I’ve been on it less than a week. I got complacent and went out for beers last night. I thought I could stick to just a couple but that didn’t happen. Today I’ve been so hung over. Not sure if I should try again.

Using all. Will naltrexone work?

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! :)

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!

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! :)

Has anyone been prescribed oral Nal on top of the injection? I’ve been struggling with the shot and still have severe cravings and am drinking a couple days a week now when I had been sober. Today i got my vivitrol shot and I was prescribed oral naltrexone additionally to take when the cravings are bad.

I've been on SSRI antidepressants before, but not since I started TSM a few months ago. I've read there aren't dangerous interactions but wondering about personal experiences?

I'm a 57yr old male...My psychotherapist at the VA started me on Naltrexone after I told her I was concerned about the amount of alcohol I was drinking dealing with PTSD, anxiety & depression. I was drinking at least 16 - 20 oz of vodka mixed with coke zero every night...sometimes even more. Party days, Sunday funday - I would start with beer and eventually switch over to vodka cuz I couldn't buzzed enough off the beer. I had been been doing this for at least 15 years or more - EVERYDAY - Ugh...I ended up divorced and I felt horrible about myself. This only made my anxiety worse when being around people...I literally had days I couldn't "people".

I started taking 50mg every morning as she prescribed...suddenly - like a switch - I couldn't stand the taste of vodka-coke...I was going days without alcohol. I could go out and drink 3 beers and enjoy conversations with people again and I felt like a "normal drinker".

I've always had a high libido - especially when I was hungover...Once I quit the vodka, I suddenly don't care about sex...my ex-wife would be thrilled-LOL...but I've been divorced for 4 years now and I have a GF and she is quite disappointed in me now that I don't take "care" of her like I used to.

I'm happy to be able to still drink on occasion and I haven't had to go into work red-faced, hungover and feeling like I'm a POS. It's been life changing for me! I have tried it in the past but I didn't give it much of a chance. I wish I would have tried with a strong intent to quit this many years ago. I like the social aspect of having a beer with the guys so I don't want to abstain.

So back to my original question...has this affected anyone else's libido?

I took my first 50 mg tablet of naltrexone about 20 hours ago, while I was drinking vodka. Before going to sleep last night I remmeber feeling a little nauseous and was eating a meatball and noticed I immediately felt gross. Went to sleep. Work up this morning feel nauseous and a slight headache. It’s now 4pm but still feel slightly nauseous/light headache/brain fog. Is this all normal? Or is there coincidentally a health issue I don’t know about?

Also I know it’s not a hangover because my hangovers do not last this long

I thought naltrexone wasn’t supposed to cause nausea which is why I chose this rather than Antabuse.

Broadly speaking there are two axes of alcohol that can result in addiction. Compulsive or drinking to socialize is one target for naltrexone. Tonight we explore the second axis which is drinking to cope. In addition, this is your chance to ask any questions to one of the world's leading experts in Alcohol Use Disorder.

I started on my NAL path as a daily drinker and trying to take NAL TSM style. The issue was that I wasn't that compliant and didn't see much progress (this went on for 9 months). I then started taking it every day after lunch and it started working with 10 days a month of abstinence and only 2-3 drinks when I did drink with an occasional 6 drinks in 6 hour day.

I then went into what I call TSM plus. That's when I take NAL when I have an urge or on days I know I'm going to drink. It's still usually 3-4 hours before my first drink. I've even forgotten to take NAL with little impact (ie 1-2 drinks and no compulsion to drink the next day).

My monthly drinking cut in half again and my days of abstinence increased by 50 percent

So far so good until...I decided that I wanted that warm and fuzzy feeling and because Ive forgotten a couple of times with no impact - I consciously decided to drink without NAL over the holidays.

Well I've learned that was a big mistake. My cravings have now increased, I've had 3 nalovers in one month and I'm breaking some of my drinking rules (drinking alone for example).

What I'm debating with myself right now is whether I should go back to taking it every day (which seemed to be my breakthrough period) or continue with TSM+ - take NAL on days I have a craving and days I plan on drinking.

And thank you for letting me vent. Just writing this down is helpful and enlightening.

Wow. So a year ago I tried Naltrexone for a solid 4 months. I started at 25mg and was never really able to go to 50 because my stomach was too sensitive, it just made me so damn sick. Sick to the point where I just couldn't handle taking it anymore, so I let my drinking habits return to normal.

