Reading others’ posts has gotten me concerned. Went to a doctor yesterday after mustering up the courage to be honest about my drinking habits so that I can take the next steps to get sober. The whole conversation was surrounding my current alcohol use and I got an abdominal ultrasound scheduled for next week. I was also prescribed losartan with the note that high blood pressure was likely alcohol related.The doctor also offered a naltrexone prescription and has given me time to think about it.

I’ve been seeing lots of people post about issues with life insurance policies after being prescribed naltrexone, but I don’t think that I’m really a good candidate for life insurance (not married and likely won’t ever be, no kids, no close family I’d be leaving high and dry); HOWEVER, I’m curious if this doctor visit will have an impact on general health insurance after retirement… I’m gainfully employed now and have insurance through work, but once I retire, then what?

Even if I don’t get the naltrexone prescription, will the fact that I was honest about my problem drinking bite me in the future? AUD is most certainly in my medical notes now, and BP meds are “likely associated with alcohol use.” Not only that, but I WANT to try naltrexone because I want to look out for my health now and this seems like a very helpful medication.

I’ve looked up alcohol exclusion laws, and some stares have repealed those laws so that alcohol cannot be considered in certain circumstances, but I’m not well versed enough to know whether that applies to people seeking post-retirement healthcare.

For reference, I’m 32 and in CO. I obviously have a ways to go before retirement but since the issue regarding my decision to try nal (or not) is dangling over my head now, I thought it prudent to ask.

Final thought… would it be worth talking to the doctor about this or would I just shoot myself in the foot doing that?

Thank you in advance. Happy to add more info or clarify/answer any questions.

I’ve been on nal daily for several weeks now as I’m a daily drinker. At first, I didn’t notice any decrease in love for drinking nor desire. I’m still drinking daily but I will say that I’ve begun to notice things about drinking that I either buried or pushed past before. Like for example, triggering emotions. I would have just acted on them. Don’t get me wrong I’m still drinking in them but somehow feel less “compelled” by them. I went on a walk w my dog and didn’t even take a drink w me. I would have never done that before. Like there’s a part of my brain that’s not in overdrive anymore. God I hope this continues. Anyway just wanted to post in case anyone was on the fence about starting daily naltrexone. I thought it would be unpleasant/no pleasure in things but it’s actually not at all

Hi guys, I've been on and off naltrexone for 5 years and on tirzepatide for 2 years. Naltrexone stopped me from drinking every day and I was able to make a lot of progress with curbing my drinking. I've now been on tirzepatide for 2 years and have noticed it also takes away the "fun" aspect of drinking. This year has been incredibly challenging so I have been drinking more. I wonder if I'm having some sort of extinguishing burst with drinking because I have been giving in a lot more lately. Im concerned my nal isn't as effective but I think it's just different with tirz and the slow digestion. What has been the experience for you? I am in therapy and I'm trying to utilize all my old tools to help me get stable again but this is rough.

I love and hate Naltrexone. Nal messes with my head. Simple daily decisions are taking me forever.

I have been taking it since April. I am drinking 1-3 beers a day at most. A huge step for me. I don't care and get no satisfaction from drinking. At this point I think my body is normalizing to not having alcohol, in massive amounts, coursing through my veins.

So, I've been taking 50 and want to cut down to 25. My desire is to clear my head.

Does anyone have experience cutting back on Nal, and what changes, if any, did you find?

Thanks!

I've read Vivotrol is expensive but also that it can be more effective than Nal pills. Is there an "ideal protocol" for TSM? If so, would it be vivitrol plus Nal pills taken before drinking? (i.e. Vivotrol + TSM) In other words, if I'm serious about trying this, is it worth going to my doctor and asking for a prescription to both?

I have no shame in going to my primary care and admitting I drink too much. I want to get to where I can be at home and stop with half bottle of wine still in the bottle. I want to be able to have a drink at a corporate event and not go home and finish the job with a stiff pour of Tequila.

I deeply appreciate this community.

I'm finally having some success without massive med side effects. Down 40%, more to come. EDIT: Not nalt (yet) but Mounjaro a GLP-1 modifier.

I have a mix of AF, reduced & same AUD max nights. This forum says that's normal. I'd love to hear support around that.

I'm definitely affected by triggers. Generally stress.

Thing is, work life is incredibly stressful until the new year. Like make or break time. No middle ground. It should be super successful, but you never know. I meditate, hit the gym, etc., but equally I need some stress to perform.

