People in Moderation Management share experiences of naltrexone use

Diana, three months after starting naltrexone - mm@maelstrom.stjohns.edu - 6/25/2001

Anyway, as the world turns: I'm out of work and could spend all summer
drinking away the bit of safety money I've got. But I'm not. I'm still
down the 26 pounds I lost since starting the Nal, so it's not my
imagination that something is working. I'm off 3 of the 5
psycho-pharmaceuticals I was taking, I'm probably the happiest I've ever
been - really - and I'm not in therapy. I'm not paranoid, depressed,
confused or delusion. Or terrified. All of which I was before the
change. And I do believe it's because of the decreased alcohol intake
combined with the utter lack of obsession and associated guilt of
drinking. I'm present, available, sociable. Too much to ascribe to
Nal? Not if you ask me.

I do drink now... just it's not very much, well
under the limit, despite the fact that my lover and I are out just about
every night. I pretty much toss out most of what gets put in front of
me. The effect alcohol has on me with Nal in my system is that I will
get tired, relaxed physically, a little stupid and very full. But not
high. Oddly enough, Naltrexone doesn't block "happiness" at all, and I
feel unbelievably giddy-high at times - just not as a result of
drinking.

Anyway, my experience is this: I love to go to the local bar. This is
a cool little Oregon beach town with lots of pagans, artists, surfers,
fishermen and poets and the bar is just a blast. Great little band,
everyone dances, everyone is trying to get laid. Pretty funny. Most of
the people leave at closing with a barrel full under their belts, barely
able to stand up, let alone walk.

I don't get drunk, I don't keep up, I
turn down or give away most of the drinks people buy for me, I have a
great time, laugh my ass off, dance, watch and mix with the crowd - and
remember everything. My lover & my friends would die laughing if
anybody ever suggested I had a drinking problem. Unbelievable.
Cosmically unbelievable. I know I'm rambling on, but honestly Alex,
just the fact that I have a lover who is a grown up, who I talk to,
share shit with, am present for and can relate to is a miracle and would
never have happened if I was still numbing out with booze every day.

I don't know, everything has been affected. In a very positive way.
I'm not even a workaholic any more. Does Naltrexone impact every
obsessive compulsion? Am I too far on the positive side of Naltrexone
for your study? In the early days I did experiment and learn that you
can, if horribly driven, you can drink until you pass out, even on
Naltrexone... so why don't I?