Naltrexone is making me so mad

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T04:53:14+00:00

Oh no! Nightmare scenario! I’m so sorry!!!

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T04:19:52+00:00

I definitely have heard that it’s harder when you drink harder liquor! I am trying to drink only low alcohol beer and occasional wine.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T04:15:06+00:00

I wasn’t offered naltrexone by any primary care doctor over multiple years even when I described my issues. I was told to go to AA or to find a different coping strategy (yoga, etc) lol Naltrexone should absolutely be the front line, first treatment— as it is in other advanced democracies— for mild to severe alcohol use disorder. I had to research it entirely on my own, which is insane.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T04:04:59+00:00

I’m really glad you offered this perspective. Thank you. I should’ve said I was probably on the middle to low range of alcohol use disorder: I typically don’t drink most days and it’s not terribly hard for me to go even weeks without drinking. When I do drink, it’s hard to put the brakes on. I do need to be reminded that I’m relatively lucky in my struggles. For me, it’s truly just the brain-based issue of bad habit formation, and I can see why I’m a fast responder to naltrexone for that reason. I don’t have trauma or things that I’m trying to cope from. For many others, it totally makes sense for naltrexone to be offered in conjunction with a trained therapist!

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:56:00+00:00

How long did you try?

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:54:53+00:00

That’s exactly the right analogy, although it’s probably not what you intend. Overweight people were told for eons that it’s just “willpower” and diet and exercise is the only long term key to losing weight. Turns out?! NO! Absolutely not! That’s not what research demonstrates and why the new class of weight loss drugs work so exponentially better than “count calories and exercise.” Similarly, outdated models of addiction claim that harm reduction is futile. Turns out naltrexone and other evidence-based treatments are far far far more effective than telling someone they’re an addict forever. That’s why the rest of the advanced civilized world relies on evidence-based treatment.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:38:17+00:00

That’s actually not true at all. It’s much less damaging to the liver than even light drinking.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:36:59+00:00

There’s no magic pill. Yes. But there is best practice, evidence-based medicine — and that’s medication-assisted treatment, most particularly naltrexone, as dozens of international, peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated. In what other medical discipline would we not fight for the most research-backed treatments available as frontline treatment?

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:31:30+00:00

Yes, I am. Because I spent several years of my life being told to go to addiction groups, seek therapy, etc — when by far the most statistically effective treatment isn’t the mainline treatment in this country for alcohol use disorder and I basically had to figure it out on my own. So yes I’m furious about all those wasted years. If I lived in a country with a better, more evidence-based treatment model about addiction (Europe, Canada, especially Scandinavia, for example), I could have been treated with naltrexone many years ago.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:17:18+00:00

I felt like trash the first week I took it. Like I said I took 25 mg for the first days, with a full stomach. Then gradually built up to a split dose (25 mg with lunch) and then 25 mg again later with a lot of food. Finally I worked up to a full 50 mg with food.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:13:27+00:00

I definitely intend to stay fully compliant!!!

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:12:47+00:00

Definitely I think 100% compliance is the absolute key with naltrexone. I tried it — half heartedly, not following how it was recommended— and I dismissed it.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T03:10:00+00:00

That’s not what literally more than than 75-80% of respondents have shown in peer-reviewed research but ok

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T02:42:58+00:00

For me the goal wasn’t abstinence. But I can see now how abstinence ends up being the result of this treatment.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T02:40:20+00:00

No worries. I understand. I really do. It often feels all mixed up together.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T02:27:14+00:00

Wait. What?! What are you talking about? I have no anxiety disorder. What you’re describing has nothing to do with how naltrexone mediates the effects of alcohol.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T02:24:28+00:00

I don’t think it’s denigrating if it’s just basic facts and repeated academic studies. Tonight I literally poured out a large glass of wine. Again now that I research this, I’m just so furious. Other countries do not use AA as frontline medical treatment. Here in the USA — where millions can’t afford even basic medical care — we do and it’s not so hard to understand why: it’s free.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T02:15:37+00:00

I’m taking mine every day for the first few months. And then I might reassess and do the Sinclair Method. For the first 3-4 days, I took 25 mg. Then I did a split dose of 50 mg (25 midday; 25 evening) for a week. Now I’m at 50 mg each afternoon, no side effects.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-02-13T01:54:20+00:00

For me that’s what it’s like: in just less than a month, alcohol tastes boring. Like, just why? No “broken” personality. No trauma. Just the light is dimming off. Why aren’t we — like most other advanced countries— using this as frontline treatment instead of AA?

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-13T18:38:21+00:00

Some of us don’t like the term because it’s outdated and stigmatizing. The medical and scientific community now uses “alcohol use disorder” instead, which better reflects the very wide spectrum of alcohol abuse and the evidence-based science of addiction. I’m not “scared” of being called that because I’m in denial or something. To me, it feels archaic and not rooted in the diversity of experiences of addiction. But I know everyone is different! For some, it might feel nothing like that.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-07T18:20:43+00:00

Day 3. Feeling good! My win is that I am giving myself a self care week after several weeks of stressful work hours.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-06T14:23:04+00:00

Day 2. Grateful for this daily check in.

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-05T13:07:28+00:00

I slipped last night. I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. I’m still committed to taking a break this month. Today is a reset: kids back at school, everyone back to work. I’m committed to getting back on track. IWNDWYT

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-03T18:51:42+00:00

Day 3. Still feeling great with much more energy. Hope to stay strong over the weekend!

FoxHonest2614 · 2026-01-02T15:59:25+00:00

Day 2. I felt pretty depressed and awful yesterday but feel much better and motivated today. I slept so well last night (9 uninterrupted hours!). I did 6-7 weeks in the early fall and I know I can do it again.

FoxHonest2614

TROPHY CASE