Saturday was day 3 for me of taking nalmefene .I was visiting my son for weekend. We always have more than a few drinks together whem I'm there but the nalmephene kicked in brilliantly and I drank less than half a bottle of wine ( usually nearly 2 bottles) ..I felt so chilled out and normal Sat evening I almost can't believe it .. my usual horrible behaviour is to sneak in the kitchen and have an extra swig now and again when no one's looking and / or get the sneaky bottle from my travel bag and slug it ....so nice to have a hangover free Sunday too and enjoy breakfast ..
Took a nalmaphene on my way home tonight and had a drink as advised (day 4) 2 hrs later ...less than 2 glasses yay ..still some in the fridge which is usually heard of .. .All I can say is its working , the urge is much less . I really recommend anyone giving it a go ..I have very minimal side effects Just a bit whoozy now and again .The real testing time for me will be Thursday as we have a works Christmas meal .. If my old drinking behaviours stay at bay I will be right over the moon ...with Santa
Oh BRILLIANT, Natalie. I am delighted for you. I hope everything continues to help you reach your goal.
Every Good Wish.
Alonangel 🎇
Hello Alonangel ..Thankyou ! it is great so just hope it continues after years and years of struggling with alcohol thinking I can drink it normally but knowing I cant .I have found the support on here fantastic...so glad I browsed around and found it ...Got the meds online so only really had the usual patient info and I was scared to start the pack ...With advice and support I set off and I now know I am taking themyself correctly for my drinking habits...Christmas looming still feels a bit shivery though ...you take care and thanks for your message 😊
Stay with this medication with time you body will adjust. Your brain and body needs time to retrain the triggers for the cravings. ☝️️👍
You only have one place to live and that is your body. Take care of it and it will take care of you.😀
Your life will begin to dramatically improve in every way possible. Even if at first you can only take a baby step towards sobriety to change, you have now began that first step , keep both feet in today. Facing up to the truth is the best part of heeling. it is time to root out the cause of your problems and remove it from your life. You’ll be thankful you did.
Many Heeling Blessing sent your way. 😇
HOPE4CURE 🎅🎄❄️⛄️
Well done Natalie. I will look forward to hearing how you cope over the Christmas period, I am sure you will be fine.
Pat xx
Brilliant stuff, well done.
With regards to the holidays, I started this method late October 2013 so I was still in the early days when Christmas arrived all too quickly.
I was petrified of going off the rails!
Again, google C Three Europe and in the menu on the left hand side, look under Joanna's Journey and then 'Christmas Holidays - TSM Peril?'
I wrote about how it all worked out and compared my holiday drinking to my brothers holiday drinking. My brother does not have a drink problem and it's quite enlightening to see how compliance and mindfullness meant that my drinking followed almost exactly the same pattern as a 'normal' drinker, and then after the holidays my drinking immediately dropped back to my pre-Christmas drinking levels.
Thank you Patricia ..Christmas is a difficult for everyone with alcohol issues isn't it . I damned sure this year I want to enjoy all aspects ...lovely Christmas breakfast feeling clear headed would be a blessing and not getting drunk whilst cooking the dinner lol
As I said to someone before , this Thursday is the real test as it's a works Xmas meal .. xx
Thankyou Hope4cure I will be staying with this..I wonder how we find out the cause of our problems , sometimes wonder if it's genetic disposition as we have quite a few family members who don't have very controlled drinking and they keep coming through as they grow up. My sister was a heavy irregular binge drinker but she died in 1982 after a binge and left 2 young kids who have both have grown up to be alcoholics One is recovering with AA and support of his cousin who is also a dedicated AA member , my Dad was an alcoholic , my children have a strange disposition to alcohol too
I have let myself down many times the most stupid was starting drinking again 14 years ago after 14 years of sobriety ...Things will change now 😊
I am on day 8 now with the nalmafene , its been a good week in the fact that I have had a couple of drinks every day just to get underway with the medication and I must say have been able to stop at that ..except...last night it was the works christmas meal so in total had 4 drinks probably equating to a bottle of wine, my last tipple (old bad habit) was when I came home but most of it went down the sink.as it jusrt seemed pointless and I am so so glad I didnt sit here and drink myself into oblivion.....Although it was more than I would have liked to have drunk last night its better than my track record of 2 bottles or more and feeling rubbish and disgusted with myself I am taking my 8th tablet tonight as going to a christmassey carol do with mulled wine. After tonight I am intending to have a few alcohol free days and not take the nalmefene .From what I have read from others I have been so lucky with the side effects being minimal but I must say I havent really felt right all week, quite unsteady at times and sleeping isnt great either .BUT I can certainly put up with that if it means I drink a lot less so would recommend it highly to anyone pondering it like I was x
Brilliant, Natalie! So pleased for you.
Part of the reason the side effects are not quite as bad as you feared, but are still a little strange, is because you did took it right, using all the experience offered from others who have used it. Most medications have some side effect issues in the beginning, but steps can be taken to keep effects as minor as possible, which is what you are doing.
Try not to be disappointed because you drank a little more than you had hoped to - this happens to those without a drink problem as well. Think of how many times someone without an issue says they will just have one or two, and then end up drinking far more when they get into the swing of the event.
