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Naltrexone for Alcohol -> Does anyone on here taking this?

M

minivelour

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Apr 12, 2015
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​Long time alcoholic (33 years) with some years of sobriety off and on, mostly off. This year my drinking is getting out of control. Ugh... fucking alcohol! It has such a stranglehold on me! I finally talked to my doctor (confessed really) and she prescribed me Naltrexone. Today is my first day and I'm nauseous and it sucks but I'm optimistic it will help.

Has anyone else used this drug to reduce alcohol cravings and possibly helped with abstinence? Does it actually work?

Can you share your experience with it? Anything you got would be helpful. I'm disabled and pretty isolated in my home and don't have many people to talk to.
 
Congratulations on your willingness to reach out for help :) I wish I was that brave.

I haven't used it because I don't have an alcohol problem, and most alcoholics struggle with their addiction until they go cold turkey. However, since you've been drinking for over 30 years, I think your decision is really wise and I am wishing the best for you. <3
 
I sincerely hope it works for you. It did nothing for me. I watched a documentary on The Sinclair Method (One Little Pill) where you take it several hours before you drink and it's supposed to remove the pleasant effects of the buzz of alcohol. It didn't for me. I've been drunk as shit on nal. There didn't seem to be any difference between a nal drunk and a regular drunk. No effect on craving either. I was jonesing badly for a drink before work one day and I took one and it made me sick as shit. I had the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Anyway though, I sincerely hope it works for you. We're all different.
 
I would try this drug called ant abuse , means you cannot drink alcohol on it , one of my house mates where you on it , and even if washed his mouth out with listerine , he would get a allergic reaction and have to go hospital , so I think its a really good deterrent .
 
You know, honestly, there's just no easy solution to our problem. Naltrexone is not going to cure you. I'm on other drugs that help (gabapentin and baclofen), but the operative word is help. It's not a cure. My alcoholism left me basically friendless, so I, too was isolated and that is not good for us alcoholics because it allows us to spend too much time in our own heads. Part of my solution was 12 step. Even if a meeting sucks, at least I get to see the friends I've made in the program. I'm also starting to branch out and joined some organizations for people with similar interests to mine.
 
I've heard some amazing success stories using baclofen to help recovery for alcoholics and other types of gabaergic addicts. Maybe that's worth a short. Antabuse scares me, and obviously has some shitty side effects, but it certainly has helped some.
 
I had great success with naltrexone, however I wasn't able to use it to get sober from alcohol. I found that I was able to cheat and not take it for a few days and could then drink and enjoy the full effects from alcohol. I also tried the naltrexone shot, and found that I was able to cheat with that and drink.

What finally worked was going to an inpatient facility for 21 days. Once I was clean I got the naltrexone shot (Vivitrol) right before I got out. That completely removed cravings for me, which made early sobriety so much easier. I stayed on the shot for 9 months. During that time I was also seeing my general physician and getting a script for naltrexone the pill, as added insurance in case I couldn't get the shot.

I also tried campral and Antabuse. I almost died on Antabuse when I binge drank on it - stopped breathing, low blood pressure (33 over ?), so I don't recommend that if you can't stop on your own for a little while lol.

I almost feel like the naltrexone reset my brain to the way it was before I was addicted to alcohol, as I can be around people drinking and I hardly notice. Smelling alcohol is no longer a trigger, and I have no drive to drink. Prior to this sober period I was able to get a year sober around 2011. In 2010 I went to rehab to get off benzos and booze. I didn't relapse on benzos, but after having a year sober from alcohol I relapsed. During that time I had horrible cravings, and every time I had to be around people who were drinking it was really difficult. During that year it was a constant daily struggle to remain sober, which I didn't experience the second time around with the naltrexone shot.

I have now been sober for two years, and strangely, don't miss it or get cravings.
 
That's some really great feedback benzo_girl, thank you! You also point out something really significant here, the efficacy of a treatment being intrinsically tied to patient compliance. I guess that could be applied to a lot of different therapeutic, client centered (e.g. outside a lock down psych ward) approaches, but it seem particularly glaring with taking naltrexone as a pill in this case.
 
I currently take naltrexone. I started it about 4 months ago in the pill form. For the last 2 months, I've been getting it as vivitrol injections.

However, my problem is opiates, not alcohol, so I'm not sure how my experience will generalize to questions of drinking. But in case it helps...

Naltrexone has been a great help for me in abstaining from heroin. And I say this knowing full-well that the clinical evidence in support of naltrexone is pretty weak. But I always had a sense, which turned out to be true when I finally got my Rx, that due to the way my own cravings and energy work that naltrexone could really do a lot for me. This is because, a lot of my relapses happened due to sudden, very strong impulses. With the naltrexone in me, I *know* that using isn't an option, so my brain has to find another way to cope. I feel like each time I make it through one of those episodes without falling on my face, I'm healing up just a little bit.

Again, I want to stress that so far as I can tell, the therapeutic value of naltrexone for me lies in its action as a kind of emotional/motivational safety net. When my own defenses get thin, just knowing the drug is in me helps a lot.

FWIW, I have found that the naltrexone does impede my body's ability to get intoxicated from alcohol. I haven't really tested it because (luckily) I've never enjoyed drinking. But I've had a couple drinks in a night here and there since getting on naltrexone and it's kinda uncanny...I feel almost nothing from alcohol. Comparing my experience in this vein with, say, aihfl's reminds me how different our bodies are.

Will it help you? Really hard to say in the abstract. If you do end up trying it, I hope you'll let us know how it goes.

Best luck!!
Sim
 
You also point out something really significant here, the efficacy of a treatment being intrinsically tied to patient compliance
Click to expand...

This is key. How much you want it to work is important. We as addicts hedge our bets around circumventing compliance. We can be just as bad on naltrexone as off.

I was an opiate addict...while on suboxone I developed a raging cocaine habit. I had to learn how to want be sober. It wasn't always a knock down drag out battle, but it gets a hell of a lot easier after the first year to recognize those times pass pretty quickly.

I give you this advice: The only failure in recovery is giving up. Keep trying no matter what.
 
MBC's post reminded me...the only way I think the oral naltrexone can work is if you have someone who cares about your sobriety administer it for you. Otherwise it's just too easy/tempting to skip a couple days and go nuts.
 
While I definitely am opinionated about the use of naltrexone, whether taken orally or via extended release injection, I feel its efficacy is going to come down mostly to individual factors. It's like any other form of MAT, it is going to work better for some populations that others. The only thing we can really be guaranteed of is that it won't work for everybody, and without some form of adjunct treatment or support it is of limited therapeutic value. But I digress...
 
Hello,

I have to started to take Naltrexone after a week detoxing and just realized why I am feeling nauseous and depressed. I am also drinking but I do not like the side effects at all. I may have to change to campral.
 
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