. This is of course way over the suggested limit, and though I don’t get hangovers, I do become argumentative and unreasonable quite soon after starting drinking, in fact after about three glasses of wine. I almost always end up asleep on the settee and then going to bed much later on and not remembering what happened after a certain amount. I’m fed up with myself and hearing my husband tell me we have discussed something I’ve forgotten, or knowing we have had an argument, probably started by me but not remembering it. I’ve lost count of the number of parties and events I’ve been physically present at but too drunk to remember and we don’t invite people over as I know I will drink too much and be embarrassing. I have a great job, home, husband and stepchildren and I want to sort this out while that is still the case. When I’ve stopped for a few days deliberately in the past I have no physical withdrawal symptoms but I did get bored! I can’t at the moment see myself going teetotal though that is probably the end plan. After reading a lot about stopping alcohol and potential relapses and withdrawal if you do it too fast etc I have decided to cut down over four to six months with the aim of being under 14 units a week by Christmas. I don’t want my doctor or employer to know about this and got hold of nalmefene on line.I had read about all the side effects of nalmefene and to be honest don’t like the idea of meds but do like the idea of breaking the pattern and desire to drink too much. I did experience sleeplessness, night sweats, heart palpitations in the first three days but persevered and now on day 9 these are all reduced. I’ve been drinking mindfully, I do wait the full two hours before drinking, and I’ve found the effects are reduced if I eat and drink quite a lot of water. I’ve read here that sometimes you can start increasing consumption when taking nalmefene and that it can take up to four months to notice a lessening of wanting to drink. Well I am not drinking more, but I am drinking the same, and feeling the effect even more. I’m also a bit spaced out til about 11am. I’m a bit worried I will end up drinking and also taking nalmefene every day so adding to the problem (and expense!). Has anyone charted their journey and found this and come out the other end and if so when and how did you start noticing you wanted to drink less? Looking back my father was an alcoholic, and his brother committed suicide being depressed and an alcoholic too so its always been in my life. My husband is a normal drinker as are many of my friends
0 likes, 40 replies
hayley1111
Posted
Hi again everyone, Hayley here posting against my original post I hope (I'm new to this as you can tell) - first of all thanks for all of your help on here.
I’m now on day 20 of Nalmefene, with a second madly expensive prescription – (have not told anyone at home or doctor about this) – I can’t believe it is that long! I have continued to drink every day and am following the guidelines, always waiting two hours before drinking etc. The only side effects I’m still feeling are a pain in my stomach when I wake up in the morning and still feel a bit spacey during the day which does worry me a bit but I’m going to give this my all for the full six months. So, no dramatic change in me but I’m drinking less units a night than I was but seem to be affected more, and more quickly. This is partly because I’m being very mindful about what I’m doing as suggested and recognising patterns of behaviour – we have house guests at the moment and I am always the first to suggest a glass of wine /fizz etc, I drink faster than everyone else, I top up more often and I tend not to eat when I’m drinking. I also carry on after everyone else has moved on to coffee which I’ve mentioned before, and sometimes when everyone has gone to bed!I intend to chart my journey over the next 6 months as my aim is to be an occasional drinker under the normal limits by Christmas. There are so many things in my diary in that period that traditionally involve a lot of alcohol so there will be some challenges along the way and achieving this would be a bit of a miracle. Ultimately, I know that I am a person who probably should abstain altogether. I’m also continuing to try some things suggested on here – having 15 minute breaks, going to a different room I don’t normally drink in, having water as every third drink, reading a good book, walking the dog a different route
sarah1628 hayley1111
Posted
Hi Hayley
I felt like I could have written that except for me it's vodka. I have very few nights when I don't drink and if I fall asleep early and wake up later in the night, I pour myself another one! It's time to stop for me but I can't do it cold turkey. I'm going to taper since I experience withdrawal symptoms. I'm worried about what it's doing to my health, both inside and out. Like you, there is alcoholism in my family so it's even more important that I stop. What I find so strange is that my whole life I was never a big drinker (I'm 48) until about the last 4-5 years. Anyway, thanks for posting and best of luck to you.
ADEfree sarah1628
Posted
Sarah, you might look into The Sinclair Method. It starts slowly moving the addiction process in reverse. Did it myself and over 6 months I dropped back from over 300 drinks per month to less than 5% of that, where I've been since August. No "cold turkey", your doc will tell you how to proceed, but most are able to start from their current drinking levels and simply take the medication prior to their first drink of the day.
sue74716 ADEfree
Posted
Hi adefree over that six months did you gradually drink less each week, have alcohol free days, or some other way? It's been nearly a month for me now and I'm still drinking a bottle of wine a night on selincro. I haven't noticed any desire to drink less or not to want the second or third glass etc. I suspect it's become such a habit it's hard to break. What I have noticed is waking with a headache and stomach pains and fuzziness, having not had a hangover in 10 years due to tolerance levels I can only assume this is a side effect of selincro. This in itself is making me consider trying a no alcohol evening...I was hoping for the experience lots of others have had of feeling no desire to drink but you've given me hope that it did take six months, I'm prepared to give it that amount of time, it's like losing weight in my mind, you can't expect to drop what took years to put on in a month or two. Hmm just had a friend suggest Friday cocktails tonight ... in an ideal world I'd love to say yes and go and have two or three like everyone else then stop while a tiny bit merry but my past pattern would be to have wine before I go, not eat til later and carry on when I get home, probably black out and not remember the last part of the evening.
sue74716 sarah1628
Posted
Hi Sarah Hayley here. What kind of withdrawal symptoms do you get? And why vodks just out of interest? I do drink that when I'm with other people and the sad reason is that this is to hide how much I'm drinking, I've got friends who only drink line and soda or Diet Coke so when i go to the bar I appear to have the same but put a double in it. I also do this at home before we open wine and people assume it's just a Diet Coke. I've even been known to take a laced bottle of coke or flavoured water to events where I know there won't be alcohol stupid isn't it. And yes health worries are my main concern my blood tests did suggest a high bilirubin count which is alcohol related I know, but interestingly no one has ever asked me about alcohol consumption at and medical or doctor visit. Let us know how you get on
sue74716
Posted
I don't know why I come up as Hayley sometimes and sue others but I'm the same person!!!
sarah1628 ADEfree
Posted
jude28682 hayley1111
Posted
Hi Hayley, how's it going now? I have also bought a packet of nalmefene which I have had for a week now, without taking one! I'm going to give it a go tonight for the first time. Hope you are doing OK. Glad I read this thread because I guess I was rather naievly expecting to take one tonight and then to not fancy a drink at all. We shall see...
Nat666 jude28682
Posted
Hi Jude
A huge step in the right direction tonight for you , good on you ! Good luck starting TSM and let us know how your first time taking nalmefene goes 😊