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Medicines that help with reducing cravings

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Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Mi_Sporte » Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:35 am

What medicines have you used to help curb your cravings? Has anyone used naltrexone via the Sinclair Method as a treatment for AUD? After watching the YouTube TEDx video talk by Claudia Christian and a few other video interviews - it seems that naltrexone helps quite a bit if not taken daily as it is normally prescribed but using the med just before drinking. I have watched a few YouTube interviews on this topic with Dr. David Sinclair and Dr. Roy Eskapa.

Or have you had better luck with campral, baclofen or antabuse?

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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Strity1994 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 3:13 am

Hi, I have tried phenibut which I have been told is pretty much the same thing as baclofen. The difference between the two is Phenibut is legally sold as a supplement that can be ordered by anyone online. Baclofen can only be obtained by prescription.

As for my experience. It was like alcohol in a pill, but even better. Made me feel euphoric, buzzed and drunk. That is my experience.

Did it curb my cravings? Yes. I traded one addiction for another.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Mi_Sporte » Sat Jul 09, 2016 11:35 am

That's interesting but discouraging in a way. Using an addictive medication to fight cravings doesn't make a whole lot of sense, when you think about it - especially if you have to take it daily.

I am pretty sure naltrexone is non-addictive - in fact it is so safe it is sold over-the-counter in Spain. Plus you don't take it every day, only days you get a craving (week-end bingers?). Once the cravings slow down, you use naltrexone less and less. If you choose to be fully abstinent - once you get to no cravings - you are done with the nal. If not and you choose to have a glass of wine occasionally - say once a week, the nal protects you from sliding back down the steep slope of addiction.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Strity1994 » Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:27 pm

Mi_Sporte wrote:That's interesting but discouraging in a way. Using an addictive medication to fight cravings doesn't make a whole lot of sense, when you think about it - especially if you have to take it daily.

I am pretty sure naltrexone is non-addictive - in fact it is so safe it is sold over-the-counter in Spain. Plus you don't take it every day, only days you get a craving (week-end bingers?). Once the cravings slow down, you use naltrexone less and less. If you choose to be fully abstinent - once you get to no cravings - you are done with the nal. If not and you choose to have a glass of wine occasionally - say once a week, the nal protects you from sliding back down the steep slope of addiction.


From what I have read about Naltrexone is that it blocks the feel good effects of drugs and alcohol so an addict will no longer crave it. It will not directly reduce your craving, but just make you feel like crap if you do decide to have a drink. Whether or not you take the Naltrexone is completely up to you. It has a short half life (6 hours) so basically it's a drug you take to punish yourself whenever you drink, which reinforces good behavior (that alcohol is bad).

I know it would not work for me. Because what if I decide to NOT take the Naltrexone and have a drink, because I just really need a buzz?

Choice = Bad for Me
That is why Naltrexone Implants sounds much more effective treatment because then I won't have any choice but to not touch drugs or alcohol
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Mi_Sporte » Sat Jul 09, 2016 8:23 pm

I had read that too, but it sounded more like antabuse to me (feeling like crap). I think naltrexone is different. I've since searched for more info on naltrexone and found a very interesting documentary and book that explains naltrexone's effect quite differently. Research in Finland showed that AUD is a 'learned' behavior much like Pavlov's dog and the dinner bell. Remember the dog salivating when the bell rang. Once the dinner (the reward) was omitted, the dog still salivated, but less and less until finally he had 'unlearned' the link to the reward and he eventually ignored the trigger bell. Naltrexone takes away the buzz yes, so you have to want sobriety more than the buzz. You are right - if you decide to NOT take the Naltrexone and have a drink - you will remain addicted if that is what you want. But for those who comply for 3-6 months it can reduce cravings and give them back an ability to decide for themselves if they want to drink. Finland claims 50-75% success rate so it must be working to some degree. The book is by Dr. Roy Eskapa and it explains things better than I can. The documentary is *mod edit*. It's worth watching !
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby AB38 » Wed Nov 23, 2016 4:42 am

It really depends on the person. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for all. There is a comprehensive article https://www.drugrehabcomparison.com/research/can-a-pill-cure-alcoholism/ that discusses several different medications and their effectiveness that you may find interesting.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Oliveira » Thu Nov 24, 2016 9:29 am

I found that when I quit drinking I was also placed for other reasons on seroquel 25 mg and it removed my cravings. Which was extremely handy in those first weeks! It comes with a plethora of other side effects though so be careful here.

There's also a book about baclofen written by a doctor who claims to have "cured" his alcoholism. It's called "The End of My Addiction: How One Man Cured Himself of Alcoholism". I read it and found it interesting – I didn't try to do it though as NA seems enough for me except in manic periods of my bipolar, and when I am manic I am simply not going to take any medication like that. But you might like to check it.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby littlewing » Tue Jan 10, 2017 6:50 pm

Agree that Seroquel is excellent for reducing cravings and is a fantastic sleep aid as well. In my case, it also helps stabilize my mood. It does have some pretty hardcore side-effects though. Headaches, next-day grogginess and muscle aches are a few that effect me. With all meds you must do a cost/benefit analysis.

I tried Naltrexone and it made me feel awful and gave me insomnia, but I don't think that's a typical reaction.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby sammymaguire » Mon May 27, 2019 2:04 pm

abilfy maintena injections completely changed my brains response to alcohol. They gave me back my off switch and eliminated cravings. The medical literature does not say they do that but they did for me. Maybe I just got lucky because nobody else is posting about this.
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Re: Medicines that help with reducing cravings

Postby Wally58 » Mon May 27, 2019 6:08 pm

When I stopped alcohol, I developed a real 'sweet tooth'. I found that sweets and sugar helped me through cravings. A bowl of ice cream made me sleepy. Also staying busy helped take my mind off alcohol.
Sugars, carbohydrates and ethyl alcohol can have similar effects on the body. I initially gained weight (maybe because I was finally eating right) and eventually I was able to taper off sugar.
Diabetes runs in the family. Diabetics need to avoid sugar, carbs and alcohol.
Best of luck to you. :D
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