Well after the holidays and making it halfway through dry January this year, I decided I wanted to give it a go again, but this time I was going to ask my doc if I could get on Zofran as well, after reading about it on Reddit. Well I just took my first dose of Zofran 30 mins before taking a 25mg Nal, and holy shit, I feel completely fine, my stomach is good to go. Ah I'm so stoked, this can actually work now!

Anyone struggling with Naltrexone making you too nauseous or sick, seriously ask if you can try Zofran, it's changing my world.

I feel like I'm not making any progress on TSM. Anyone have advice?

I'd call myself sober now. My last drink was on NYE 2023, and the desire feels completely gone. Right now, I'm not sure I could have a drink even if I wanted to.

However, I know I may well fancy a glass of something at some point in the future. I'll have my Nal ready. What I'm wondering is, will I have to go through the side effects again, given how long it's been since I last needed it? What has been other people's experience?

Yesterday was my first AF day in over four years! I'm on daily (TSM style) Nal. 20 years heavy drinking. Last 10 had been 12-14 daily without a break. On Nal for two months and I set a goal of an AF day a week ago. I told my wife and put it on my calendar. Drank three NA beers and a cup of tea. Fortunately I had a labor intensive day at work and I laid down at 10:30 and slept like a baby. I didn't count the victory until I woke up this morning, because there used to be nights I would wake up and drink to get back to sleep. I am so happy!! I don't make commitments without (over)thinking them through, but I'm thinking of designating one AF day per week. For the last couple of years I have avoided all blood work at the doctor because my liver enzymes were embarrassing. I am going to get them to healthy levels and be proud. This feels good.

If you are taking naltrexone targeted to drinking (also known as TSM or The Sinclair Method) the Naltrexone Alliance (NA) would like to hear from you. NA is a collective of individuals and organizations with the common aim of increasing the awareness and use of naltrexone to treat Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

Taking naltrexone and drinking to extinction is a path common in TSM communities and because language is important the NA would like to find a standard definition for this concept. Specifically, we would like to have a common definition for extinction.

If you have reached extinction, what does that mean to you and how long did it take you to achieve it.

Your input will be very valuable for this exercise and greatly appreciated. We hope you will reply.

Naltrexone to 100 mg. I don't want to because I feel I'm just where I want to be. I'm where every habitual over-drinker wants to be, and that is that I can have a couple of glasses of wine and stop. I don't want to completely quit drinking, and I'm afraid I'll have stomach trouble with a higher dose of naltrexone.

Does anyone have experience with a dose of 100mg?

I have a sore throat and, for the first time in many years, I am able to be kind to my body and not drink while being sick. Before naltrexone, it would have been extremely hard for me not to drink, even knowing from experience that it would just make me feel worse and delay my healing. I would pretend is not a big deal, drink like normal (normal for me was about a bottle and a half of wine), then feel like crap from being sick and hung over at the same time, feel very guilty, hate myself for being so irresponsible/crazy/dumb, and then procede to do the same a day or two later. It would take me a long time to get better and both my work and family were impacted by this. I know Nal is not magic, but making the right decisions feels not only possible but so much easier. This definitely makes me feel more in control of my life. I’m glad I can finally give my body what it needs, instead of giving it poison while it is trying to heal.

So I was zeroed in on total abstinence, but you know how we addicts can be, priorities change by the day. So this would've been my day 15 and that's great. Straight out of my last bender I was sure I could never moderate, vowed to never drink again etc but here we are. I bought myself 12 beers. 12 will get me slightly drunk if I drink them all in an evening. There is no way to get more and I have work tomorrow.

So what the hell I think, give myself some slack. I never gave this Sinclair Method a fair shot anyway, but I have been on a daily 50mg dose of Naltrexone for a couple of months now (although if my drinking continues into the next morning I have stopped taking it).

But the circumstances are different now I think, I don't really hate my life and daily routine as much as I used to. I used to chug 3-4 beers right after work to get drunk quicker, used to go straight to vodka etc. Why am I drinking today? I don't really know and I didn't really feel a huge urge to. Curiosity maybe? A want for control? Alcoholism is hard because there are a thousand different reasons to drink for me, changes day by day. It's easy to find an excuse.

I can't really stick to a plan for very long it seems, it pains me a little. But whatever I choose to do the coming days, weeks or months I'm going to stick to my medication and take an extra pill before drinking when I do decide to drink.