All you need for now is compliance, and being as mindful as you can, when you can. Being mindful is a new thing for us, we are not used to having to 'think' about our drink. We normally just knock it back without thinking of course.
But you are absolutely spot on with how you are doing this 
Well done!
Thanks so much Joanna I feel very encouraged by you... Wonder how my alcohol and nalmefen days will go now since I have been having a drink every night LOL ... the tablets are there if I need them :-)
OMG yes Christmas morning, hangover, not letting on, dinner on the go, feeling like death warmed up and again, not letting on, being offered a glass of wine and really thinking, yuk - but because I won't let on, accept it from hubs. Party hat on, dish up dinner, quick swig in the kitchen, because the wine has kicked in but not letting on!!!!!
Peeps now sleeping like babies in their chairs with me the only one awake and really angry with myself, but not letting on. Watching them sleep and peaceful and full and not drunk then looking in the mirror and thinking why? Another glass of wine to quell the feeling, whilst they sleep, but not letting on. Good grief the list goes on and all I would want is to be like them. Well this year I will be and I will join them for a good ole festive snooze. 
God bless hunnie - we are in this together x
Bless you Gwen...What you write here resonates so much with me..it is me too... That dreadful feeling of being hungover on a Christmas morning wishing it was just another day , struggling to do some kind of breakfast as my old mum is here, struggling with cooking dinner feeling like death warmed up, but sadly not struggling to have that drink and when it kicks in and then the 2nd bottle of wine is on its way down OMG noooooo ...Yes that looking in the mirror and asking why ? and still drinking through the afternoon and onwards...... then Boxing day it all begins again except I go to work with that dreadful forboding hangover.
This year though Gwen it will be different We are positive xxx
Ha, Boxing Day, last year, we had another Xmas lunch on Boxing Day -
so by about 4ish it had gone down - and so had my wine - hubs had one pint and no more - because I was feeling right on point and very festive (Shiraz Clause I think it was called !!) I suggested asking a couple of our friends round who I know love curry. So we did - I made a (correct guess) Turkey Curry and they were to come at 8pm - house smelled good and homely and Shiraz Santa also enjoyed it. Come 7pm - guess who had to go to bed. I feigned a sore tummy but it did not work and I got a telling off. I did go to bed and heard them arrive at 8pm but did not dare get up. Through next few hours, I could hear them chatting and laughing and having a few drinks (oh god no, puke time) and it has never been spoken of again. I did not apologise when I next saw them and they said nothing - which said everything to me.
I stilll carry that shame now. I have never told this story to a soul but can do on here.
This is a rough rough ride we are on, I am just glad of the like minded fam on here who don't give ~ that look ~ when they just don't get you.
Positive is right, I hope we all drop in here on Xmas Day with our Xmas wishes of support. Special people on here, the like of which I have never had the pleasure of meeting before.
Keep on trucking Nat - rooting for you on Route 66 xxx
And good health to all you other fab guys and galls x
This sure is a bumpy ride Gwen and Christmas is looming all too soon ..I just want things to carry on as well as they have this last couple of weeks....better order some more pills lol they have helped so much so far..My drinking this last few years has been very much hidden , my kids sort of know it can be an issue ,particarly my eldest son but not the full extent.
I.m often telling my sons .they shouldn't drink so much..what a joke..
So glad I stumbled over this site and all you lovely people and we can all be honest together..Believe or one of my closest friends is a recovering alcoholic,we met in rehab 30 odd yrs ago.(when NHS did stuff like that ) . We have both yo yoed a bit over the years but I have convinced her I can drink safely now and leave it at just a couple...what's that all about ! I feel terrible that she believes me but I just can't tell her and I probably never will.
Had my 96 yr old mum.over for dinner today , when I picked her up she waved a 187 ml mini bottle of wine at me asking if I would like it with my dinner ..ha ha No no no thanks it wouldn't have been enough anyway lol and just put me back on the rocky road and back to doing something stupid ...message in a bottle ! Then she wanted to leave some Christmas wine here omg ..I managed to avoid that tactfully ..don't want it here...
Going to see Santa tomorrow with my 5 yr old grandson ....how sweet and sensible is that ..It's so great to have a clear head isn't it and feel up to doing normal stuff
Keep with it Gwen..we are definitely all in this together ..I will definitely be checking in here Christmas day.. we all stand by each other
.x xx😃😃😆
Hi again, you saying about the mini bottle of wine. My hubs has done his usual bar stocking for Xmas visitors. It looks like a pub. Shelves and optics bursting. And it is always lit up and I have to pass it before going into the kitchen or back lounge. Normally, each year, I succumb and trash myself the whole time; it has been stocked for a week and I am still settling on my two small wines.
I stood and looked at them today and thought how fab they looked and I so wanted to grab a glass and sneak one from the optic unnoticed. Why does it not bother him - not fair!!!!!
This is going to be real hard for me - I so don't want to start up again because it will send me back to the heavies night after night.
I love waking up feeling clear headed every morning, so when I look at them all (tonight will be bad as he goes out with the boys and I will be sooo tempted to have myself a party) but I really don't want that awul dreaded nervous stomach knot I know I will get on waking, because I will be angry - I need to be strong.
This guys, is going to be a rocky road of a ride.
G.
