Which drug would help me best?

[mlisa]

Hi all, new to this, but finally faced up to the fact that I have to stop drinking before it stops my life.
Have read so much about the different drugs & had decided on Antabuse. I want to stop drinking forever as I can't do moderation.
Would love to hear your reasons for why you picked the drug you did & would you recommend?
Thanks so much.

[YouKayBee]

Which drug would help me best?

The route you choose to get sober, conquer problematic alcohol abuse is very individual so I'd never recommend one over the other. All you can do is get yourself properly informed.

Personally I tried;
Antabuse
Campral
Baclofen in various doses

None of them helped me and it was Naltrexone which I turned to in the end.

Naltrexone appeals to me because it came with a lot fewer, less extreme side effects (for me) than Baclofen. I found baclofen made me very drowsy, woozy and I couldn't operate properly on it. Nal can affect your mood, and does make you feel tired especially when drinking on it (which is the way recommended under the Sinclair Method) but it's nowhere near the same tiredness as Baclofen. Baclofen also gave me wierd and depressive thoughts which became very strange and I have since found a few other people also reported the same side effect.

I think Baclofen helps those who drink to relieve underlying, consistent anxiety. Naltrexone and TSM seems to work best for those who drink to extremes, who like a high but then are ok for a while without that hit.

Campral I found didn't do anything for the cravings I had to get drunk, Antabuse well I took some I'd bought on the internet 7 days after my last drink and over a period of 2-3 weeks I gradually became iller and iller until I collapsed. I had all the signs of drinking on AB, but I truly hadn't touched a drop. Not being able to verify the authenticity of the med I do not know if it was some sort of intolerance to the substance or just a fake med. AB doesn't reduce cravings but helps people make that initial decision not to drink that day.

None of these drugs do the leg work for you, you still I believe have to work on some sort of motivational activities and also start learning how to survive without putting hand to mouth with glass in it when life gets real.

[mlisa]

Which drug would help me best?

Thanks UKblonde, really appreciate your reply & info on all the drugs.

[Byrdlady]

Which drug would help me best?

Mlisa, I would try everything in your power to do it on your own. Many say the supplements help with cravings (L glut and Kudzu) but the others ones are very powerful drugs and are not without risk. Have you given the AF a REAL try? Join us over in the Newbie's Nest, we have a couple folks just starting their 30 day challenge. Be sure to check out the Tool Box and read about how different life can be in those 30 days. All the best to you, whichever route you choose!! Byrdie

[mlisa]

Which drug would help me best?

Thanks Byrdlady. I just don't seem able to do it on my own. I can manage 2 days & then I give in to it & get plastered. The way I feel at the moment is that I really need a very strong deterrent.

[spacebebe01]

Which drug would help me best?

Hi mlisa

No one can tell you what will be best for you and for quite a few people its a matter of trial and error. I did get 6 months abstinene with AB and found it a very good deterrant. For me it did stop the craving because once I had accepted the fact that i couldnt drink the cravings just wernt there. It did take a few days in the beginning tho to get to a place of accepting the fact and get used to the idea that i couldnt drink. There is also the whole lifestyle change and mindset that you will have to get used to and by using a med this, i think is made so much easier than just trying to get so many days, which never stuck for me. My problem onlu arose with AB when i started trying to cut down the amount i was taking, im not sure why i did that now but after taking one pill every morning for six months or thereabouts i started just taking 1/2, then went to 1/2 every other day, then the next thing i knew i had drank again and after that AB never seemed to work for me, i just didnt have the drive to take it every morning any more.
s, anyway to make this shorter, which is whst i could have done to begin with if you want a deterrant to not drink at all then AB is your best bet, but you have to know that once you have taken the pill you definately cannot drink, that is serious and can be dangerous so dont go into it half hearted.

I have tried campral, bac, topa as well as AB and the other meds worked/failed to varying degrees but all apart from AB still allow you to drink when you take them and while you are waiting for them to work

good luck x

[Rupert]

Which drug would help me best?

