Skullbaby's Progress
Hi Nutsy! Thanks for posting 
I'm glad to hear that your early attempt at bac was met with success, even though the SE's were problematic.
As for the SE's in particular the bac brain, yes I know what you mean. What worked for me is the fact that they fade after a little while. How long were you on the bac? 2 months I think you said?
My experience was a bit different that some others on here, and it worked really well for me. Many people here are understandably anxious to hit their switch soon as possible, in attempt to bring the alcoholic drinking under control and gain control over our life. I certainly understand that. But for me, I decided to take a much slower approach because I was worried about the SE's. I knew I'd keep drinking for a while as I titrated up slowly in dosage, and decided that was OK for me because I really wanted to make sure that I had a handle on SE's.
In hindsight, I am really glad I did, because I think it was an instrumental part of the success that I am experiencing. I suspect that lower dosages for a longer period of time (as opposed to high doses quickly) helped my brain adjust well to the medication-- it minimized SE's (insomnia and spaciness/bac brain) and more importantly, helped me slide naturally into indifference.
I liken it to practicing drums one hour a day over 3 months and finding it starting to come really naturally through muscle memory, as opposed to practicing 24 hours a day and being insanely good but having really bloody hands. OK lame analogy but you get the idea
I do think that nal/TSM was a big part of my success too but I credit bac with doing the most good-- because now I seem to be strong enough to not fall weak at the cravings.
So, in your case, you might consider doing low doses of bac for longer periods, increasing in slooow increments and seeing how you deal in your job. You'll no doubt still experience some somnolence/spaciness, but maybe it'll be tolerable and you'll adjust well, as I did. Maybe you'll be sharp enough at your job that it'll be tolerable, and eventually the drinking (and the hangovers) will lessen. If you're anything like me, I have to imagine that bac brain is still preferable to regular hangovers!
For the record, I started at 10 mg and slowly added 10 mg only ever 8 days (which most people will tell you is a snail's pace). I seem to have found my switch at 80 mg, and today is my 13th day AF (and fairly effortlessly at that).
As far as UKBlonde goes, you can search for her posts (or any by user or subject) in the search field above right. She also posts on thesinclairmethod.com • Index page forums regularly, I believe- and those forums in general are great info for naltrexone/TSM.
Please keep posting and good luck, Nutsy! Love your username btw
Nutsy Squirrel;1532001 wrote: Hi Skull. Just wanted to thank you for replying to my first post. It should not have been on that thread. Your journey so far has been inspirational for me because you are functioning well on the various meds. I really want to try the Bac again I just wish there was a way to deal with what others have called Bac brain. Have you experienced this at all?
Also wanted to applaud you on your AF days. You are blessed to have a supportive partner.
Keep on with the keepin on. Still lookin for UK Blondes thread
Also wanted to applaud you on your AF days. You are blessed to have a supportive partner.
Keep on with the keepin on. Still lookin for UK Blondes thread
I'm glad to hear that your early attempt at bac was met with success, even though the SE's were problematic.As for the SE's in particular the bac brain, yes I know what you mean. What worked for me is the fact that they fade after a little while. How long were you on the bac? 2 months I think you said?
My experience was a bit different that some others on here, and it worked really well for me. Many people here are understandably anxious to hit their switch soon as possible, in attempt to bring the alcoholic drinking under control and gain control over our life. I certainly understand that. But for me, I decided to take a much slower approach because I was worried about the SE's. I knew I'd keep drinking for a while as I titrated up slowly in dosage, and decided that was OK for me because I really wanted to make sure that I had a handle on SE's.
In hindsight, I am really glad I did, because I think it was an instrumental part of the success that I am experiencing. I suspect that lower dosages for a longer period of time (as opposed to high doses quickly) helped my brain adjust well to the medication-- it minimized SE's (insomnia and spaciness/bac brain) and more importantly, helped me slide naturally into indifference.
I liken it to practicing drums one hour a day over 3 months and finding it starting to come really naturally through muscle memory, as opposed to practicing 24 hours a day and being insanely good but having really bloody hands. OK lame analogy but you get the idea
I do think that nal/TSM was a big part of my success too but I credit bac with doing the most good-- because now I seem to be strong enough to not fall weak at the cravings.
So, in your case, you might consider doing low doses of bac for longer periods, increasing in slooow increments and seeing how you deal in your job. You'll no doubt still experience some somnolence/spaciness, but maybe it'll be tolerable and you'll adjust well, as I did. Maybe you'll be sharp enough at your job that it'll be tolerable, and eventually the drinking (and the hangovers) will lessen. If you're anything like me, I have to imagine that bac brain is still preferable to regular hangovers!
For the record, I started at 10 mg and slowly added 10 mg only ever 8 days (which most people will tell you is a snail's pace). I seem to have found my switch at 80 mg, and today is my 13th day AF (and fairly effortlessly at that).
As far as UKBlonde goes, you can search for her posts (or any by user or subject) in the search field above right. She also posts on thesinclairmethod.com • Index page forums regularly, I believe- and those forums in general are great info for naltrexone/TSM.
Please keep posting and good luck, Nutsy! Love your username btw
From the first sip the familiar euphoric feelings lit up in my brain, and after that I was off and running. It felt like it took less that 5 minutes to finish each beer. I did gulp down a pint of water between each beer.
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