Am I being realistic that booze may remain a coping tool until this resolves? I.e. that once this resolves, I should see a big improvement in booze?

Assuming meds & supports remain in place.

Just found this sub and am SUPER excited to share some experiences i have with how i’ve helped quite down the booze cravings. Gabapentin and naltrexone didn’t work. I still take gabapentin but for something else.

I was taking kratom long term and wanted off and used a two week rapid suboxone taper to get off and it worked great. Except now i’m drinking and not taking kratom so shit. side note my dad died of liver failure years ago and he couldn’t stay sober for the life literally of him. In his last years he tried methadone for drinking craving and it worked amazing but poor dude kicked it. Anyway i ended up in a psych ward and was offered suboxone because i have started taking a small amount of kratom a day (2gram) but if i stopped i would get full wd or a version of it anyway i said yes for on 4 mg and after 6 months was on 16mg a day and i had completely stopped drinking.

Thought i was good to go got on sublacade and after my third shot i jumped and after about 5 months (no wd) but i was drinking all day again and i got two dui s in two weeks (one is 4th degree and the other was dropped)

But i decided i needed to get back in suboxone when I had a complete psychotic break medically documented and was in a medicated coma. I started taking memantine which helped me slow down my drinking so i was only drinking a beer or two a day and it also helped my Treatment resistant anxiety and depression and adhd.

So my dr put me on the sublacade shot and Icontinued to take memantine and i also smoke pot But this had literally saved my life my family my personal relationships. I’ve kept a job i don’t drink and the cravings are almost nonexistent. I have hundars of articles about memantine and bupe and how it can help this. Please ask So Hi I am really happy this sub exists

I’m not sure why some of the “I” letters are lower case instead of the correct upper case I. But i’m at work and can’t go back and edit this it would take forever sorry.🙃

What are people’s experiences of disulfiram and just how life changing does it need to be in terms of avoiding mouthwash, after shave etc?

long story short. I have unsuccessfully tried to drink both times on that medication and vomited twice. I am on 300mg x3 a day.

Welcome to another lovely Saturday check in! Whatever it is you've got going on lately, feel free to leave it in the comments! As always, to you lovely lurkers: we see you, we love you, come out when you're ready! :)

I’m a high functioning alcoholic. I drink every night: bottle of wine, followed by a few glasses of tequila. I can quit cold turkey and have dozens of times (one night of insomnia, then I’m fine) but I’m in a high entertainment career so there is always a temptation around the corner. Besides, my ideal is not total abstinence but rather to be able to quit at 2.

Kudzu has mostly eliminated my hangovers but not my drinking. I buy it in 1 lb bags, make a tea from it, and drink ~32 ounces a night. As long as I do that, I can drink and I think the kudzu helps me flush it out faster. I usually wake feeling good. But I’m not proud of this as a solution.

I have a bottle of Naltrexone in my medicine cabinet. Tried it for a week and didn’t feel any difference. I’d like to give it another shot.

I bet there are hundreds of posts here on how to TSM. I’d like to know what I did wrong the last time. Was kinda hoping this Reddit would have a TSM “how to” pinned. Any advice would be welcome.

Hi friends. As I've posted, I'm on Viv cuz I couldn't trust myself to take Nal when I wanted to drink. I've been off and on for 3 years and it's been a game changer! No effect = no desire! I plan on staying on it indefinitely.

I have to have an outpatient surgery early next year. I will need painkillers after the procedure so obviously it won't work if I'm on Viv. So I have to go off it for a month. My compulsive brain immediately goes "woohoo we can drink again!!" Ugh. I'm so afraid of going off the rails for the whole fucking month. I still have Nal so I can use that of course. But I still don't trust myself. I'm crying as I write this.*I can't go back to the way it used to be! *** I could lose everything... **again! **

I've been using Reddit groups for my recovery but I plan on joining support groups online. (I haven't joined the TSM meeting cuz I've been doing it differently, taking Nal daily and Viv monthly.) This experience has shown me that alcohol still has a death grip on me and I need to amp it up to get through it. I appreciate you guys, your experience and encouragement have been so valuable to me. I appreciate your support for our "tribe." TIA 💜

Heyo all! Here's a thread whose sole purpose is to give those who have a grievance against the Sinclair Method a place to air it all out. I and several others have noticed an influx of comments detracting from the Sinclair Method, and or touting the (statistically speaking) miserably ineffective recovery/abstinence modality. In an effort to give those would would discuss in good faith a chance to do so, I'm making this post every Friday. Please take this opportunity to engage with people for whom the Sinclair Method has literally be life saving.

