Hey, so what a lot of people who are prescribed naltrexone do not know, is that the best effect at helping with alcoholism is a actually achieved by using something called The Sinclair Method, and actually *actively continuing to drink* (though note, not in incredibly heavy or unhealthy amounts, just *enough* for TSM to work).
In my country, naltrexone does fuck all, because the only prescribe it on authority (I have no clue why it's an authorised medicine and not widely available) and the patient must be enrolled in some kind of AOD counselling services and abstaining.
This is just backwards, because the thing is, like another poster said naltrexone actually simply makes alcohol feel *different* in your body. You won't get the same rewarding effect from it as you used to.
I actually conditioned myself out of drinking alcoholically with a 2 month supply of naltrexone. It's been around 4 years since I last drank. Not including half a glass of champagne at my brother's wedding.
Basically what you need to do, is every time you are planning on going out to drink, take ONE single naltrexone pill I think 1-3 hours before you will consume your first drink.
Do NOT take it on days that you don't drink, because that is pointless.
Over time, as you continue to drink, you will notice that not only does your total amount of alcohol consumption drop significantly, but your speed at which you consume drinks will also drop significantly. The last time I went out to friends while I was conditioning my alcoholism, I drank ONE single one of them Mexican drinks. Coronas, for idk like 4-5 hours?
Basically, my brain had accepted I wasn't getting drunk that night no matter what I did, because the naltrexone had caused the effect that whenever I drank, I had diminishing reward effects to the extent that at home at the start of this period, I was buying a slab and by the following week I was half a slab down. Eventually getting another drink seemed pointless.
If you want to do TSM you NEED to keep drinking, and you NEED to take the pill religiously when you do.
I will attach some information.
The Sinclair Method for Alcoholism is an Evidence-Based Treatment for Alcoholism using the Medication Naltrexone to gradually reduce the craving for alcohol
www.sinclairmethod.org