Good deal Dab. Let us know how you do on 75mg. I'm on 75mg and I'm not noticing much difference. However, I think it is a good buffer to make sure you have enough NAL in your system. I'm not a small guy: 6'1" 235lbs. I have to wonder if the dose of NAL for a 140lb person is going to work for a guy that is 100lbs heavier.

Q

Thanks Gott and Q....

Good point, Q...that your body weight must have an effect on Nal's potency. For sure it does, so probably good to hedge your bet by sticking with a higher dosage. I'm 6'...200lbs....so up there too. I think the extra 25 mgs (for a total of 75 mgs/day) is just right for me now.

And Gott...well, you are on a roll. If or when you do drink, taking the Nal beforehand of course, I think that eventually you will reach the stage that you won't miss the "evening libations". As for your reading...I can totally relate to that. Seems that the more sober I get, the more interested I get in reading -- again, after many years not. Before the booze became a problem I was a voracious reader...2 to 3 books every few weeks. And now that I'm slowly but surely getting more sober, my reading interest has re-emerged...so for sure a good sign! As for AF days, YES, I plan to start planning them every week now. If not tomorrow, then this Tuesday and hopefully Wednesday for sure. I think -- think -- I can put in at least a couple of days a week now! Will let you know.

Thanks for your wonderful support, friends. All the best to you and all! --- KOKO!!!!

Dabs, you are a very positive voice on this board...much appreciated. You're getting great results, too, in TSM and it is heartening to read the details. So...KOKO (as they say!)

Thank you so much Chrissie for your kind words. For sure it's people like you and so many others here who are helping me to "KOKO"!

I wrote the comment below in a response to one of Gotthegene's postings, but I think its worth repeating here as well as a bit of an update:

I've been taking the Nal for about 10 weeks now. The last 10 weeks of drinking have been more enjoyable than the previous 10 YEARS of drinking! I've had only THREE hangovers in the past 10 weeks. I used to have at least 3 hangovers a week before the Nal! I'm drinking about 30% less, but the quality of my life has improved 100%!!! I used to wake up almost every day full of regret and self-loathing due to the excess drinking I had done the night before. Now...I wake up hangover free, happy, excited, even LOOKING FORWARD to 5 o'clock so that I can have a few drinks to further accelerate the extinction process....happily drinking myself sober, day by day....and IT'S WORKING!!!

All the best to everyone! KOKO!!!

Well, if I keep going at the rate I've been at this week, I'm going to come close to my pre-Nal units...and that's very discouraging. I'm not sure why the sudden increase. Certainly there is little happening in my life that might spark this, although I have been working very hard and been quite tired in the evenings. Going to the pub and chit-chatting with friends seems to help with that, but while I'm there I'm pounding back the beers (which I don't even have a taste for these days...so its the alcohol I'm after, clearly).

Seeing how well some people are doing here with the abstinence route, I'm thinking that I might just try that road as well, and then take my own advice and not beat myself up if I have the odd night or two of drinking now and then.....

I've been lurking in the "Sober Recovery" forum lately, which is HUGE, and it's mostly for people who are not drinking at all, there supporting one another. Most seem to be "White-knuckling" it, however, experiencing Dr. Sinclairs "Deprivation Effect". So there must be a happy balance in between here somewhere. I know that I need to stay away from the pub, that would for certain help with my levels, but being home alone at night is difficult for me to enjoy....I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.... What a horrible beast and burden this drink and drinking life is.....

I hope everybody is in a better place than me today. All the best to you.

just hang in there. its takes a while for tsm to work. i experinced a spike in the third month but it came down im at 8 beers a night. better then ten. i probaly could stop at 6 but dont want to. for me im not going to fight it im just going to take nal and drink. this method, from what i been told by doctors is that it takes a year. why the book says 3 month who knows. hang in there dabs.

ps. im fling to kentucky to see dr. cox to get more input on tsm from a profesional.

Oh wow, that's great news Larry! Down to 8 from 10! May not sound like a lot to some people, but I know that it is! I'm so happy for you. Do let us know how it goes with Dr. Cox!

Take care and thanks for your encouragement. I really appreciate it.