Having said that, I will take this opportunity to say I'm gonna start straight up deleting comments that say anything like "IWNDWYT" or something to that effect. For those repeat offenders who never take the opportunity to post here, I'm just gonna have to hand you a ban. There are very few places on the internet where the Sinclair Method can be discussed safely, and that's something worth protecting. Until I figure out a better way to mitigate the bad faith folks who come here to detract from the life-saving Sinclair Method, this is just how it has to be.

So with that unpleasantness out of the way, feel free to leave your grievances in the comments! I will drink with you today if I'm properly protected!

Proud of myself. Chose to not drink today. I wanna see how many days I can go in a row. This is day one! Not feeling to bad tonight. Last night I drank a 750ml bottle of bourbon by myself.

Hey y'all! This is a place for you to post your successes, great and small, with the Sinclair Method! Whatever it is that the Sinclair Method has done for you lately, feel free to leave it here!

I'll give a brief snapshot of my own story: I was a binge drinker for 20 years that started at weekend keg parties in high school and progressed to drinking 15 units nightly of spirits and beer near the start of the pandemic. This is the same time period that my first child was born.

I have now taken control of my drinking with the help of The Sinclair Method and this community and enjoy a majority of AF days most weeks. I get to enjoy being clear headed around my children and enthusiastic about experiencing the world as it unfolds to them without the dread of searching for the next drink.

If you've got any similarly positive stories, feel free to share them here! :)

So I have agoraphobia and severe anxiety, on Wednesday my grandmother passed away and I started drinking to numb the pain (everything, really) I have to go by car (I will not be driving) like 6 hours to go to her funeral, and I usually would take my medication and that helps with my panic attacks. I don’t know if I should take them or not… I stopped drinking yesterday like at 2 pm and my therapist isn’t answering and idk

I have drank for 4 years HEAVY (I’m drunk as hell right now) I want to quit. I’ve had a fake ID since high school I’m now a sophomore (again) in college. I’ve drank so much that I’ve missed class so much and have had to add an extra year to college (5 years instead of 4) I should be a junior right now in the business school of my college. I choose to change majors to communications. Regardless I have failed so many classes a 5th year was expected.

Dude I just wanna figure out my life. I want to feel excited about what I do everyday like so many of my peers. I’ve felt that before working in a mental health field (TMS with Greenbrook truly I was so good at it. And one of the best in the company (take that literal) but I got the job in high school because of my mom she was an MD at our clinic) of course I still drank but I loved that job because I worked with people more depressed than me and truly cared. Now I just know drinking has taken part of my life away. Some days i wake up in college slightly hung over excited to drink trying to delay it.

Tonight i bought my first 750ml of whisky and drank the whole thing. THIS IS INSANE AND I KNOW IT! My question is how do I stop? because I know tmrw I’ll go back to the ABC store.

TRIGGER WARNING: ALCOHOL ABUSE AND SELF HARM.

Bit of a strange one.

I had some alcohol addiction issues when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I’m now 32.

I went to rehab twice and was prescribed Antabuse/disulfiram. Of course, being young and stupid I drank on the medication. When I did, I experienced symptoms such as a pounding headache, heart starts thumping, flushed face and a localized blotchy red rash that would only appear on old self harm scars/old sunburn sites/old injury sites. It was nasty enough to put me off and I was sober for 4 years.

Now, I’m stable and what I would call a “normal drinker”. I can enjoy a few drinks on a Friday and on a special occasion. Nine times out of ten, I’ll have a few drinks and be absolutely fine.

Once or twice a year though, I’ll have a few drinks and start to experience the same symptoms I did when I was on the medication: Pounding headache, flushed face, red blotchy skin around scars. Every time it happens I try to google similar stories with no results so thought I’d start a thread to see if anyone else has experienced this?

Idk what else to do. I've been working with my MD to stop drinking. Inadvertently I had weaned myself off my antidepressants, right now my MD is restarting me on the lowest dose of Venlafaxine and titrating up till I get to my therapeutic dose, I'm also taking Naltrexone. I've gone from being a daily drinker (vodka) to drinking about 1/4th of what I previously was. I'm very proud of that progress, but my depression is almost debilitating right now. I'm having a hard time just getting out of bed, showering, eating, and just caring for myself and home in general. I also going to school and work, it's really starting to affect those aspects of my life. How can I alleviate some of this depression while I continue to cut my drinking more and wait to get to my therapeutic dose of antidepressants?

