Posted , 13 users are following.
drinking vodka,on 6th vodka,had naltrexone for 5 days,yes half dose,admit stressed for many reasons,but when the heck does it kick in,not working yet,and I so want it to work,would have thought something would have happened to make me want to cease,the opposite,therapist said not to expect miracles,but surely some differences,too early,am I being impatient??
0 likes, 79 replies
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angela26170
Posted
I am really disappointed that Naltrexone not working for me attall,over a fortnight,one day I forgot,and life really stressful just now,but I can't see any significant changes with the medication,glad it has worked for so many of you,but I seem to be immune,just goes to show,I just need to use abstinence,and that alone,oh dear,yes,will be hard,but just maybe,yes,hopefully!! X
vickylou angela26170
Posted
Whilst I've no first hand knowledge of taking naltrexone, I've read many posts, the majority of which are positive.
Howevef there are many people who say they're not working. The consenus being stick with them. Everyone's experience will be different, in the same way we all act differently or have different issues with naltrexone.Have you followed paul and Joanna's replies and instructions to the letter.
I hope you will stick with them and with a bit of luck, things will improve . If you decide they're not for you, have you thought of trying campral
Joanna-SMUKLtd angela26170
Posted
You are very, very, very unlikely to be in the position that naltrexone does not work for you. Though there are people out there that find this (around 10-12% of people) I have had this for less than a handful of people out of the 650+ people that I have supported through this method.
Dr Sinclair himself said that if there was absolutely NO change after around 8 months of full compliance, then that was the time to perhaps look at alternatives, and accept that The Sinclair Method wasn't for them.
Quite simply, you are less than a couple of weeks into the method, since you were taking naltrexone every day in the beginning. (Did you continue taking it every day or did you swap to taking it as per The Sinclair Method? If you are still taking it every day then this is not good). This isn't a magic pill that is going to make everything okay almost overnight.
Taken as per The Sinclair Method this a process that weakens the pathways in your brain again and again until eventually they break down completely and no longer crave alcohol. When taken every day, in clinical testing, naltrexone showed to be not much better than a placebo.
If you have children, remember back to how much persistence it took to teach them that no matter how much they screamed and had temper tantrums in shops because they wanted sweets. You would've been saying 'no' again and again until eventually they figured it out that it was no good wanting sweets - they weren't going to get them.
Most of the changes with TSM happen deep in the recesses of the brain and you can't see or feel them happening for some time. Just because you can't see any changes or feel any changes doesn't mean that they aren't happening.
If you stop taking the naltrexone, than do everything you can to find something that you feel is going to work for you. As Vickylou suggested, request Campral to be taken several times a day to help support you with your abstinence. Remember that drinking on campral is going to stop it being effective, but it can also take some months to unwind the changes in your brain. There is no quick fix out there.
Please just don't leave it to willpower, especially in times of high stress levels. Drinking has changed the pathways in your brain and these need to be weakened otherwise they always persist making your chances of remain abstinent not very good at all, long term.
vickylou angela26170
Posted
Both RHGB and myself have taken campral and (am sure he won't mind me mentioning his name! And it worked for both of us.
However, as Joanna has pointed out, they are not magic pills which stop cravings Immediately. You take two tablets three times a day.. They take a good week to kick in, but taken correctly without drinking, you'll just suddenly think, hey I've not wanted a drink all morning, which then goes into a day and so on
angela26170 Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
Thank you Joanna,you are right,my stress levels are high,so not noticing the difference,but I know a bottle vodka lasts longer now.Last night I had 3 drinks,and felt incredibly sleepy,up early for travelling,and sitting on bed at Guesthouse,I didn't even finish 3rd drink,I am pleased to see I can get too sleepy to drink.Something is happening,and thanks for awareness,and support.x
Nat666 angela26170
Posted
That sounds positive Angela ' feeling sleepy after a couple of drinks' As you know I am doing TSM and I have noticed too feeling sleepy after a couple of drinks especially in the beginning .A bit like some normal drinkers do ! Alcohol has never made me sleepy unless I was p****d out off my head , quite the reverse lol .Keep going hunny , given the dynamics of your life at the moment it might just be a slower process for you.Any way it's only been a couple of weeks hasn't it ? Keep posting 😊 x
Bronize angela26170
Posted
Hi Angela,
I'm one of the few that Naltrexone hasn't worked for, unfortunately. Also, my drinking seemed to get worse on it and the hangovers were killers. The only way it seems to work for me is with abstinence. It does seem to make the cravings lessen but if I drink on Naltrexone - my brains revs up just the same as always and I end up bingeing and then being sick for 3 days. I tried the sinclair method twice and twice my drinking was the same or worse plus the added sickness. I only use it occassionally now if I think I will want a drink - I never drink on it because naltrexone or not - I will not stop. The only way I managed to quit was to go on a strict diet as well - lasted three weeks and then binged. However, the times between drinking are getting further and the amount I'm drinking is getting less. I hope the sinclair method does work for you. My drinking is getting better but not with naltrexone. Also I read The Naked Mind by Anne Grace and Blackout by Sarah Hepola which really helped. Also a website called HelloSundayMorning has been great too. Good luck. I hope the Sinclair method does work for you!!
vickylou Bronize
Posted
'I never drink on,it because naltrexone or not - I will not stop"
"I only use it occasionally now if I think I will want a drink"
?I am a bit puzzled over those two statements,
J
I've never used naltrexone so have no personal experience of it. However I've read numerous posts about it, including those from Paul Turner and Joanne (the experts!)
However, from what I've read about it, the idea is that you take a tablet with food at least an hour before you have a drink. On the days when you are not drinking, you don't take it.
As far as I'm aware it is not an anti craving medication like campral
vickylou
Posted
naltrexone
Joanna-SMUKLtd vickylou
Posted
You are right, Vickylou
Of the small percentage that TSM didn't work for, a few of those were because someone just couldn't tolerate the medication. if someone persists with getting sickness when they do take it, and they have tried all the suggestions (or anti-sickness medications) to try elivate that, then TSM isn't for them.
vickylou Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
Thanks for clearing that up for me Joanna. I thought I'd understood how to take it.
Am I right in thinking that it's not an anti craving drug as such
Joanna-SMUKLtd vickylou
Posted
I think they jury is still out on that one, Vickylou
Some people call it an anti-craving medication, but I tend to say that it is a medication that reduces and then finally extinguishes cravings and compulsions to drink.
vickylou Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
Bronize vickylou
Posted
Yeah, I could have made that clearer. Because naltrexone does not make me stop drinking even with mindfulness and any other way and I WILL drink if I start drinking on Naltrexone or not - when I'm in danger of drinking - I will take a Naltrexone because the thought of being violently ill for the next two days after bingeing while on Naltrexone stops me from even taking that first drink. And like all the RCT studies I have read it actually works for me to lessen the craving to drink. So I don't feel like I'm white knuckling abstinence on the days I have Naltrexone. But trying to do it the Sinclair Method way - uh uhh... did not work.. A lot of the times I drank more than ever before. I take a pill every Friday morning as Friday afternoon is my 'danger zone' and it lessens the twitchy feeling that Friday afternoon usually brings. Also, the thought that I've taken something that leaves me trying to hang both ends over the toilet for days if I binge on it really does stops me dead in my tracks. If I have a couple on it - OK - but I"ve only ever had a couple on it maybe twice in the whole time I have tried the Sinclair Method. I've had better success just stopping via strict dieting. So if it doesn't make you stop drinking it may lessen the cravings at least. Does that make more sense now??