New to Selincro....
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi
I am your classic binger, 3-4 days,usually week days, totally off it, then Thursday night, Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday.....binge. Try to keep off it on Sunday as I have work on Monday. If I have no real need to stop I don't or more importantly I can't, I just keep going.
I have been a heavy drinker for over 40 years, but the lack of self control when I start drinking is getting a bit concerning. I am also suffering the effects more easily and for longer......age.
So I have purchased some Selincro, after pondering for many months, and stalking this forum.
I got the pills on Tuesday and although I have no intention of Drinking before Friday, I had read it was a good idea to take them prior to any planned drinking so as to hopefully get over the side effects before ruining your day out. Tonight will be my 3rd pill on 3rd non drinking day.
I have suffered from the nausea, insomnia, and a little lightheadedness, but not really too bad, like a normal Sunday to me....... but I am happy to persevere as I want things to change.
What I am really in need of now is some practical advice.
I will set a couple of scenarios.....
I plan to go out Thursday evening at 8pm, so I take a pill at 6pm
However because I only work half day Friday I will be down the pub at 1pm Friday so I need to take nother pill 11am. This is only 17 hours from the last one.......Is this a problem or am I being over cautious?
I am going on a business trip, will have a drink at the airport 12 noon so I take a pill at 10am, I only have a couple at the airport, then after a gap of about 30-60 minutes another one or two on the plane, then after maybe 2 hours I am in the hotel with a free evening then I start again.... I must admit having typed this out I think I can answer my own question.......if the pills work properly I might not want much or any more.......I was going to ask could the pill cope with this type of drinking.
I think I will stop now as my head is spinning, trying to fathom out what I am getting concerned about, it is all very new to me. But Im a gald I have taken the first step by posting something.
Thanks for any help.
0 likes, 9 replies
Bigbee sil99
Posted
You will hopefully received other replies from those more informed than my self.I tried to take Selincro but the side effects were like I was close to death and my insides coming out from top and bottom.I do know that you should not take tablets if you do not intend to drink..
sil99 Bigbee
Posted
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Sorry Selinco didn't work for you, any alternatives for you?
I thought I read on this forum that intially take a few days of the pills to get used to them..........maybe I got it wrong.
Bigbee sil99
Posted
I on the old will of power at the moment! Search for Selincro on these forums,there's plenty of threads on it
Bigbee sil99
Posted
Joanna-SMUKLtd sil99
Posted
I know you are getting used to the tablets but remember that you should always have at least one drink when you take a tablet. Do not take a tablet on any days that you are not drinking.
With you saying you purchased them, I am assuming you did not get them from your doctor? There should be a code that came with them to enable you to access the manufacturers 'reduceyourdrinking' website. This is a great tool that helps in many ways so i would encourage you to take advantage of it.
Are you absolutely happy that you understand the science of what you are trying to do? I have found that the better the foundation of understanding before you begin, the smoother the transition to controlled drinking and then abstinence later, if that should be your wish.
Do bear in mind that if you take the tablet, and then go out and mindlessly throw the drink down you as you used to, this will make things harder for you. It isn't a magic pill and works best if you work with it. By that, I mean mindfully drinking your first drink or two slowly, allowing yourself to recognise that you aren't getting that special something from it (the endorphin rush). By doing this it enables you to recognise that drink isn't doing what it did and this allows you to make better choices about your consumption.
Think of an electric circuit where the switch is flicked and the current goes around the circuit and lights a bulb. When we drink (flick the switch) we effectively feed that circuit and compulsively drink. The bulb lights and we have a huge party going on in our brains! Selincro cuts the wire of the circuit so that the circuit cannot complete. If we drink too much, we will still get drunk and all the rest, but with the wire cut it enables us to no longer feel that compulsion.
Over repeated drinking sessions on the medication, our brain eventually unlearns the behaviour that has been reinforced over a long time. Each time we crave, we take the tablet...wait... and then drink, effectively disappointing our brain as it no longer gets the reward that it has previously learned that it will receive. Cravings become less and drink becomes less of a focus for us.
On top of that, it is useful to do good behaviours that release endorphins on the days you don't drink. That will help give a push/pull effect away from the drinking (which is no longer rewarding) to other good behaviours that you are rewarded from.
To answer your scenarios.... practical experience has told us that waiting 2 hours is always the best to do if you can, and that you have a 'window' of drinking of 11 hours. So, in effect, after waiting the two hours, you have 8-9 hours of availability to drink (thanks for that Paul Turner!).
Selincro was tested to much higher dosage than the 18mg tablets, up to 80mgs I believe, and the ideal dosage for effectiveness was determined to be the 18mgs.
I am not medically trained so cannot suggest anything other than the prescribing information on the leaflet that came with the tablets, however from the above information I think you can safely make your own decision on your first scenario.
Based on that 'window' of drinking, I hope that helps your peace of mind with your second scenario :-)
There are a number of people on this website how are taking this medication, so scroll down the posts or search for Selincro/nalmefene and you should also be able to get some useful information from the experience of others.
If you need any support or help, please feel free to contact me. You can either PM me on here and we can exchange numbers then chat on the phone (assuming you are in the UK) or you can contact me through my website which gives on great information on this method and has my own recovery journey on there. You will need to google C Three Europe as I cannot put the link on here.
All the best for now,
Joanna
C3 Europe.
PaulJTurner1964 Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
The only thing I would add is that, with the clients we have used The Sinclair Method on, so far, every single one who has been well-organised (not allowing any drinks to slip through when they are not protected by a pill) has seen their drinking reduce to healthy levels and a few of these have simply stopped drinking altogether and are getting no cravings and no desire to drink at all.
sil99 Joanna-SMUKLtd
Posted
Thak you for your reply, I do have access to the on line support supplied by the drug manufacturer, but unfortunately I couldnt access the audio so I will have to look at it over the week end.
I also looked briefly at your web site, I will tak a proper look, again over the weekend.
Thank you for your offer of help, I will certainly take you up on that if needed.
sil99 PaulJTurner1964
Posted
I will get organised, once the excitement of actually having the pills subsides......I will do everything required of me to make this work.
Looking at some of the sites and this forum in particular I am astounded by the support there appears to be, for what I thought was a very personal, private and unique problem.
Simply joining in on this forum and sharing with others is somewhat therapeutic in itself.
sil99
Posted
Once I realised you were suppoe to drink if you took a pill, on the Thursday I took one and had a couple of cans of cider, no real desire to carry on.
Bad night sleeping....Fri Sat and Sun took pills and drank, although more than I should but a lot less than normal.
Mon Tues Wed and today Thurs on a business trip, needless to say drinking was involved and I will be taking a pill before going to the airport as I know I will be drinking at the airport and on the plane.
All in all I have been pleased with the slowing down in my drinking, but I am aware of the Honeymoon syndrome.
I am looking forward to getting back to my settled routine, I dont travel that often anymore which allows me to mostly abstain when going into work on weekdays, and only drinking (binging) Fri and Sat.
I have started with the online self help system suggested by the company who sold me the drugs, I am sure I will get more out of it when I get back home, I am also very interested to explore the C3 Europe web site.
All I can say is so far so good.