I took it. It helped me get through those first two weeks of hell. No, it did not take away the cravings, but for me just stopping for one full 24 hour period was a hard thing to do. Again, it just helped me start, the hell inside did not stop.
I too was doing AA, twice a day in the beginning, noon and evening meetings. I was pretty much white knuckling it, but that is what I did and yes I relapsed my ass off till finally getting 90 days under me and started 'getting it'.
I had no side effects. I just knew I would get violently ill if I drank, and that was enough of a negative for me.