Justin's Campral Notes

[Becky]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hi Justin,

Settled and sober tonight. No side effects from Campral.

You sound very organised!

Keep going!

[Becky]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hiya!

Where is everyone?

[JS81]

Justin's Campral Notes

Becky - I'm still here. Still sober. I think it's been about 15 days. I have a followup with my doctor on Wednesday. I'm kinda nervous. I hope he's not pissed that I relapsed.

Tulipe - yeah, I'm 99 % sure the depression I experienced was PAWS. It was very short in duration. I got home from work and was just feeling sad. Not sure how else to explain it. There were no identifiable triggers. I took a nap for awhile and I felt better when I awoke. I have been kind of cranky lately too. I guess it's just PAWS or maybe I'm irritable since I haven't been drinking. The alcohol definitely had a calming effect on me, so I suppose my brain and body are just getting used to not having AL.

Hope everyone is doing well. I must say that the 4th was tough. We were with some friends and I really wanted to drink. I was good though.

[Tulipe]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hi there,
Checking in after a few days of travel. Since I am staying in a home where there is no longer any AL in the house, it is really easy to stay AF. I just couldn't see myself sneaking some in this situation. It would be just too humiliating, and a true red flag.
SO I'm only taking 3 or 4 campral per day, and doing ok. Went off the 1.5 mg benzos on Friday night - I figured if I was jetlagged anyway I might as well go for it! I still think I'm having some sleep issues, as I have big black circles under my eyes, but having a nasty cold does not help.

I've been feeling a little sad too, but this environment would do it to anyone.

How are y'all going?

[The New Me]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hello everyone,

I tried to quit with just supplements, but find it difficult to go longer than two weeks.
Are the meds you are taking by perscription only? I live in the US.
Thanks for your advice.

[JS81]

Justin's Campral Notes

The New Me - so far as I know, Campral is prescription only. However, it may be possible to get it - either Campral or the generic Acamprosate - from a Canadian Pharmacy online. I don't know much about it though. I just went to my doctor and he gave me a prescription which I had filled at a pharmacy locally. You may try starting a new topic in this particular forum as I have read some comments by other posters here about getting some of these meds (Campral, Baclofin, and others) through mail order.

Tulipe - still being good here. Slept for an hour and a half after getting home from work yesterday. I was just feeling "blah". I've been very tired lately and my sleep hasn't been good. Not really sure of a cause.

What were the benzos for? Do they interact with Campral? Just curious.

[JS81]

Justin's Campral Notes

Where did everyone go?

Still sober here. I need to update DrinkTracker, but I think it's been around 21 days.

[Cinders]

Justin's Campral Notes

JS,

Awesome on 21 days!!

Do you feel the Campral is helping you?

Cindi

[louise]

Justin's Campral Notes

Good going Justin! Are you feeling better? Not sure where the other campral users went - I think several of them are on the July 1 thread in general - you might want to drop in there.

[vette]

Justin's Campral Notes

side effects

Earlier I saw someone asked about side effects-I have been on Campral since February and had such bad back and joint (wrists, ankles, knees) aches (1% side affect) that I have gone on a prescription anti-inflamatory-otherwise I could not function and I refused to cut back on Campral-it has worked amazingly for me.

I have also had a massive decrease is intimacy desire which my wife has certainly noticed-Dr. said it might be Campral or it might be because of not drinking anymore.

[Tulipe]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hi,
Congrats Justin on 21 days!
Benzo was for comfort during the early WD days - I think the only day I really needed it was on day 2 in the evening, but I continued taking mini doses just to relax. I'm glad to be off it now.
By the way, I'm finding my issues are so much more psychological than physical. I am in short supply of Camp until I get back home on July 22, so to save it for when I am feeling worse I have been taking only about 2 a day, sometimes 4.
Justin are you still on 6/day?

[JS81]

Justin's Campral Notes

Good morning,

How is everyone today?

I'm sorry I have not been online much. Just been busy with work. Fortunately, I am still going strong. Today will make 30 days of sobriety.

I still find myself thinking about drinking a lot. I actually had a nightmare last night in which I was drinking again. The dream was very vivid and I woke up thinking it was true and that I would have to restart the count. Thankfully, it was only a dream. Has anyone else experienced similar dreams while on Campral?

I should mention that I'm also not drinking soda anymore. I used to drink about 4-5 sodas a day. I have stopped that more or less cold turkey. I broke a tooth two weeks ago and the dentist said I had cavities and that I really need to stop drinking soda. My GP was on my case about it as well because I was having bad acid reflux and am now on a prescription medication to deal with that.

I suppose I've been having problems since I've basically dropped two huge addictions. I was feeling down a few days ago and mentioned to my friend that if I hadn't screwed up last month I would now have 2 months of sobriety under my belt. He said "it's better than starting over". I couldn't agree more and I'm trying to be positive about this whole thing.

Tulipe - yes, I'm still at 6 pills a day. Would you know if that's a pretty standard dosage across the board? I always thought it seemed excessive, but I never questioned my doctor about it. How are you doing? I was wondering if you have had any luck dealing with the psychological aspects. I am finding that a huge part of this addiction is psychological and it doesn't seem that Campral helps much with that. Also, do you know if drinking while on Campral is bad? I know you are supposed to be clean before starting it but what if you continue to drink while on it, will that jeopardize anything? Thinking back, I had been clean for a few days when I began back in May but I did have a couple "celebratory" drinks with a friend a couple days after I started the medication. Then of course there was my hard relapse on June 20.

Maybe I'm worrying too much.

[Cinders]

Justin's Campral Notes

Justin,

:goodjob: on 30 days!!

I agree about the psycological part. I am taking Baclofen and it is helping me so much but I still have those thoughts that pop up and I still have to deal with them. The good news is, helping us deal with the physical cravings sure makes it easier to deal with the brain chatter.

My understanding about Campral and drinking is that if you drink while on it, you are basically negating the good effect it has on returning your brain to pre-drinking status faster. Purely my understanding, though.

I think one or two drinks and a bad fall in no way negates taking it as you kept on and are now AF for 30 days.

With some good luck, post acute withdrawal syndrom (PAWS) will be shortened greatly for you.

Thank you for posting your update.

Cindi

[Tulipe]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hi Justin,
Glad this got bumped. With all the bac followers, we campers are in a minority. Whatever works, is what I say.
I hear that 6/day is standard, but my doc prescribed 4 after he realized I was just an evening drinker, not an everyday all day drinker. Thank heavens for small favors.
I have slipped 5-6 times in 36 days. 3 times were big slips. I sort of planned them, and didn't take or cut back on campral. The other times, I took campral and I was drunk as a skunk in a flash. It was aweful. I hated the blithering feeling. And, I had huge hangovers the next days. Good news is, the very next day I went back to 6, or sometimes 4, and had an easy AF day. At least the physical addiction is gone. I am still thinking about drinking though, planning my next adventure whenever that might be safe. Maybe tomorrow I won't want to, and maybe the next day I won't want to, and maybe the day after that I'll be too busy, and the day after that I have visitors, or something. Just gotta stay busy.

Hang in there, Jus.

[justinc]

Justin's Campral Notes

Hi,

I just started Campral a couple of days ago. So it is just getting into my system. So far not feeling much different except I was really tired this afternoon. I just felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open so I crashed for a few hours. Anyway, so far so good. doing the 6 a day. No real desire to drink yet.