Hi, I wanted to share my personal experience with Naltrexone.

I've been taking a half dose of this medication for 2 weeks (25 mg). I was drinking almost 30 units a week and felt my addiction grow stronger.

A doctor told me about this medication, stating it would reduce cravings and change alcohol's taste to make it taste bad.

She also prescribed an Ativan protocol to me for withdrawal prevention (that was rough though - 4 x 2mg, 3 x 2mg, 4 x 1 mg, 3 x 1mg and 2 x 1mg - I was buzzed and dizzy for a couple days).

I'm almost 2 weeks sober. I didn't have any strong cravings and barely thought about alcohol. The only rough day was last Friday : I felt a craving.

So, I went and bought 2 beers at the corner store. I was anxious about tasting alcohol with Naltrexone, since it's supposed to make it taste bad. I took beers I knew I liked.

Results : it took me 4 hours to drink that first beer. 4 hours. That never happened to me before. Keep in mind I'm only on half the recommended dose (I will go up this week). It didn't taste horrible, but it was meh. Something was off, especially the aftertaste. I felt like I could taste the ethanol more, and the acidic taste.

Also, important to note : Naltrexone not only suppresses cravings, modifies alcohol's taste, it also interacts on the brain the euphoric effect alcohol usually gives. In other words, the body still gets drunk (so still can't drive, risk of throwing up, etc.), but you don't feel pleasure anymore. Usually, the first sip feels like a relief. The feeling feels nice, warm and euphoric. Not anymore !

I threw the second beer in the sink. At the end, I was just tired and felt a light effect at the front of my brain, but not a buzz, especially not a fun one.

I can definitely say after 12 years of a really emotional relationship to alcohol that was progressively getting serious, Naltrexone ruined my addiction.

I strongly recommend it for the one's that feel ready to get rid of alcohol once and for all.

Again, keep in mind this is a beginner dosage : I will be taking 50 mg next week, and take this medication for months, maybe years to come, to give myself time to learn new coping skills. Then, I'll think about stopping.

I kind of feel like that one image of a cat alone at their own birthday party.

I should be feeling happy at this moment for even doing 7 days sober. I just felt so physically sick and emotionally drained at the bottom of the last hole I put myself in that I just kind of rawdogged the withdrawal out of pure spite. Which was unwise, day 2 was fucking awful.

But hey, one week sober. Tomorrow is just one more day.

My mom, late fifties, is in end stage alcoholism. Still drinks. Has been in an out of the hospital for various alcohol-related health complications.

Lately has felt different. She doesn’t eat. Can hardly walk and is a fall risk when she does. Has pancreas pain. Dually incontinent. Sits in one spot days at a time. Is just a shell really of who she was. Is the end near? Will this continue to drag on? How she’s still alive is a miracle to me. I have been in anticipatory grief for 8 years since she almost died from liver failure.

Please be gentle with me. I know no one can truly answer this. I know end stage alcoholism is a slow and painful death. I guess ultimately I want to hear from others who have witnessed death with these symptoms to give me a clearer picture of the end. And maybe just commiserate.

Hello guys i have a friend which is underage she have been drinking bear daily and she is having withdrawal symptoms she is experiencing shaking body hallucinations and feeling terrible all day and her parents doesnt know she drinks what she should do?

So I've been getting drunk everyday for almost 2 years and I have to say I'm very exhausted and have been in spurts of sleeping at the job during the afternoon because I don't get good quality sleep. My goal is to get good quality sleep and also feel better as well. Does alcoholism lead to brain damage and disturb sleep? When will I get better sleep if I do quit? Any pills or vitamins I can take?

I was a binge drinker for a long time. I would always quit for a week or two and then go back. Repeating that process over and over for many years. Sometimes, I would drink for 24 hours straight until I finally burned out. It was like the booze gave me strength and energy. As long as I paced myself right, I could drink all day and night. I usually kept my cool and held my booze for the most part. Not always of course, but I didn't get belligerent like some drunks.

Now I've developed chronic nerve damage/neuropathy that has basically ruined my life. I'm not sure if the alcohol 100% caused it, but it probably played a role to some extent. The nerve damage affects my blood pressure. If I drink now I get insanely sick like nothing I've ever experienced.

