r/naltrexone

I 27F recently started taking 25 mgs of naltrexone for alcohol-use disorder. I have struggled with binge-drinking for the last 10 years, and also work in the nightlife, so I am faced with a lot of peer-pressure to drink. I am able to stay sober for a few weeks, sometimes months, but as soon as I have 1 drink I black out, every single time. My friends and co-workers know that I have struggled with binge drinking, but when I have expressed that this is a significant issue to me and I want to be 100% sober, their responses are the same “you’re not an alcoholic, you don’t drink everyday” etc. My binge-drinking is the reason I am still doing my undergrad at 27, and the reason I have blown through enormous amounts of money, but it’s not that bad because I don’t drink everyday, right?? Now that I am on Naltrexone I have disclosed it to a few friends/co-workers because I haven’t been feeling like myself, and for the first time ever I was able to have only 1 glass of wine at dinner which I was excited to share with others. Not only has the Naltrexone helped me with binge-drinking, but it has also helped me with my generally impulsive behaviour. My peers are not reacting positively to this, they are treating my choice to medicate like it’s a skill issue or a character flaw. I have received unhelpful and unsolicited advice, such as “You need to find ways to control yourself without medication,” “try exercising,” “just limit yourself to 2 drinks.” I find this so unbelievably ableist and ignorant, and am curious if anyone else has experienced the same thing?

One of the things I've always wondered about naltrexone is how it impacts mental health. Since it blocks pleasure receptors, I just assumed it would have a detrimental effect on mental health or have bad interactions with mental health meds. But I just learned that, not only does naltrexone not interact with mental health meds, it's actually been shown to improve mood in people who are taking both antidepressants and naltrexone. This was specifically studied on people taking naltrexone for alcohol, but I assume the effect is the same for anyone taking it, whether for alcohol, food addiction, porn addiction, or opioid addiction. Does this surprise anyone else, that it actually causes an upswing in mood when paired with depression meds?

I'm drinking now and have no inclination to stop

After taking sublingual tab for 3 years, need to switch to patch to save my teeth. Was taking ~400mcg tab (100mcg 4x per day). Tried switching to 5mcg patch but it disturbed my already poor sleep, so had to take it off after 12 hours. Put patch on again for 3 hours but dose is just too high, increasing nausea and extreme sweating. Anyone else experience this? What can I do? Some suggested putting tape down first to partially occlude the patch. Any real pharmacist have a recommendation? I’m not sure why 5mcg dose feels way too high, maybe high absorption because I’m always sweating from other symptoms? Why would the patch cause nausea and sweat symptoms that feel like I took 400mcg all at once?

They said most people it takes 60-90 days and I'm coming up on 90. I've always had bad luck with medications. Really the only thing it's doing is somewhat lessening the buzz so I don't get sloppy, which is good I suppose, but no lessening of cravings at all.

Anybody else in the same boat?

My ex started this medication last night, all I know is he takes a half dose. He experienced (in somewhat order over 4 hours) : feeling weird/ high, feeling like he’s floating, feeling extremely high energy, anxiety, confusion, slurred speech, paranoia, panic attacks, inability to stand, extreme depression/ suicidal thoughts, mood swings, vomiting, small seizure, more vomiting and delirium.

He started having panic attacks so I picked him up and we drove around for a while, eventually he got out of my moving vehicle in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. He was acting super weird leading up to this but I kept asking if he was okay and he kept saying yes. He ended up at my apartment and had a small seizure, kept forgetting where he was, vomiting, and I had to help him walk from my car. Even when he’s not like this he refuses to go to the hospital so he stayed with me so somebody could be with him all night but it was very difficult to get him to cooperate between his best friend and I convincing him he could not be alone.

I’m trying to get him to talk to somebody before his next dose tonight so I don’t have to end up picking him up in fear of him hurting himself. Is this normal?? When does it go away? He’s been sober for 3 months he just struggles with it.

I’m having a hard time coming to terms with not drinking this weekend. I decided I would go to the dispensary and get some weed to smoke and relax. I’m trying to see how people’s experiences have been with taking naltrexone and smoking weed. Is it best to just avoid it?

I started yesterday and man it’s making me tired. I also have nausea, I’ve only had one piece of toast today 😔

I understand nausea is a common side effect but I was not expecting fatigue like this. Anyone else?

Do you think it’s fine to take 25 mg in the morning and then 25 mg late afternoon when I start having a craving?

My doc prescribed me 50mg, but I cut it in half since I told him I’m very sensitive to side effects with most meds and he said that was fine. When does the sick feeling go away? To me, it reminds me of morning sickness or when you’re first starting a strong antibiotic. I’ve been on it since Monday and AF for 11 days now. I plan on having one drink on Saturday (just a beer) and I’m hoping 25mg will keep me from wanting more.

