People in Moderation Management share experiences of naltrexone use

Aloha Dave - mm@maelstrom.stjohns.edu - 7/18/2001

One week of successful moderation. What does it signify, that I'm
going to be able to maintain it for another week, another month, a
year, a lifetime? I'm not naive enough to think that, knowing from
past history how quickly resolve can melt back into dissipation. After
all, I've gone for a year without drinking at all, only to have it
back like a 500 lb. gorilla nearly as soon as I started drinking
again.

But what this week, with a big assist from Naltrexone, has done, for
the first time in a very long time, is to give me hope that I can get
on with dealing with life without abuse of alcohol being the major
stumbling block that it has been for practically my entire life. It's
given me the perspective (once again) of how truly wasteful it is to
be either drunk or hungover practically on a daily basis--who in the
hell wouldn't be depressed under such circumstances? And who else but
me is responsible for it? Not my parents, my upbringing, my genes, my
habits, my friends, my environment, my human frailties and self
doubts, but simply me at the end of the day, altho of course all of
the above and more are factors that I have to recognize and deal with
in order to continue to cope. So, while I'll continue to use naltrex
for as long as I have to to get sufficient moderation under my belt,
the additional hope is to get back to doing it with just me at the
helm; but in the meantime, it makes a hell of a first mate:-)

I post the above not only to talk to myself, but to try to convey to
the newbies that may be finishing up a 30--that's only the start, the
very beginning of this thing called moderation. Hopefully you can rely
on your own plan and resoluteness, but until it becomes second nature,
don't be lulled into complacency, the sucker will bite you in the ass
before you even realize it.

Good luck and smooth sailing, but prepare the boat for rough waters
nonetheless. Having used up my allotment of mangled clichés, guess
I'll trundle off to deal with the next issue that emerges through the
fog of long neglect. On-On!