Morning. I took my third tablet on thursday which i posted about. yesterday, as the previous time i took it i felt like life had no joy. im quite a happy playful person by nature but the last two times I have felt utterly joyless. i cried yesterday, made a decision to move house, and that life was very grey. i was in bed again at 7 having being utterly exhausted from not having slept well again (i dont sleep well at the best of times but this is worse). Even today i dont feel fully recovered and like myself. it struck me this morning that if the pleasure receptors are cut off for alcohol that must be the same for everything too. given i still dont feel fully restored this morning does it mean the dose is too strong for me? Has anyone tried halfing it? Im not sure i can stand feeling this low afterwards for up to two days. this is the bit, given the nature of the drug, and what it does that i think wont wear off? At a bit of a crossroads really. i felt like i was sinking into depression yesterday and i cant risk that. Do i stop taking them or reduce the dose.
If you have any experience of this specifically or know what happens further down the line id really like to hear your thoughts/experiences.
Thank you.
I felt awful the first two days. Anxious, depressed (I do suffer from depression so it was scary to have a taste of it again).
I carried on taking full dose every day and it honestly got better every day and about five days in those feelings had all gone. Other side effects such as day and night sweating have unfortunately continued but the anxiety, exhaustion ones have definitely gone.
Look at it this way you've continued to put alcohol in your system even though it gave you feelings of depression and paranoia so putting up with these side effects for a few days could be well worth it.
morning Odishon. Thanks for coming back to me. If I know that the feelings of depression and anxiety will pass I can carry on. I suppose I know the beast that is booze but this is unchartered teratory. It's if that's a permanent thing I can't do it having pulled myself back from the abyss to meany times before.
Overall my my intake has dropped like a stone . I've had two bottles of wine in a week over 2 tablets instead of my one or two bottles a night. Need to focus on that.
Have a a good weekend :-)
Hello, there are a few similar threads on this subject at the moment. I know how you feel. I started the drug last Sunday. I am told that the side effects will go after 7 - 10 days continous use. Whilst most subsided after a few days i was left with discomfort in my chest and feel this was the muscle spasm spin off . I felt terrible and like you the joy of life was non existant. I also take anti depressants and so was acutly aware of further complications that may occur. I had not had a drink all week. I planned to have one on Thursday but just felt too bad. I made the decision to have two days off the drug Friday and Saturday. Still not feeling well but i had three smal wines over a meal. This morning i feel much better physically. The discomfort is not so bad and i feel better in myself. I am hoping to enjoy a nice evening with family tonight and share sensibly a drink. Then back on the drug Sunday. I just couldn,t bear it over tge weekend. I am pleased i had decided to miss it out a couple of days as it has reassured me that the discomfort is linked to the side effects and not something more sinister.
Please don,t give up with this , i know how you feel but it will pass and improve. One point about reducing the dose, discuss that with your doctor. Do not try and half the tablet as it is designed to absorb with the coating of the tablet a protection. It may harm you if you do break the coating of the tablet. Good luck
Thanks Ray. I totally understand wanting a few days off. No tablet since Thursday but I still feel awful today. Tearful and sad. I really do feel it's too strong for me. I have read other threads whereby people have chopped them in 3. I take your point about the coating and the effect. I have bought some empty capsules and am now considering halving them just to get past the side effects for when not drinking and whole one if I do. I hope it improves soon as I can't do much more of this.
Hope you're weekend goes well :-)
Hi Ray,
It sounds as though you're drinking on days you're having a break from Selincro? You do know that's the exact opposite to what you're supposed to do?
The only rule is that you must take Selincro every time you drink.
Not judging you, just wanted others reading to know that's not how Selincro works.
Hi TLB!
I have been on selincro for seven week. I experienced the same feelings as you have for the first week. No matter how bad it is, it's better than a hangover!! Stick with it!!
i would recommend taking it every day for at least the first eight weeks and then if you feel like having a few dry days, stop. Otherwise it will suck the good out of anything else you do. It just kills the pleasure centres in your brain. I take Xanax to help sleep, but if you can stay away from them, they really don't help.
Hello, my understanding is different the way it has been prescribed for me.
Are you living in the UK where it has only recently become available on the NHS. There are guidlines and the criteria for prescribing is :
Nalmefene (also known as Selincro) is recommended as a possible treatment for people with alcohol dependence who:
are still drinking more than 7.5 units per day (for men) and more than 5 units per day (for women) 2 weeks after an initial assessment and
do not have physical withdrawal symptoms and
do not need to either stop drinking straight away or stop drinking completely.
Nalmefene should only be taken if the person is also having ongoing support to change their behaviour and to continue to take their treatment, to help them reduce their alcohol intake.
I do not need or want to stop drinking, just to reduce to safe levels. My understanding was that you could stop taking it on the days you want to have a drink. NO way can I have a drink when taking it,
Happy for you to provide more evidence for me to say I am doing it wrong !
Hi Ray,
That absolutely is the wrong advice. Selincro should ONLY be taken on the drinking days and only not be taken on the days off.
Have you read the info on The Sinclair Method or seen any posts on here from health worker Paul?
Selincro blocks the pleasure receptors of the brain when drinking alcohol therefore stopping your brain seeing alcohol as the pleasure it once was. If you take it when you're not drinking you're blocking pleasure from non drinking activities.
