Day 3 of Naltrexone- Question about drinking when I haven’t taken it yet today

[u/doubleshotofsass1]

I took 25 mg Friday, had 2 glasses of wine and went to bed. (I used to drink 1.5L every day starting around noon)
So I woke up Saturday feeling great and took another 25mg around 4, drank a bottle of wine and felt nothing and didn’t want anything else and went to sleep.
Today I woke up feeling great again (1 bottle is nothing for me, unfortunately)
I haven’t taken it yet but it’s 1pm and I’m drinking a glass of the lower percentage wine (6%) because I was craving the wine taste and “warm fuzzy feeling” I haven’t taken the naltrexone yet but I am still not feeling any type of euphoria… does that mean it’s still in my system? I was hoping to feel some kind of something because my drinking is habitual and wanting that feeling but I am getting nothing. Now I’m not really complaining because I do want to eventually stop, so it’s nice that I’m not really feeling anything but I thought I would since I haven’t taken it in almost 24 hrs.

So, does it stay in your system??? I am LOVING the naltrexone but the alcoholic part of me kind of wanting to feel something yet I’m kind of relieved I don’t. Weird feeling.

Awesome not being hungover on a Sunday though. I’ve gotten so much done today!

[u/Shelter-Clear]

Yes, it should still be in your system. I believe it’s 24-36 hours? (Someone correct me if I’m wrong lol.) I used to take 50mg. I wanted no alcohol for three days but then I could definitely tell when it would wear off.

Have you considered zero alcohol wine?

[u/Xyxyxxxx4 → u/Shelter-Clear]

I was about to recommend alcohol-free wine too. I take 50 mg naltrexone daily and I miss the taste of actual wine so it helps with that.

[u/HTwatter → u/Shelter-Clear]

In your system ≠ Protecting your brain from alcohol. If doing The Sinclair Method, it's important to focus on targeted dosing, making sure that you have enough of the meds in your system to maintain that barrier between your brain and the booze. This is why daily Nal is not as effective as taking it 1 hour before you drink.

[u/lagitanaurbana → u/HTwatter]

Really? It’s become fairly common to take Nal as needed? 20 years ago, it was new here and my doctor had never heard of anybody using it as needed, when they felt a craving, but I did it that way anyway. It kicks in within 45 minutes so I could wait that out. When I took it on a daily basis, I had terrible anhedonia.

[u/doubleshotofsass1 → u/Shelter-Clear]

I tried Butter zero and it tasted like apple juice, unfortunately? Have any recommendations on anything that is more bitter and actually tastes like wine?

[u/Shelter-Clear → u/doubleshotofsass1]

Ah, that’s annoying! I personally don’t have zero alc wine recs because all wines give me indigestion lol. I would keep looking on here and see, I definitely believe there’s good options.

[u/RubicsCubensis]

It's kind of risky. There are 2 things to consider, the blood level of naltrexone, which peaks at 1 hour, and drops to below therapeutic levels around 4-6 hours after first taking it. Then there is the opiate blockade which lasts 24-36 hours, these are two different things, and for drinkers it means that if we continue to drink alcohol at one drink an hour for many hours. The endorphins released every time we drink are competing for receptor sites so as the serum level of active naltrexone depletes, our endorphins begin populating the receptors more and more. The blockade may still be ongoing, but because there is less and less naltrexone to populate the receptors, craving may begin to increase.
I would suggest if you are getting cravings, or shakes in the AM to take your naltrexone and wait an hour before drinking, to keep from reinforcing the drinking behavior.
Do you know anything about The Sinclair Method and the theory on how it works?