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Took a break from Nalmefene!!

Posted , 4 users are following.

alison77260
alison77260

After boasting about my success with Nalmefene and reducing my drinking from 2 strong bottles of red wine a night to light social drinking and often having 7 AF days I got over confident. I stopped taking it and I drank....and I took codiene for knee pain. I drank far to much again and I was back to drinking everyday. I did switch my drink to rose wine and G&T....well it was hot and that is rare in London.

Decided to get back on the Nalmefene. Wham. I took it and wandered of to do some grocery shopping. Staggered home. Went to bed. Needed to be held by my partner. Hot and cold and felt sick. Last codiene was 5 days before this. Felt better and had a few drinks but couldn't eat much. Thew up in night.

Saturday. Took the pill about 5pm and went to an art show. All ok. Large glass of rose at 9 30pm. Got some pizza on way home and threw that up!

Sunday. Took pill at 4pm. Very little side effects except feeling sick. Ate some food at 8pm and not sick. Drank 2 Large glasses rose but didn't finish the second one.

Question is am I back on track?? I don't want to drink...but it is 12 30pm and I have just done a workout! Am I safe to go back to only taking Nalmefene when I feel the urge to drink??

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Joanna-SMUKLtd
    Joanna-SMUKLtd alison77260

    Posted

    Doctors are guided not to give nalmefene to patients unless they have been opioid-free for 7-10 days, so I would imagine that you suffered what is basically an opiate withdrawal situation as the nalmefene pushed the last of the opiates away from the opioid receptors in your brain.  (FYI, nalmefene's sister medication is naloxone, which is used to bring people out of opioid overdose.  The action of pushing the opiates away from the opioid receptors is the very thing that actually saves the live of someone who has taken an overdose.)

    I would suggest you wait the required 7-10 days and then restart the nalmefene as before, that is 1-2 hours prior to drinking. 

    • alison77260
      alison77260 Joanna-SMUKLtd

      Posted

      Wow. No wonder it felt different from last time. I had zero withdrawal symptoms when I stopped taking codiene about 5 years ago following a total knee replacement and my GP was amazed....same thing 3 years ago when the other knee was replaced. The different between a natural and a forced withdrawal is clearly different for me.

      Now I can focus on being TSM compliant.

      Thank you.

  • Robin2015
    Robin2015 alison77260

    Posted

    Hi Alison, vow! Great replies from Joanna and much more detsils than i could ever give. This shows how GREAT this forum is! I never took any medicine when I stopped and cannot give advice on medication. You should be ok now and seem to be on track 😁

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