howdy..question from australia

hello. This is my first post...I have been in gambling hell for the last 20 or more years .I have a pokies addiction...I have been trying to fight this disease and I am slowly getting there....I have self exclusion ,and have had for years which has helped me the most .amongst my other tools ,ive been hypnotised .I have had therapy with a counsellor..what I was wondering is ,have any of you in the uk tried the pill Naltrexone...and if so how did it go for you...

Hi and welcome, I'm in the UK but haven't heard of this medication? What is it and what would it be prescribed for?

hi gran..this medication is usually used for alcoholic's and heroin addicts to curb the cravings it slows down the endorphins in the brain so you don't get a high .and I read that they were trialling in uk for addicted gamblers and prescribing the drug....

HI Kathchant!

A Kiwi Neighbour here,,,

I know of someone that has tried this. It was somewhat un successful as they are gambling now more then ever.

I think the side effects (Stomach issues, nausea etc) gave a pretty easy excuse for why to stop taking them. In relation to gambling I dont feel it would help me as the endorphins are not the only reason I gamble.

Because gambling has some many other triggers I feel the numbing of endorphins would not help in my own recovery. I tend to gamble to get happy, when I am happy, when Im bored, when Im broke or when I have money the medication wouldnt remove the cravings from these scenarios.

For me its just about one day at a time, and finding my triggers and preparing in advance for when they hit. I wish there was an easier way to stop by I am yet to find one!

hey there kiwi. Everything you just wrote makes total sense....I only wish there was a magical, miracle cure....its just that in this uk newspaper column ,it said they were prescribing this naltrexone to a lot of addicted gamblers. But they never said if it worked so I was curious. Thankyou for your feed back very interesting

Yeah its not a common practice here, but they did give it a crack.

But yeah I think its success is limited to people that will be really focused on quitting, which makes me think maybe these successes would have succeeded with or without the medication?.

I have come to the conclusion that winning a series of the split second decisions we make we when decide to gamble is the key to survival.

If I can deflect, ignore, defeat, or simply put off those sudden urges that hit me when I decide to gamble then I can string a series of gamble free days together. As the number of gamble free days get larger the number of these battles I have to win every day is reduced.

This in theory means overtime it does get easier, but of course a constant awareness that at any split second the whole cycle could begin again is important to ongoing success.