Good point about the book too, why it says 2 to 3 months for the drinking behaviour to be extinguished. Maybe it was for the lab-rats!? Clearly, it takes a lot longer for most. Some say its like having a baby....waiting 9 months. Other say it takes longer. From what I've seen here, it takes at least that for most...some way past a year even, until it suddenly kicks in. As I said, I'm very curious to know what Dr. Cox say's to you. Good for you for going the extra mile to help yourself -- which will also help others! I'm going to talk to my addiction specialist again soon too. I found that taking the extra 25mgs (to 75mgs/day) has not make any noticeable difference.

All we can do is "KOKO"...keep on keeping on....and hoping for the best. Most of us here have nothing else to hope for.

Take care.

Dab, what you're experiencing is very typical...it's been fun to read your gung-ho reports over what a big difference TSM has made for your life, a'ready! And so then the (subsequent) spikes in drinking #'s are quite disheartening. But many people have been in your shoes, and then reached their goal

Yes, we all puzzle over the "3 - 4" month cure prediction....it sure doesn't fit the usual experience here! Particularly when we start out w/ a good "honeymoon", I think the tendency is to hope one will be a 3 - 4 month "rapid responder" and you DO read of those sometimes, but they're not the norm.

But at some point along the way, I came to realize that it doesn't matter HOW long it takes...what else would we be doing anyway??? TSM takes as long as it takes, varying w/ the individual. So settle in, and keep posting. I enjoy your enthusiasm

dabs and crise the cure for alcholism second edition is comming out soon. when i was taking nal 2 hours before drinking was because of what i read i on page 205. it states NAL CAN BE TAKEN IN THE MORNING AND IT STILL WILL HAVE ITS EFFECT. BUT JUST IN CASE THE PATIENT CHANGES THERE MIND IN THE EVENIG ITS BETTER TO WAIT. check out this email from dr. escapa


larry email

Dr. Escapa the reason i was taking naltrexone two hours before drinking was becase of what i read on page 205,under dosage, in your book. THE BOOK SAYS "it can be taken in the morning(there still will be a blockade of opiod receptors that evening)".
Thank you
Larry Najor





dr. escapa response



I know .. and that should be changed .... good point ... however this statement is true to some extent but different people have varying metabolisms ... they metabolize naltrexone at different rates .. this is possible.. experience teaches after years that the 1 hour rule is best! I think we put that in because people may think they should tale naltrexone if they drink in the am , afternoon again another dose and evening another dose...... which is not correct.. in very serious bender drinkers who wake up and drink early in the morning and are still drinking at say 10 pm then Sinclair said to take a dose again then... of course if you were attending a TSM clinic the treatment would be more intensive and there would be counselling taylored specifically to your needs (as at Contral.com in Finland) .. but we have to reach many people (8 million serious alcoholics in the US and18 million altogether if we consider 'problem drinkers') through a book. This is the first book on TSM - a daunting task - and I wish others would write more .. books, manuals..... nevertheless at the time of publication in 2008 it was estimated that at least 70,000 patients had been through TSM in Finland where it can be free on National Health (or that was the case) -- and they had a choice of going to 'A' Clinics which use traditional abstinence based (AA, faith based, psychotherapy group, and individual therapy with addiction counsellors) ....


So I understand why you thought that 2 hours before was fine. However, lets stick with Dr Cox's and other doctors findings.




it still is strange to me that the 3 month thing is incorrect on page 205 and why it was writen that way. THAT IS WHY I AM FLYING DOWN SOUTH. DABS THE 9 MONTH THING WAS FROM ME AFTER I EMAILED DR. COX. HE STRESS 9 MONTH. I NEED TO KNOW WHY IN FINLAND THEY GOT CURED IN 4 MONTH. i do rember reading in the book that it could take alot longer. i need to get a clearer understanding about tsm. that is why i am flying down to kentucky.what is so sad is that im flying down there for a 2 hour sesion. thats all he recomends for me.with my luck he will call in sick that day.i know tsm is real when you go to google scholor there is so much data backing up tsm.but still i want to meet the doc who worked with dr. sinclair .dabs TRUST me YOU WILL BE CURED. dr. cox emailed me that there is anothere pill called Topamax that could be taken along with naltexon and that has hellped alot of people with tsm. plus nalmefene will be comming out soon and it is alot stronger then nal. so theres hope. dabs you could take 100 mlg for a month an see what happens(i am trying 100 right now). both docs said to try that it cant hurt. rember for some people 75 or 100 makes a difference even though 75 and a 100 have the same effect as 50.i hope that last sentenced made sense,because i dont even understand that.


ps. hang in there my freinds we will all be free from booze soon.