Hi guys I had my first dose of naltrexone over 36 hours ago (50mg) and I’m so severely nauseous and cold sweats still. What can I do?! I feel like this dose was way too high and I’m not going to take it anymore. My last drink was 4 days ago and I wasn’t in any withdrawals. I started naltrexone more as a precaution… and I sure regret it!!

hi, i have bpd and autism diagnosed and was just wondering if i could do what my title says. my psychiatrist suggested that i started at 25mg of naltrexone for the next 2 days from now but i'm feeling inpatient because i had an extremely triggering day today at work. i had to leave early and clock out because the manager was driving me insane, gaslighting me and gave me a verbal warning over a mistake i did yesterday (she was telling me i made this mistake literally today) so she wrote me up for it.

as my title states, im taking naltrexone for SH (self-harming thoughts) at work. i was having vivid intrusive thoughts about cutting myself in the bathroom at work with the box cutters that they provide there for the stockers. so i admitted myself to a mental health clinic to get evaluated and basically as a way to escape a potentially harmful environment. they didn't admit me to a psych ward obviously, but this was a concern i had before admitting myself. they just made a safety plan for me and suggested i tried grounding techniques at work and gave me a doctor's note.

my question is; however, am i able to disregard some of my psychiatrist's advice if i tolerated 25mg of naltrexone perfectly fine? it has been 12 hours since my last dose so i just really want to know before i go back to work tomorrow. because i know it's going to be super awkward tomorrow which will be a trigger in of itself. i was thinking since i took the 25mg of naltrexone before work and had it in my system for almost 2 hrs that maybe it helped me not SH and get help instead. however, im also on 20mg abilify so it could be that. but im feeling pretty desperate and am just wanting to know if taking another dose of 25mg of naltrexone before i go to bed is a viable and safe option. i just want to be on a higher dose just in case i get triggered again tomorrow.

i know my psychiatrist won't really care if i do this if i felt fine on 25mg but i just wanted some internet advice before i take a second dose to make sure it's ok and that i'll be fine. i haven't drank or anything btw. im just concerned about wanting to relapse tomorrow due to my boss and the work environment. i know it isn't a magic pill but i'm feeling very desperate for help. thoughts? comments? anything helps, really. thank u for reading.

I literally take 0.5 mg and it keeps me good for 24 hours. I tried 50mg and was sick for says. Anyone else?

I started 25 mg of NAL 6 days ago and I was just feeling so down today about missing the buzz of the first glass of wine and…

Ding! Apple Watch health trend alert! My resting heart rate dropped over 10% in the last 6 days!

It was the little boost I needed today to keep going.

I wish I could make this a sticky somehow.

I've attempted Naltrexone multiple times for AUD. Each time I had to stop the medication (50mg) due to horrible side effects lasting days!

Headache, felt drunk, agitated, aggressive, brain fog, etc

After reading up on my issue I found that may people experience the same side effects and abandon Naltrexone.

Don't abandon Naltrexone, ask your provider for a dose change. I only need 0.5mg for Naltrexone to work. That's 1 50mg pill divided by 100! You may need more or less. It sounds crazy but search the web for Low Dose Naltrexone, people use extremely low doses to treat complex issues

Work with your practitioner. All I'm saying is that MANY people require a very small dose to be effective. Don't give up.

For the first time ever I took a 50mg for AUD after being sober 3 weeks and within the hour I literally passed out on my bathroom floor as I was brushing my teeth. Felt like a sudden hot flash followed by extreme nausea then next thing I know I’m on the ground. Has this happened to anyone else?

My partner has a history of AUD. Used to be bad bad, everyday drinking. Lots of issues associated. Over the years he’s had long periods of sobriety on and off. Currently, drinks a few times a year. But when he does, he goes big. He describes it as “needing to shut his brain off”. Wants to drink on vacations, or when something crappy happens or is stressed. not sure if he has a desire to drink moderately when he does drink for those reasons. But he has expressed that he wishes he could be a normal drinker and doesn’t understand why he can’t just have 1. Anyway, would naltrexone benefit him? Does he have to truly want to moderate or abstain? Does someone have to take it forever for it to be effective? Does he have to take it every day even though he doesn’t drink daily? Thanks for any insight!

So many people are talking about how hard it is to adjust to Naltrexone that I want to mention this. If I use THC while taking Nal, I get quite nauseous and get a bad, unrelenting headache.

Hiii everyone, would love some feeback because I am getting anxious that it's not going to work for me:
Context: I am sober from alcohol but since getting sober, I put on a lot of weight and have been struggling with overeating and binging. I've been on Prozac and Wellbutrin 300mg from around 6 months (mentioning it because I learned that Bupropion + Naltrexone = a cheap version of Contrave). After discussion with my psychiatrist, he started me on Nalrexone 50 mg, I've been on it or 10 days already and 0 effect. I take it in the morning before eating, I don't have big side effects apart from fatigue that is manageable and some digestion problem.
BUT for weight loss specifically, I am tracking my calories and i haven't noticed less appetite and maybe a tiny bit less binging but barely. When did you start noticing weight loss effect? Can it not work for some people ? I am overweight now and really need to lose 40 pounds.
Thank youuuu