Now I know what it’s like
I work with doctors, patients in a way that I have conversations with them about their experiences with medication. So I talk to cancer patients, inflammatory disease patients, patients with metabolic issues… the whole gamut.
I’ve been lucky. I’m 48 and besides slightly high cholesterol, which is very famililal since both parents and my only sister all have it, I’m healthy. Yes, giving a good knock on that wood. I’m slightly superstitious too!
But what I do have is this nasty little issue of feeling like alcohol has a advantage on me. Why else would I not stop drinking after 1 or 2 like a normal person? Luckily I do stop, but it maybe 4 or 5 and I am picky about what I will drink… but that is no excuse.
I’ve tried medicine a few years ago… thinking back, shockingly 6 years ago… which means this has been a problem now for at least 8 years. I am truly a high anxiety persona and hold super high standards for myself so thinking back, I jumped on the medicine track when I probably wasn’t even drinking that much.
The Dr. prescribed naltrexone, which is a medication basically an opiate receptor blocker. When we drink alcohol it does several things, one is triggers reward cycle and creates neural pathways that drive us there.
Here’s a short video:
https://youtu.be/hGxNLnJmWkc?si=lYtisW1-DGmgmn2y
The only thing is of course there is a chance of side effects. And 6 years ago upon trying such medicine, I got one. And of all things on the planet I cannot endure well is nausea. Thankfully, 3 pregnancies and never had morning sickness. If I did, I’m sure I would have ended up with 1!
So with all my motivation I could only take 3 or 4 days of this horrible, stomach pain and nausea. I almost couldn’t work or anything. Tried cutting the tablets, still nauseous. Tried taking just at night, still nauseous. So done, done.
Fast forward to recently at an annual exam, good old dr. asks how’s it going again. I give her an 80% truthful answer and she suggests, how about that naltrexone again. And here is where I heard myself saying what I hear from my job all the time, ‘it worked really well, but I just couldn’t tolerate it.’
Well, she suggests, how about an anti-nausea medication? Welp, I’m no quitter so sure, let’s try it. So instructions, take it at night, and if nauseous take 1 anti-emetic. And only for 2 weeks. Only 1 day in and discouraged that too, didn’t work. Still sick as a freaking dog. As I was limited to only 1 anti-emetic medicine a day I headed to the health store for ginger chews. Amazingly they do work. So I added a new change for yesterday, took 1/2 of naltrexone at night, with my bag of chews closeby. And so far so good. Fingers crossed.
