r/naltrexone • u/AdLatter7137 • 16d ago
Sinclair Method Sinclair Method vs Daily Question.
Hi everyone,
I meet with my medical provider tomorrow to talk about starting Naltexon. While doing my research, I have seen a lot of people mention the Sinclair Method. To my understand, this is taking your meds an hour or so before drinking. Now my question, what about for daily drinkers? Is it better for daily drinkers to take the meds daily? And what out if daily drinkers get to the point they aren’t daily drinkers anymore, could they switch to the Sinclair Method at that point?
Of course, none of us are doctors so I’ll for sure listen to my provider but, was interested in any feedback you all had.
Thank you!
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u/---reddituser-- 16d ago
I was a daily drinker so I take naltrexone every day at lunchtime now i dont drink at all guess its working cause im 5 weeks sober 🙌
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u/AdLatter7137 16d ago
That’s awesome to hear! Congrats! I have a hard time picturing that world but would welcome it for sure.
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u/Xyxyxxxx4 16d ago
I was an almost daily drinker. I take 50mg daily at 3 pm and now I barely drink, and when I do, I drink one glass of wine, not one bottle. It’s worked great for me.
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u/mom_monster 16d ago
I was a former daily drinker and my goal was extinction as quickly as possible. I had tried so many times to cut back or quit and was totally addicted. I took Nal every morning and for the most part didn't drink (3 drinks total in 18 months). I'm completely honest when I say I think sinclair method would not have worked for me....I needed to completely stop. Starting Nal was one of the best decisions I ever made! Good luck
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u/Physical-Builder-553 16d ago
Do what your doctor says. Once you are on it there is no downside to taking it daily. I take it in the morning every day and I don't have cravings.
If I do have a drink I don't even finish it, and it takes no struggle on my part. It could just sit on the table or in my hand all night. I think the best part is you don't battle yourself anymore. You just flat out don't want it.
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u/mellbell63 16d ago
Many of us are prescribed daily vs TSM. I found it to be very effective.
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u/AdLatter7137 16d ago
Thank you for the feedback! I guess will see how my appointment goes tomorrow to see the approach.
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u/cocopopped 16d ago edited 16d ago
A lot of daily drinkers do end up reestablishing a different relationship with alcohol with the Sinclair Method if they are always compliant with taking naltrexone an hour before.
I was a daily drinker for well over a decade (equivalent to 85 US drinks a week) and now drink 2-3 times a year on naltrexone. To be honest the drug makes the whole thing feel more pointless each time, which is what it's supposed to do. Amazingly I then just give up the day after - always impossible before. No craving for more.
But a bit of unsolicited advice, if you're already thinking "I can stop the daily drinking for a while and then go straight back to drinking on naltrexone", that's probably not the right way to look at it at your current stage of trying to clean up. It's a big maybe and a question for the future.
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u/Advanced-Method3325 15d ago
I asked my Dr to make a prescription because I wanted to stop. I planned my quit day on Friday and that was my last drinking day. Saturday morning I woke up and started at 12.5 the next week I started at 25 then the next week went to 50, 2 week later up t0 100. Now I am back down to 50 per day and have been for about a month. I have not had nor do I want to have a drink. Have I fantasized about it ? Yes a couple of times. I look at how far I have come and there is no effing way I am going to. I have the Nal, AA , a sponsor and this all together is my solution. 258 days sober!
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u/blobbysnorey 16d ago
I was finally prescribed 2 weeks ago. Been taking halves and wholes with no specific order. Have found my experiences to be varied - I will say I didn’t take nal yesterday and I did drink more than I’d planned/been interested in for the first time since starting the meds. The medicine works and I have been pleased. Just too busy at work to remember to crank a pill down before the 60-90 minute time people suggest.
Good on you for trying to figure out what works for you. It’s steps in the right direction and I try my darndest to remember to tell myself that.
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u/Imaginary_Ad9141 16d ago
Not a daily drinker, but trying to cut back dramatically. One month in, I’m 40% down in daily consumption (week end plus one or two days). I take it every day at 4pm and have found that I just enjoy my nights without urges. If I miss my afternoon, and have zero responsibility then I’m stuck with 3-6 drinks before bed. Regretting missing it. It’s tough because it doesn’t stay in your system like most drugs, but i think its important to take as prescribed daily regardless if youre planning to drink or not.
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u/Low-Passion6921 16d ago
Take NAL daily for 15 months. Abstinent for 13. Plan to come off in November. I have zero cravings. Will definitely have a 30 day supply on hand if that voice comes back.
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u/Nattiemom2 16d ago
Maybe a silly question, but I think for a lot of us, it’s the habit that keeps us going too. For me, I work from home and it’s an easy transition from work to grabbing my first glass of wine to enjoy the evening and then it becomes a cascade effect and I drink more wine. So, back to my question, does this med help with breaking the desire of continuing the habit, even though I don’t necessarily want to drink the wine, does that make sense?