I think its probably a personal thing. Personally I am a binge drinker - drink to extremes but rarely more than 2 days in a row and quite often spend 4-5 days AF between binges.

The way I see binge drinking/alcohol problems is that the disease is 'wanting to drink'. Once my brain makes the decision to drink it completely railroads my self into going to the shop and getting some booze and drinking it. It almost as inevitable as, say, I drop an apple and it falls to the floor. To put it in programming terminology, my brain is stuck in a loop with no break condition.

That's my explanation to people who just can't understand it and say 'how can't you stop your self going to the shop and buying alcohol - its not like its just one involuntary action like a nervous tick, you actually have to put one foot in front of the other several hundred times, probably drive a car, choose the alcohol, talk to the shop assistant etc. - how can that be involuntary?'

With that in mind this is my experience of the drugs people talk about on this forum:

Naltrexone/TSM - When I am going to drink I often plan to drink (mind railroads this plan), usually if I am at work and can't drink and I get a craving I will plan to drink after work. I also often plan to drink days in advance, for example, if I am at home with my family and can live with not drinking during that time, I will plan to drink when I am next working away from home (typically the next week). The key thing is that on TSM you have to take Naltrexone around 1 hour before you start drinking, but 1 hour before I start drinking I am deep in my plan and I am damn sure that I am going to enjoy that drinking session - naltrexone makes you not enjoy drinking so I don't take it - it's not part of my plan. On the other hand, sometimes I suddenly get an unpredictable craving and am in a situation where I can drink almost immediately, so the plan comes into immediate effect and naltrexone is again not part of that plan and would have been too late to help anyway. In short, it hasn't worked for me.

Campral - I found this quite good. In situations where there was not an opportunity to drink without moderate consequences, e.g. at home where my wife would be upset, but normally I would still drink every few days, it justs gives enough help to alter the balance of power between my good sense and wanting to drink. I don't think it would completely cure the problem but I found it did help. When I am working away from home it's ability to help me completely go out of the window.

Antabuse - I never took it. I can see how it would help and I can imagine that if you know you don't have the opportunity to drink (consequences too bad) then your brain would stop craving it. The only very prolonged period I gave up drinking was when I got a drink driving charge and had to pass a medical in 6 months to get my license back. The consequences of drinking were high enough at that point to alter the balance of power. I suspect if I took AB then I would probably 'test it out' at least once though. I am also not sure if it would work for me because, as I said, I can sometimes plan to drink quite a long time in advance and that would probably affect my adherence to taking it regularly.

Baclofen - I have just started it about 2 weeks ago. Side effects in general I found not too bad. I thought it was helping me at 75mg/day and I was suprised when I got that familiar craving and the plan was hatched last tuesday. I drank half a bottle of vodka, 4 cans of strong cider, a bottle of wine, one bottle of beer and a bottle of crabbies alcoholic ginger beer, went out for a cigarette, blacked out and smashed my face on the floor - possibly had a fit judging by the amount of damage done. Anyway I am still continuing with it. I feel it was helping and it also seems to have some very positive effects on me most of the time - it generally gives me a warm buzzy feeling of contentment and allows me to relax and live in the moment more. What really frightens me about it is running out of it. Also the price in ?? is a very big point against it. It costs much more than Campral even at the dose I am currently taking (100mg a day). Fortunately I earn a decent amount at the moment but I suspect many people couldn't justify that cost.

So going back to the original point, its personal, if you read something someone said that you identify with then I guess its a bit more likely that what they did that worked for them will work for you. You may not identify with anything I wrote, but I am just putting it 'out there' in case.

[YouKayBee]

Which drug would help me best?

Rupert;1519798 wrote: I think its probably a personal thing. Personally I am a binge drinker - drink to extremes but rarely more than 2 days in a row and quite often spend 4-5 days AF between binges.

The way I see binge drinking/alcohol problems is that the disease is 'wanting to drink'. Once my brain makes the decision to drink it completely railroads my self into going to the shop and getting some booze and drinking it. It almost as inevitable as, say, I drop an apple and it falls to the floor. To put it in programming terminology, my brain is stuck in a loop with no break condition.