Is there another pill that makes you sick from drinking? Can’t find anything on google. Tried everything else and nothing seems to help much.

NAL didn’t work for me. Skipped AA and went into recovery therapy 90 days ago. Background // was getting black out drunk and broke bones falling. I’ve cut my AUD down 75% with a therapist. Long road to go but very happy with where I am at now.

Every person is different but therapy was the solution for me

I’ve been taking 100mg a day for over 6 months. It’s not helping. What can I do? I’m going to end up losing my son. And I don’t have it in me to fight for him because I don’t think I can stop, just the thought of being required to be on Soberlink makes me want to sign off on him and spiral down a hole that will end in suicide. I feel like such a piece of shit. I literally have nobody in my life. I’ve cut off all of my friends and family, including parents, in hopes to better myself. I’m literally doing this alone and it’s becoming too much.

I've been on Nal and Vivitrol for ~3 years. It's been a lifechanger , no effect = no desire! This time on Viv I've experienced a drastic change in my appetite. I'm just not hungry, not even for the sweets that I used to be addicted to! I even forget to eat, and can go for days on just one meal. Believe me this is a bonus! But I was a surprised because it was such a difference, even than when I took it previously. However this appears to be very common. Here's what AI says about it:

Naltrexone is a medication that can help with weight loss, especially when combined with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise: How it works Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist that blocks hunger signals to the brain, reducing the desire for food. When combined with bupropion, an antidepressant that suppresses appetite, the combination can be effective in treating obesity. When to take it Taking naltrexone in the morning can reduce appetite by up to 30% and suppress cravings all day. Who can take it Naltrexone is often prescribed for people who are overweight or obese, or who have insulin resistance or overeating issues. What to expect Naltrexone/bupropion is available by prescription only. It should be discontinued if at least a 5% weight loss is not achieved within three months. Side effects A significant proportion of patients will experience adverse effects. It should not be prescribed for patients with preexisting heart disease until the effects are known. The brand name for naltrexone/bupropion is Contrave. Naltrexone & Bupropion: Weight Loss Treatment - Cleveland Clinic Naltrexone and bupropion are two medications that combine to help you lose weight or maintain weight loss. A healthcare provider will recommend you take this me...

Cleveland Clinic

Anyone else??

Got it to prevent drinking in inappropriate situations. But if I take it one weekend, and plan to go to a social event and have a beer the following weekend, will I still have negative effects? I'm seeing online that it would last two weeks, even from one 250mg pill? Can anyone chime in with their experiences. Not something I'd take daily, just one off use, one 250mg pill every few weeks for urges.

Is there anyway to get naltrexone without a prescription?

Having the meds in my medical history is making it impossible to get life insurance

M26, I'm desperate to do something about my addiction, I tried therapy, and unfortunately it was really hard for me to manage evening cravings. I tried Naltrexone but it made me feel so sick that I was unable to function and I need to be able to work. Today I learnt about this drug campral, I was thinking about going sober and taking it after a few days. Can you guys share your experience with this medication? Is it worth it?

I am a time-dependent, single-substance, location-based drinker. 5pm onwards. Red wine only. Only at home.

I have restarted meds. Not Naltrexone. Can't handle it (ADHD).

Not an AUD med question per se, but in terms of removing temptation, any thoughts about using a Kitchen Lock? It's basically a timed safe.

I'm considering putting my cash, credit cards, phone & laptop in from 4pm to 5am. Locked. Still have my car keys and wallet.

I figure that way I only need to make 1 good decision at 4pm, not avoid bad ones all night.

Thoughts?

Hey,

I'm restarting Mounjaro for AUD & weightloss. I have ADHD so I can't use Naltrexone (tried). Mounjaro absolutely helps with AUD, but since I have ADHD, I get overstimulated.

So a cocktail of beta blocker, serine & Lyrica are helping. Lyrica itself helps reduce AUD. Early days, but definitely better than last time. No questions about that.

Just passing it on. Keep you updated.

And let me expand the question to: Friday nights, Satur-days and Saturday nights. Because those are my biggest weaknesses. I'm at the point where I don't want to drink, but I don't know what to do without it. So I know I need a different thing to focus on. But like....what do people do on weekends other than drink??? Genuinely looking for advice.

Welcome to another lovely Saturday check in! Whatever it is you've got going on lately, feel free to leave it in the comments! As always, to you lovely lurkers: we see you, we love you, come out when you're ready! :)