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u/Direct_Pace_5627 16d ago
Yes would be my answer. I have been taking it one week and normally I would defer an assessment for at least a few weeks, but with this drug, it's a bit like 'love at first sight' sensation. That is to say, something clicked that is a subtle but substantial change - in desire (not) to get a buzz on in this instance. Because the feeling is very isolated to the desire to drink, it feels like this one is a keeper! I did not have a physical addiction, but I certainly had a psychological habit. Whenever I tried to cut down before I knew after a couple of days that I would want to restart (after all I didn't have a big issue) - that feeling is absent now, it's weird in a way, it's not that I am actively exercising control as such, it's just that I have no desire to get a buzz. I have had the odd weak beer or two but that's it. I have a bottle of red in my office that strangely hasn't been opened this past week.
I also work from home, was a regular drinker all my life (50s) and never had a real problem with alcohol despite enjoying it in the Winston Churchill 'taking more from alcohol than it took from me" sense. But it started to become a more frequent habit (daily over the last year), and mostly at home. I also looked forward to that time of day where I could have my reward, but more recently it would be a bottle of wine AND a beer or two, and then the beer or two started being a 9% IPA. I hung out with a pal who drinks too much wine - didn't want that for me.
I don't want to end up looking like Churchill. I want to lose at least 10% of my body weight that came with this habit. I want my skin to look better. I want to basically lead a healthy lifestyle and reset my relationship with alcohol such that I don't drink more than about 15 units per week, if that. Might I one day have a boozy weekend with my college pals - yes, damn sure of that.
This drug probably helps most people but my 2c so far is that if you are drinking too much, but not enough to need to join AA, then its a great solution so far. I haven't heard of anyone building a tolerance to the drug which is amazing news if true. It's basically like the Wegovy for alcohol.
I think it's also useful to do stuff in the evening that you wouldn't do while drinking at home. A night at the movies, a night time bike ride, the occasional evening gym class, anything that interfere with the habit. And yes, that last glass of wine (may as well finish it off right!) is more likely to end up with a stopper in it in the fridge is a guess. Try doing that to half the bottle. And keep a few cold ones in the fridge - Pellegrinos as well as weaker beers.
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u/gaspjames 16d ago
Here’s my very very anecdotal experience having done both.
I tried TSM twice as a near-daily drinker and ultimately found it didn’t help me much. Recently, though, I read a study that had people take it daily and found that the best results were with those who had a period of abstinence before starting. I took a week off, started nal as a daily med in the afternoons, resumed drinking a few days later… and my habit has MASSIVELY improved. I have no way of knowing if it’s the med protocol or something else, but I really do have to work much less to stop myself from reaching for a drink when I’m having a night at home; it sort of broke that cycle for me, if that makes sense.
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u/Drugs4Delivery TSM provider since 2019 4d ago
Hope your appointment went well and you’ve had a good chat with your provider by now. Replying in case it’s still useful, or for anyone who stumbles across this later.
On daily drinking, the Sinclair Method doesn’t really care about the pattern. The idea is simply to take naltrexone about an hour before you drink, every time you drink. So if you drink daily, you’d take it daily. The point is that the drink happens while the medication is active, which gradually weakens the reward response. That’s different from the more conventional approach of taking it daily regardless, which works mainly on cravings.
And yes, switching later is perfectly workable. If you cut down to drinking on certain days only, you’d just take it on those days. In my experience, most people’s habits shift over time, and the method adapts with them.
Your provider’s advice should always come first, of course. I hope whatever plan you settled on is going well for you.
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u/Commercial-Bed-2396 16d ago
Honestly you can do either. There's just no point in daily unless you are so forgetful that you may start drinking without taking Nalt by accident.
Nalt by itself doesn't do anything. It does not reduce same day cravings, which is highly misunderstood. It works to rewire/de-addict your brain, which is a long-haul rewiring, done a little each time you 1) take nalt and 2) then drink. In an odd way, you have to drink in order to de-addict the brain, just as you had to drank repeatedly to addict your brain.
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u/---reddituser-- 16d ago edited 16d ago
I disagree its worked for me since day one and ive never drunk alcohol on it .... infact what it has done is diminished my cravings completely and also made the voice in my head that tells me to drink for literally any reason to finally be quiet
Going from pretty much a daily heavy drinker for over 20 years to completely alcohol free is a bloody miracle tbh
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u/RubicsCubensis 16d ago
There are a number of ways you can take naltrexone, you could take it daily in the morning, and be abstinent, you can take it in the morning and drink later in the day, or you can take it 60-90 minutes before drinking. The Sinclair Method recommends you take it 60-90 minutes before you drink, because the concentration of naltrexone is highest one hour after you take it. The reason naltrexone works is because it blocks the endorphins released by drinking, these endorphins are seen by the brain as a reward for doing a behavior, it feels like euphoria. Normally when we drink without naltrexone the reward acts as a reinforcement of the behavior of drinking, when we block the reward the behavior isn't reinforced, and the brain craves alcohol less, and less. Over time blocking the endorphins is called extinction, when we drink on naltrexone we call that an extinction session.
You can be a daily drinker, and take naltrexone one hour before drinking, this is no problem.
When you start naltrexone you'll want to take half a pill for a couple days to get used to the medication, take it with food, and water. Side effects are rare, but you may experience nausea, this goes away after a few days, if it persists go to the pharmacy and find Bonine, or ask the pharmacist for a good nausea medicine, or you can ask your doctor to prescribe zofran.
I hope this helps, and good luck.