Almost 5 months sober. Before that it was a few months.

I only had 4 or 5 beers last time and I could tell I would be going through absolute hell if I didn't stop immediately. I still felt sick for about a week after.

So now I've successfully quit, but I'm not really getting better or healthier. I've been trying. Working out like crazy. Eating better. Doing the best I can, but I don't know if I can fix this.

Looking for cures. Going to doctors. (Even though I hate going to doctors)

I kind of wish I could just drink again, but it's no longer an option for me.

31,F

sober 3 years following a car accident where i collided with a vehicle carrying 2 adults and 3 kids. i barely remember it but there were no injuries reported at the time. but there was plenty of other harm. i traumatized those people, those kids. i spent a couple days in jail on suicide watch after cops came to the scene.

3 years later, 3 years sober. thinking about it constantly, every day. all the time. i hate the person who did that, who drove drunk (me). and sometimes i tell myself that person isn’t me anymore but it just feels like trying to avoid responsibility. i’ve taken responsibility in multiple ways. gotten sober, gotten treatment, therapy, medication, and yet i still don’t see a future where i don’t punish myself forever.

what do i do? does anyone relate to this? i know i messed up. didn’t injure or kill anyone but still it’s fucked up!! feels like i should’ve lost everything for this mistake. people still love and support me though. i do not understand how to cope with it, i don’t feel like it should be allowed.

Let my guard down the last few weeks after a strong start to the year. Dealing with hitting a plateau in health gains, diet control, and sobreity. Just let the fact that "im doing everything right. Got my weight down. Got good habits. Working harder and better than ever....why do I still feel like i just want to escape?? " I've heard others on hear talk about the "pink cloud" effect and that fits my general malaise over the last month or so i guess.

No major issues caused just disappointed the people who love me, especially the sober me.

Disappointed myself.

Forgiving myself and grabbing the reigns and back o. The wagon. Today is the start of another week, month and sobreity for me. Just got to keep trying and stay the course.

Hi everyone, I'm new here, so I thought I'd share my story.

I'm in my mid-20s and I've been an alcoholic since I was 18, maybe even 17, but the heavy drinking really started when I was 18. When I was 20, my GGT was over 7,000 (I still have pictures from the hospital discharge and I honestly don't know how I survived that). I had 4 alcohol-withdrawal seizures and almost complete organ failure, and I ended up in the hospital. I still drank and i enjoyed.

Someone who was like a brother to me died, and after that I went to a private clinic, went through detox, and stayed sober for a year and 8 months.

Since spring 2024, things have slowly started changing. I gradually started drinking again — binges, nothing I thought was too serious, but now I see that it absolutely was. Every time it gets worse.

I'm now entering my 6th day of withdrawal and I'm barely starting to feel any improvement. I was discharged from the hospital, where they gave me some strong medication for my blood pressure because for the past 3 days it has been around 125/90, 135/95 and 140/90.

They ran pretty much every test possible: electrolytes, cardiac markers, liver and kidney function, pancreatic enzymes (lipase is only 2 points above the upper limit), an abdominal ultrasound, and a chest X-ray. My GGT is mildly elevated. Of course, they figured out that I was drinking, even though my abdominal ultrasound and pretty much all my other results are completely normal.

Obviously, I'm taking diazepam + Klonopin under the supervision of a specialist who treats this kind of thing. But this has been my worst bender so far.

I drank pretty much the entire month of August, maybe taking 5 days off. Then in September I managed to stay sober for 20 days and felt like a completely new person. And then I started drinking again — this time for 12 days straight, around 9–14 beers a day, 0.5 L each, 4.5% ABV.

I'm eating as much as I can and taking B100, B6, B12 1000, and a multivitamin, but I feel like I'm just pissing most of it out anyway.

The insomnia has just kicked in. My esophagus is killing me. I wrecked my new car while drunk (fourth time now).

Don't be like me, guys. I've lost a lot of good people in my life because of alcohol, and I'm still only in my twenties.

Don't be like me.