That's my explanation to people who just can't understand it and say 'how can't you stop your self going to the shop and buying alcohol - its not like its just one involuntary action like a nervous tick, you actually have to put one foot in front of the other several hundred times, probably drive a car, choose the alcohol, talk to the shop assistant etc. - how can that be involuntary?'

With that in mind this is my experience of the drugs people talk about on this forum:

Naltrexone/TSM - When I am going to drink I often plan to drink (mind railroads this plan), usually if I am at work and can't drink and I get a craving I will plan to drink after work. I also often plan to drink days in advance, for example, if I am at home with my family and can live with not drinking during that time, I will plan to drink when I am next working away from home (typically the next week). The key thing is that on TSM you have to take Naltrexone around 1 hour before you start drinking, but 1 hour before I start drinking I am deep in my plan and I am damn sure that I am going to enjoy that drinking session - naltrexone makes you not enjoy drinking so I don't take it - it's not part of my plan. On the other hand, sometimes I suddenly get an unpredictable craving and am in a situation where I can drink almost immediately, so the plan comes into immediate effect and naltrexone is again not part of that plan and would have been too late to help anyway. In short, it hasn't worked for me.

Campral - I found this quite good. In situations where there was not an opportunity to drink without moderate consequences, e.g. at home where my wife would be upset, but normally I would still drink every few days, it justs gives enough help to alter the balance of power between my good sense and wanting to drink. I don't think it would completely cure the problem but I found it did help. When I am working away from home it's ability to help me completely go out of the window.

Antabuse - I never took it. I can see how it would help and I can imagine that if you know you don't have the opportunity to drink (consequences too bad) then your brain would stop craving it. The only very prolonged period I gave up drinking was when I got a drink driving charge and had to pass a medical in 6 months to get my license back. The consequences of drinking were high enough at that point to alter the balance of power. I suspect if I took AB then I would probably 'test it out' at least once though. I am also not sure if it would work for me because, as I said, I can sometimes plan to drink quite a long time in advance and that would probably affect my adherence to taking it regularly.

Baclofen - I have just started it about 2 weeks ago. Side effects in general I found not too bad. I thought it was helping me at 75mg/day and I was suprised when I got that familiar craving and the plan was hatched last tuesday. I drank half a bottle of vodka, 4 cans of strong cider, a bottle of wine, one bottle of beer and a bottle of crabbies alcoholic ginger beer, went out for a cigarette, blacked out and smashed my face on the floor - possibly had a fit judging by the amount of damage done. Anyway I am still continuing with it. I feel it was helping and it also seems to have some very positive effects on me most of the time - it generally gives me a warm buzzy feeling of contentment and allows me to relax and live in the moment more. What really frightens me about it is running out of it. Also the price in ?? is a very big point against it. It costs much more than Campral even at the dose I am currently taking (100mg a day). Fortunately I earn a decent amount at the moment but I suspect many people couldn't justify that cost.

So going back to the original point, its personal, if you read something someone said that you identify with then I guess its a bit more likely that what they did that worked for them will work for you. You may not identify with anything I wrote, but I am just putting it 'out there' in case.
With Nal because I like you would be carried away with the excitement of the binge, I started by taking Nal mid-morning and that was enough to get me started, would often top it up later on but sounds as if my desire to get rid of the desire to drink was a lot stronger plus I never really 'enjoyed' drinking, it was just a release valve for me.

[mlisa]

Which drug would help me best?

Thanks for all the replies & your experiences on the various drugs.
Hope you're ok Rupert after that black out. Sounds painful!
I'm AF so far today, which for me is a miracle! I've not taken any drugs to help with it & am going to give it my best shot. A trip to A&E in the week really gave me a wake up call - I was there with my mum as she is ill - but seeing all the people there injured through drink, one wet himself, the other shit himself, all taking up time & causing problems for the staff...it made me think "that could be me". I've never managed more than a day or 2 & of course it's really on my mind, so we'll see how this goes. Pub lunch tomorrow for Father's Day, but I've volunteered to drive which shocked everyone!!! If my will power alone isn't enough, I think AB would be the route for me. Thanks all & good luck on your journey.

