naltrexone

[mattvermont]

anybody here used naltrexone in order to assist in the mitigation of drinking?

[Rhiannon12866]

1. No, but I was given Campral. Are they similar?

I found the bottle and it says (acamprosate calcium), so I guess not... I looked it up and naltrexone is marketed under the names Revia and Depade. Has it helped you at all? :hi:

[mattvermont]

2. have not tried it yet, but

I am getting good results from reading Alan Carr...crazy, I know, but whatever works

[Rhiannon12866]

3. If that's what works for you, that's what's important.

I thought he mainly addressed quitting smoking, but I guess addiction is addiction. I go to AA and it seems that most people there are cross addicted, and to all kinds of things. For me, it's just alcohol, well, and cigarettes. I know that I should quit smoking, too, but one thing at a time. I've been sober for 17 months, three weeks... :)

Have you tried AA? That's what finally worked for me. I knew that I couldn't do it myself because I tried. I did 90 meetings in 90 days and that's when I finally got it, One Day at a Time. I can't say whether I'll drink tomorrow or the next day, but I can say I won't drink today, that I can handle. ;)

Good luck and let us know how it's going! :hi:

[joneschick]

4. sober since aug 4, taking naltrexone

minimal cravings compared to others in out patient, no known side effects. Ask away....pm if you like. :hi:

[mattvermont]

5. how is the naltrexone going?

I have been taking it for 3 weeks. As I said before, it is believed to work best while drinking a little to extinguish the pathways that associate
drinking with pleasure. I have 1 or 2 glasses of wine on most nights and go to bed. My ultimate goal is of course, to stop drinking all together.
Much research has suggested that one can get to where they drink very occasionally, as long as they continue to take Naltrexone before those occasions.
As this is so counter to the age-old dogma regarding alcoholism, I will not attempt to bolster that ideology...particularly to those who have managed to be AF
by other means.

[Taverner]

6. No, but I would be interested in how it could work for opiate addicts...

As in Hydrocodone and Morphine

You see, my back pain drove me to seek out the scrip stuff

And now I am confronted with a dillema - Keep using Cannabis and get off your current pain regimen, or quit your current pain regimen and keep using cannabis.

My doc understood and worked me on a plan to get off the Opiates

It was fun while it lasted. Morphine KILLED the pain. It was gone, gone gone.

But it also made me disabled in the brain.

Cannabis never did that.

So, seeing my future health as a concern, I decided to go off the Opiates.

Now that means going down, and I've recently gone down from 90 to 60, and next week I get to do 60 to 30. Morphine, if you will check my posts, is a sick bitch. I used to brew my own Poppy Tea to alleviate the pain. And it worked, and it didn't. The single most beautiful and single most horrible moments of my brain occurred with that.

This is a fucking bitch, once again.

Let's hope this never has to happen again.

[joneschick]

7. naltrexone is designed to interfere with opiates

according to my prescribing dr while in alcohol detox. It is prescribed for folks like myself because patients using it for original use found that cravings for cross addictions like alcohol were often diminished. While I was taking it, I carried a card with me in case of accident so that any attending physician would know that general pain meds would not work as expected. (my dentist was wonderful) I'm no longer taking taking the naltrexone and I'm still alcohol free since Aug 4. I'm also not 12 stepping. Another du'er had some very good thoughts & info in your other post re:AA and higher power questions. I wish you the very best. :hugs: :hi:

[mattvermont]

8. Glad to see

that you are good, JC.

[Redstone]

9. Hasn't worked at all for me.

Redstone

[mattvermont]

10. I am sorry Redstone

It has been salvation for me. 8-10 drinks/day to maybe 9/week. Been using it for 3 months. I do not know how well it works for it's original FDA approval (opiates)
I kicked those cold turkey after a long stint prior to back surgery...not fun. However, it made me realize that what I once thought was a fun recreational drug, was infact, no fun at all.
Good luck to you.