Please research even a little bit of The Sinclair Method online and you will find this information to be the opposite of what you are doing.
All the best.
I will look that up Thanks. At present though I could not touch a drink whilst taking the drug. Are you in the UK and are you aware of the Nice Guildlines ?
Hello again, I have just been doing a little reading. The Sinclair method is a treatment for Alcoholics requiring to stop drinking from what I have briefly read. In the UK Nalmefene ( Selincro ) has not been licenced for use using the Sinclair Method. The NHS are offering it as a way to reduce drinking in individuals with a higher drinking rate . It is not intended in the UK to be prescribed to patients who need to stop drinking altogether.
Here is a link to the Guide lines here in the UK.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta325
ray
Yes have read the NICE guidelines.
Even on my prescription label it says 'To be taken as required on each day there is a risk of drinking alcohol'.
Thanks Michael. I am sticking with it. Am drinking significantly less already. Several dry days and more planned. I have to buy the prescription so taking it for 8 weeks solid is not an option for economic reasons. I am finding my way I think and this forum certainly helps so thank you for your support :-)
It would be great if PaulJTurner1964 could join this discussion.
I have been researching quite a bit of material since yesterday about the Sinclair Method and the background to granting the UK licence of Nalmefene. The two seem to conflict in some ways in that TSM is a life long commitment of taking Nalmefene. All the material I have read through NICE Guidlines and the Granting of the UK licence discuss options of shorter term us and caution of prescribing after 12 months.
You may have read some of my other posts on various threads over the past week since I started Nalmefene. I fit the Nice guidlines as someone with a mild dependancy with no physical dependancy on alcohol. I did not wake up craving a drink , I did not require a drink during the day, unless on holiday or a special occassion. My problem was slipping into a routine of sitting in front of the TV each evening and consuming ' on average ' 1.5 bottles of wine, occassionally a beer first and occassionally a spirit to finish. However, usually just the wine. It became a habit difficult to reduce. I don't want to stop drinking altogether. I want to enjoy a drink on weekends when in company and or other special occassions that occur during the week. Generally though I want to cut down and have several days free of alcohol for health reasons.
After 5 days of taking Nalmefene I just could not face a drink. The side effects saw to that. My main issue ( as I have documented here before ) was a heaviness in my chest probably associated with the expected muscle spasms that was playing havoc with my Hiatus Hernia. On Thursday I planned to have a drink but could not face it. Friday and Saturday was always my plan to have a drink. I had thought it okay to stop the Nalmefene on these days but apparently, certainly under the The Sinclair Method , that is a NO NO ! Friday evening I had three small glasses of wine with a meal. Saturday I only managed 2.5 small glasses. I intend to recontinue the Nalmefene today .
Now given that the granting of the UK licence to prescribe Nalmefene does not adhear to The Sinclair Method am I doing wrong ( as as been suggested by odishon , well meaning I am sure )
One thing I read that does worry me is TSM states if you come off the drug the brain adapts and the pleasure of alcohol increases there causing more problems than you started with. I had no intention of taking this drug for life so this is becoming an issue for me.
I hope PaulJTurner1964 reads this as he is a RMN working in this field in the UK. I am retired now but have life long experience in the NHS in both mental and general health. That accounts for my drinking then lol
This is really interesting stuff Ray. You've obviously done some research. I had no idea the nice guidelines were different to TSM. Because of the side effects I've not taken a tablet since Thursday. I drank two glasses of wine on Friday night and three over the space of 5 hours last night without taking further meds as I just couldn't face continuing to feel so low. Now those two nights for me I was more than happy with my level of consumption so I really get what your saying although it's in direct contrast to TSM. I'm still considering lowering the dose next time to see how that works and have bought capsules to try to avoid problems. It really does seem too strong for me and seems to last for days not 24 hours. I will do what is best for me. Look forward to reading more on this one. T.
There seems to be a different approach with the UK licence of Nalmefene to theTSM. However, it is a worry to me when I read in the Sinclair model that stopping the medication can cause the brain to adapt ( I am guessing after a longer use of the drug ) to want to give you more pleasure from alcohol. I didn't sign up for that !
Definitely well meant ray. I'm sure Paul will comment when he sees this thread as I think he is quite frustrated with the incorrect guidelines being given out for this drug.
Hi, i have asked Paul via another thread to join this discussion. I am also a health professional ( recently retired ) and so i would welcome his input given he is working in this field at present. It worries me that the licence was Granted in the UK under different terms to that of TSM. I certainly was not under the impression that i would take this drug for life.
It seems its 'release' in the UK has been a right old mess! Most alcohol counsellors have never heard of it.
I would highly recommend reading Dr Eskapa's book 'The Cure For Alcoholism'. It is meant to be taken for life unless of course one stops drinking for ever.
Yes i see that is the intention of Sinclair method. However the brittish trials were not about that and intention was that most would not need to be on the drug more than a year. You are right about the drug and alcohol agencies. Few know that this is now available in the UK.
I personally read about the Scottish Trial in the press and waiting for NICE to pass it for England and Wales. I approached my GP in March who had not a clue about it. I of course had to jump through the hoops before being prescribed Nalmefene last week. In the mean time i was educating my support worker that i was required to see. Lol