I’ve recently been put on 50mg of naltrexone to curb alcohol cravings, but I have absolutely no appetite and I can’t really sleep. I’ve been taking it for two days and yesterday the cramps got so bad my bf and I had to leave the shop we were. groaning in pain, I don’t want to stop taking it because I don’t want the cravings to come back and to be honest, I could lose a couple pounds. should I eat something before I take it or will it make me sick, or should I take it at night with the possibility it will still upset my stomach and keep me up. sorry if this seems dumb it’s almost 4am and I can’t sleep.

Okay so I’ve been sober for a while now and I came onto thinking about all the memories lost from blacking out. I used to black out ALL the time and there was one occasion that my partner and I talk about where the Uber dropped me off to his but apparently my dress and undies and everything had been torn and all my items were everywhere, apparently I was going absolutely off and this guy and he had claw marks on his neck. Now it isn’t a crazy thought that I’ve probably definitely have been assaulted or violated many times while I’ve been in blackout, I am glad sometimes because I literally have no recollection whatsoever, but then I got to thinking, does the stress or trauma that you go through in that state ever translate when you’re sober? Like would I have the symptoms of trauma after the fact even if I have no recollection of it? What happens to your brain when you go through so much stress and the time, does everything just disappear? I don’t know if I’m making sense but if anyone has an answer I’d love to know :).

Please. I’m a late stage alcoholic. Got most of the conditions that you would expect from this condition. My willpower is shit. For example it’s 8 o’clock Sunday morning and I’ve already had a couple. What should I be asking for when I see a professional? I know of Antabuse but that’s about it.

I just got put on daily naltrexone and gabapentin (plus hydroxyzine for mild withdrawals and Ativan for severe withdrawal), because I can’t stop blowing up my life and crying to my psychiatrist. He’s a fantastic doctor and we have never discussed TSM, but I realized something about myself that isn’t great, but is definitely honest…

Drinking in moderation seems like a snoozefest. I’m a woman, and the guidelines all say that I should have one drink per day. So if I do, what’s the point?? That one drink doesn’t make me feel more fun or social or anything…

I think this is me openly acknowledging that it’s abstinence for me. I only drank xyz and sodas anyways, I never drank any cute drink aside from espresso martinis, and if i really want that, I can have a coffee. I don’t love this about myself, but I think it’s all or nothing for me. Being a boozer is hard, this is my vent. I’m going to try to get into AA on top of the meds.

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! :)

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!

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! :)

Dr. Volpicelli was instrumental in getting FDA approval for naltrexone to treat AUD almost exactly 30 years ago and he tirelessly helps thousands of people every day through his work. TSMMeetups is privileged to have Dr. V as our guest next week, Thursday Jan 30.

Whether a beginner, just contemplating, a pro, or looking to support a loved one, all are welcome to learn more about naltrexone and AUD.

https://www.tsmmeetups.com/meetup-times

Hi all, I thought I would add a post about my Vivitrol experience so far. I've been on the naltrexone pill on and off for several years. I decided to switch to the shot because I was having a lot of cravings when the medication was not in my system. I usually took the pill at lunch to stop the 4 PM call of the wild. I did really well on the pills initially, but after a few missed doses during the recent holidays, I was struggling a bit.

Side effects: For the pill, I had a lot of nausea for the first week. I took a lot of over-the-counter Emetrol, but you can ask your doctor for Zofran. Both worked pretty well for me. As for the shot, I am sore at my injection sites (2 injections), and I feel a bit weaker when I'm up and doing things.

I'm 5 days out from my injection, and it's been great. My cravings are pretty much nonexistent. I also don't fall into a hyperactive cycle of doing too much, then being triggered to drink to "calm down." I feel so relieved every day when I go to bed since I haven't spent my evening fighting an internal battle.

Ordering the shot: The shot was originally around $500, but I got a coupon from the Vivitrol website that brought it down to free. Unfortunately, you do have to have a medical provider administer the injection, and the compound pharmacy sends the package straight to their office. It's not a hard process, just a little tedious to set everything up. I highly recommend the shot, though.

Hi, just posting this on a once off shot that perhaps one of you have an online therapist who has helped with addiction. I have tried other counselors but if they are not familiar with addiction not so helpful. thanks

Been taking NAL since July 2024. Initially seemed to reduce cravings by half. Since the initial reduced. Nothing has changed and I'm still drinking nightly though at half of quantity as before. Will this some how turn into. No desire? Is this normal?