[MaryGoRound]

Which drug would help me best?

I always wondered why I would never try AB. It does seem logical.

I think could not be completely honest with myself. I think I would find a "reason" not to take it.

I truly hope it works for you.

[mlisa]

Which drug would help me best?

Thanks MaryGoRound. Day 2 almost over & I'm still hanging in there, as opposed to hanging out there which is my usual!!! Thank God I took the car to the pub as it was so tempting seeing all that booze. I'm getting myself to bed very early tonight to keep myself out of trouble. Bad sleep last night, only to be expected, but lovely to get up & not have to try & retrace the night before & wonder what I said & did & who I upset...!!!

[kambob]

Which drug would help me best?

Hi mlisa, welcome to the Other Side.

I'm a middle-aged woman who had been drinking approximately 1 litre of wine per day, every day for the past umpteen years. Still functioning (as in, working full time, sort-of keeping my shit together) but not really if you get my gist. Life revolved around setting my day to get in as much drinking time as I could.

My doc (I'm in Australia) prescribed both Naltrexone and Baclofen (50mg and 12.5 x 3...rising to 25mg x 3 of Bac after a couple of weeks). I'm still on that regimen and have found it absolutely brilliant for me.

From Day 1, the cravings all but disappeared, and the side effects were minimal. There was certainly some tiredness, but nothing that was too disabling: I did have the advantage of working from home in those early weeks, so that if things got too weird I could just grab a nana-nap on the couch, but really it was only once or twice.

Reading stuff around here, you will notice that many people take much higher doses of Baclofen to get to a place where they are able to tackle their AL consumption. For whatever reason, my 'place' is at an incredibly low dose! I don't know about the long-term use of either Naltrexone or Baclofen, but I would be happy to stay here FOREVER if that's what it takes.

I guess the thing is that each individual needs to find what works for them. I was truly expecting horrific withdrawals, and a real battle to stay AF, but it has been so damned easy. Today is Day 48 (I think, let me check the calendar LOL) and I feel very confident that I can get through another day without any dramas.

For the record, about 15yrs ago I had previously tried Campral (no effect whatsoever) and later higher dose Naltrexone (wicked side-effects, and would just not bother taking it when I wanted to drink). Have done AA, rehab and counselling, but nothing seemed to affect my drinking in any substantive way.

kambob

[kronkcarr]

Which drug would help me best?

kambob,

Thanks for posting your experience. I don't have experience with Nal and bac together, but I'll remember this because it may come in handy with people I meet. I, too, am a lucky low doser. And isn't it amazing to not really count days?

[mlisa]

Which drug would help me best?

Thanks kambob. Struggling today, only day 3, but distracting myself with the internet & will be very early to bed!!! 48 days is fab, you must feel so good.

[joanna_d]

Which drug would help me best?

hi mlisa,

i've tried about everything in the official book before i finally succeeded in long term (6 months) not only in not drinking, but moreover feeling free from addiction by using baclofen.
i was a daily binger.
naltrexone and campral didn't do anything for me (i think it only works for about a third of us, not sure about the percentage though) and from what i know the effect of these drugs diminishes in due time.
i used antabuse 3 times for a couple of months. problems with that drug were that i felt like a zombie on it (lower blood pressure) which didn't get better in time, and, more important, still had the craving. not all of the time (changing my mind set had a lot to do with that), but still. not drinking doesn't mean not being addicted. even drank whit antabuse still in my blood, a horrific experience.
going up with baclofen was a struggle, as i couldn't get myself to diminish drinking while tirating. but most important is that it worked for me, and still does.
after switching and all of a sudden going af (effortlessly), side effects became well doable. and after 2 months i started lowering the dose.
my life has turned around completely because of baclofen.