L-glutamine for cravings?

[TZivia]

Anyone have any experience with this? I'm on antabuse, which is great, it stops me from drinking, but doesn't really help with cravings. I can't afford to go to my doc for campral or anything else, antabuse is already costing me a ton. I'm hoping l-glutamine could help.

How much are you supposed to take and does it help with the psychological cravings of just wanting a drink, or just the physical cravings? Also, anyone know of any side effects to taking it?

[Greg]

L-glutamine for cravings?

I took 1500-2000 mg of L-glutamine per day back in 2001, when I had a 2-month period of sobriety. I was also taking 2000 mg of Campral per day however, so can't be sure which substance helped me the most...it may have been the combination of the two. I did have reduced psychological cravings and thoughts about alcohol, and I had not managed to go more than a few days sober before that time. I think it's safe to take fairly large doses of glutamine, higher than what I was taking. Try to take it in between meals, and not with other amino acids, to maximize its absorption. I had no side effects from it at all from memory.

I went back to alcohol because I stupidly decided I didn't need the L-glutamine or the Campral anymore, so stopped taking them. If I had kept on with them I may have remained sober. I hope you have success with glutamine.

[TZivia]

L-glutamine for cravings?

Thanks Greg. I think I will try it. I'll probably pick some up in the morning. I hope it helps, cravings seem like my main issue. If I could only get those thoughts out of my head, I'd feel so much better. I don't want to feel like I'm white-knuckling it.

I'll post back with updates after I've been on it a few days.

[RedThread12]

L-glutamine for cravings?

Definitely give the L-Glute a go. And take LOTS, as Greg suggests. It's awesome stuff for stabilizing blood sugar, which reduces cravings. It even made me not like a good coffee buzz, which was something I thought I would NEVER give up. Take 15-20-30 GRAMS a day. My doc says you can take it until you begin smell of ammonia. I've been taking lots, without making any huge effort to measure it precisely, for a couple of years. No one (including my "intimate" one) has complained about smelling ammonia. I've never used the "teaspoonful (or is it tablespoonfull?) under the tongue method for immediate craving combat, but lots of MWO'ers have, and swear by it. I order it by the 2.2 lb tub from vitacost.com. Cheap and good. But you can always go the your local health food store and but some for 3-4 x the price and check it out to make sure it's helpful for you. And always remember . . . powder, NOT pills. Good luck!!

[TZivia]

L-glutamine for cravings?

Thanks Red! I'm glad to hear it's been very helpful for you. I also have some issues with low blood sugar at times, and definitely have been having sugar cravings since stopping drinking. I didn't know l-glut would help with that, so that's great! I definitely need to get control over the sugar cravings too.