If you or one of your loved ones is struggling with this its worth knowing and worth asking your doctor about. Article mainly discusses generic anticonvulsants that have proven beneficial, but there are others such as Naltrexone that can also be helpful.
However, there already are three FDA-approved medications for alcoholism: disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate. While probably not as effective at maintaining long-term abstinence as NBACs, they still provide benefits—yet they too are grossly underutilized.
These three drugs work in completely different ways, by the way.
Disulfiram gets the patient to stop drinking alcohol by causing the body to accumulate poisonous acetaldehyde — causing drunkenness to rapidly become a hangover.
Naltrexone is used in the Sinclair method, and works by suppressing the positive feelings (psychological reward) of drinking. Notably, Sinclair method patients are instructed to take naltrexone and then drink alcohol; the lack of reward trains the brain to not think of alcohol as pleasant anymore.
Acamprosate counteracts the downregulation of GABA receptors, making it less unpleasant to go without drinking.
Yes, Disulifram is the oldest of these, been around many years, and some chronic alcoholics just drink over it and power through the hangover
Naltrexone is the one I have heard most positive things about, never even heard of Acamprosate before.
Unfortunately when I was in a relationship with an alcoholic some years back Disulifiram was the only thing doctors here were even aware of.
Baclofen has also shown promise as adjuvant to naltrexone, I believe.
Hows he doing currently?
And in the US they insist religion will cure it. My sister in law had to demand medication, she just kept getting referred to AA. Guess which one finally got her sober?
I read that AA has an 8% success rate. It didn’t work for me.
Someone very close to me was an atheist alcoholic who went into AA. The mental gymnastics that went into getting around all the “higher power” stuff to somehow make the program effective was horrible to see. I wish it wouldn’t get pushed as a real option for alcoholics in the US, especially for those people actively asking for help.
How do these work? As a nicotine addict, most prescriptions I get are “more nicotine”. Which is healthier and cleaner but doesn’t really help with my addiction
Wellbutrin/Zyban/bupropion is FDA approved for smoking cessation. I was prescribed it for depression and found it helpful for that. At the same time, I was smoking and didn’t know that it worked for smoking cessation. Shortly after starting it, I noticed that cigarettes no longer gave that calm feeling and tasted extra disgusting. I eventually stopped smoking because it wasn’t enjoyable anymore and seemed pointless.
Bonus: it can make orgasms insanely intense
Opposite effect for me. Wellbutrin dulled sex and I swear it did something to my ears. They started tickling when I was on it and literally a decade later I still feel it. Maybe just in my head but it put me off.
Still addicted to nicotine too
There are drugs that cure nicotine addiction in a majority of the patients that are not composed of “more nicotine”.
If the experience of several of my relatives that smoked is a rule, way too many doctors actively refuse to acknowledge and prescribe them, and believe only “willpower” based abstinence (known to fail in the vast majority of cases) is a reasonable treatment.
I have no idea why doctors do that. The reasons from the article don’t really explain what I see (the article imply doctors are universally corrupt). But be aware that this problem exists, and it’s possible that you have options you don’t know about.
Doctors are human, they push their biases, worldviews and fears unto patients, often unawares. It doesn’t help that virtually all societies idolize them as infallible demigods. But they’re just people after all, no smarter or dumber than your average Joe.
I mean, I hate to go all Reddit on you, but read the article. It explains the whole thing.
Congratulations! You have received the ultimate sass award!
Apparently they regulate brain chemistry - from the article;
Long-term alcohol abuse causes dysregulation in brain chemistry and neural function that can last for months or even years after the initial period of detoxification. Perfectly sober patients, who are well past the detox phase, often experience crushing levels of anxiety, insomnia, irritability, depression, loss of appetite, and anhedonia (the inability to take pleasure in any aspect of life). Addiction experts now believe these post-withdrawal symptoms are a driving force behind chronic relapsing.
I’m not sure how applicable these would be for nicotine addiction however, the article mainly discusses alcohol and drug addictions