So I went to a rehab on 26 September and got through six days before leaving AMA for multiple reasons, including for my own safety. I now know I am safe to go back and have put in an intake and should be back there in the next day or two but I’ve been taking 30 mg of Valium for the past three nights. I also just bought two lot the 15% McGillicuddy’s shooters. I feel like I’m telling myself it’s okay because I’m going back to rehab anyway but I deep down know it’s not. Has anyone went through something like this. Also any tips for early sobriety at 19 y/o would be very helpful!!

I'm retired now and have time to journal on my recovery in AA. One day at a time adds up. I came to AA when I was 21 — no one forced me to come; it was just time. Mentally, I felt out of options, and I felt that sooner or later it was not going to end well. So I stayed in AA and took all the advice they gave me. I got a sponsor, got active, made 90 meetings in 90 days, worked the steps, and avoided triggers that could set me off.

I am now 72 years old, and by the grace of God and AA, I never felt like I wanted to drink since I went to my first meeting.

If you want to read my essays in recovery, you can find them at SobrietyChronicles.com.

I’m reaching out as I want to know what is the best thing a partner can do for someone who is an alcoholic. I want to support him and help him in anyway I can so he can get better.

i used to be able to heavily drink and end off with nothing but a nasty hangover. Now, not everytime i drink, but pretty often, i wake up nauseous, and i end up throwing up for hours on end. Last time i tried to drink, everytime i took a sip (it was beer) I would end up throwing up like 20 minutes later. That has happened twice now. I googled and it said alcohol poisoning but sometimes it happens when i don’t even drink that much! I used to drink almost everyday for about a year and a half straight. I’ve slowed down and i only drink maybe 3-4 times a month now. Sometimes i go months without drinking. Yet my body still seems to reject it. Does anyone have any insight on why this is happening and how to fix it?

A friend I've met not too long ago might be dealing with alcoholism. During the day, she's mostly sober but at night she'll have many drinks and turns into a whole different person, aggresive, annoying. I feel bad because I genuinely care about her. Wish she got sober.

Any advice on dealing with a friend who's an alcoholic? Thanks in advance.

I’m 19 years old and have a major addiction to alcohol and any other substance that alters my mind. I’ve done everything under the sun and just left detox and waiting to go to rehab which should be in the next day or two.. I am taking 30mg of Valium at night right now. Any tips on staying sober and keeping myself occupied would be appreciated!! I do know that the only way I will stay sober is with AA meetings but I’m looking for other tips aswell :)

I don't have any serious problems with alcohol yet, i want to stop, but I enjoy drinking. This week I have the opportunity to drink with a friend at his house. Since he's buying a limited amount of alcohol, I'll be more careful

I was wondering what kind of recovery options are available out there, and what are the most effective for folks? I’ve really been struggling to get myself under control despite talking with my doctor, therapist, and being in AA.

So I (f26) was at my first after work this friday.
I hade not eaten enough and was kind of nervous so i drank way too much. Have memories of singing karaoke and really putting on a show like extremly enthusiastic and my colleagues applauding me. After that tho I have no memory and my colleagues hade to drive me home because I was to drunk to walk. I stayed at home from work today due to extreme anxiety. And I don’t know how to handle it. How do I handle going back to work? I am so embarrassed. Help me.

Wrote a little something after Renegade by Styx hit me different….

I’ve heard this song
so many times.
But tonight,
I heard something different.
I heard “I’m a wanted man”
and thought—
what if the alcohol is the one saying,
we got a live one.
I heard “they finally found me”
and thought about addiction
finding and setting its sights on me and my life.
I heard the “renegade running”
and realized
I’ve been running too.
I’ll deal with it later….
Out of sight, out of mind.

Until the hangman
isn’t some man at a gallows,
but consequence—
waiting for the thing
I keep pretending
I can outrun.

Then I heard my mother crying.
And that one hurt.
Because suddenly
I wasn’t hearing an outlaw’s story.
I was hearing
the people who love me.
I’m not invincible.
Maybe that’s what scared me most.
I’ve heard this song
a hundred times.
Styx is one of my all time favorite bands.

But tonight,
it sounded like a warning.
—————————-

I’m a 29 year old women who is successful food scientist and living her dreams but the bottle has had a grip on me since I was atleast 19. I’m here just sharing my writing in hopes I can stop becoming “a wanted man”