When will naltrexone start working

[doodle]

Hi everybody. I have been taking Naltrexone for almost 3 weeks now and haven't noticed any desire to slow down. My doctor said it would start working right away. I'm wondering since obviously he isn't an alcoholic if he is wrong and I should give it more time. Has this happened to any of you. I have been reading about baclofen and wonder if this might be a better idea for me.

[Baclofenman]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

The theory of Naltrexone, certainly within TSM, is that a 50mg tablet is taken 1 to 2 hours before alcohol consumption. Another programme is the intake of 50mg daily. There are probably other methods

Baclofen is a course involving a slow titration regime to a point where the user may reach an "indifference" . In my experience Baclofen is particulaly successful with patients who have an anxiety based drink problem

Baclofen requires a comitment to participate in the titration, something a few people are unable to master. If you are functioning and (semi) organised Baclofen may well be a good fit for you.

Although there are some successful moderators from Baclofen out there, I am of the firm opinion, abstinence is (at least initially) the target aim

Regards


Bacman

[Mom21961]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

Hi doodle! Don't get discouraged. You're just getting started. I believe it takes more like six to nine months for TSM although it could be more or less. The great thing about TSM (the Sinclair method) is that you only take Nal when you drink. I know there is an active TSM forum as well if you want to google.

Good luck!

[_serenity_]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

Hi doodle and :welcome:

As the others mentioned above, many naltrexone users find the Sinclair Method (50 mgs 1 hour before drinking) to be the best approach. I've been on baclofen for years, but I've toyed with naltrexone in the past. Even small amounts of it (25 mgs) makes drinking absolutely intolerable for me. This forum and the other main medications forum The End Of My Addiction | Forum Discussing Alcohol Medication both have users who have found success from naltrexone via the Sinclair method. *edit: after reading Mom2JTx3's post, you can also check out this forum: thesinclairmethod.com • Index page

And then there's baclofen. Most baclofen users find that as they gradually increase their dosage, their urge to drink decreases until they reach a point called "the switch" in which the person loses all interest in alcohol. My switch was like night and day. Baclofen really did a lot for my anxiety. I will bump up a thread that discusses, in detail, how wonderfully effective baclofen is at treating chronic anxiety.

One of the main problem many people have with obtaining balofen is finding a physician to prescribe it at the doses required for most people to hit the switch. The End Of My Addiction Doctor Information Here is a resource for finding a doctor or online pharmacy to prescribe high-dose baclofen, as well as resources to take to your primary doctor to help convince him to prescribe to you. Another issue that trips up a lot of people is side effects: baclofen has oodles of side effects, and depending on the person they can range from mild to very severe. Some people find them intolerable and have to discontinue the medication.

Best of luck to you. Stick around, say hello at the other forum if you want, and feel free to ask questions. :happy2:

[YouKayBee]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

Hi doodle and :welcome:

As the others mentioned above, many naltrexone users find the Sinclair Method (50 mgs 1 hour before drinking) to be the best approach. I've been on baclofen for years, but I've toyed with naltrexone in the past. Even small amounts of it (25 mgs) makes drinking absolutely intolerable for me. This forum and the other main medications forum The End Of My Addiction | Forum Discussing Alcohol Medication both have users who have found success from naltrexone via the Sinclair method. *edit: after reading Mom2JTx3's post, you can also check out this forum: thesinclairmethod.com • Index page

And then there's baclofen. Most baclofen users find that as they gradually increase their dosage, their urge to drink decreases until they reach a point called "the switch" in which the person loses all interest in alcohol. My switch was like night and day. Baclofen really did a lot for my anxiety. I will bump up a thread that discusses, in detail, how wonderfully effective baclofen is at treating chronic anxiety.

One of the main problem many people have with obtaining balofen is finding a physician to prescribe it at the doses required for most people to hit the switch. The End Of My Addiction Doctor Information Here is a resource for finding a doctor or online pharmacy to prescribe high-dose baclofen, as well as resources to take to your primary doctor to help convince him to prescribe to you. Another issue that trips up a lot of people is side effects: baclofen has oodles of side effects, and depending on the person they can range from mild to very severe. Some people find them intolerable and have to discontinue the medication.

Best of luck to you. Stick around, say hello at the other forum if you want, and feel free to ask questions. :happy2:

Hi doodle

How are you taking the Naltrexone? I found great success with Naltrexone, and know many others who have.

[Otter]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I had a look at the TSM forum and there's hardly any activity. There is one poster called Wolfie who has reduced his drinking and looks like he is there to promote TSM. TSM is a profit-making business. Eskapa is rolling out a program of advertising and Ted talks to promote their product. Nalmafene is also a commercial product so it has big pharma behind it who have applied for approval of its use in the UK and other countries.

I've read the posts on TSM and it seems that what Ameisen said about it is true, that it only reduces craving for alcohol and that you then have to decide to give up. That is ok for those it works for so it's important that those for whom that sort of approach won't work aren't steered into a drug treatment which isn't going to benefit them. I know it has worked for some and it would be helpful if anyone could explain why, for instance, Dr. Chick would say that a person isn't benefiting from baclofen and recommend that they take Naltrexone. He recommends baclofen for many and he also advises his patients to go to AA. He even arranges transport to AA meetings with sponsors so he has a very open mind about it. However, he has a private practice made up mainly of professional people and he does not, nor has he ever, to my knowledge, treated serious life threatening alcoholism, since he is not a gastroenterologist, which is where all cirrhosis sufferers end up.

I'd like to know and I think it is important for all to know, if possible, why he says that baclofen is not suitable for some people with drink problems? Is it because they don't have the anxiety that Ameisen speaks of and they just need to find a way to slow down and then stop drinking. Are these people for whom drinking itself has an appeal or buzz that they enjoy and it's just a social activity that has gotten out of control? Or do they drink for enjoyment and not because they have uncontrollable craving?

It's important that science and medicine move towards a better understanding of what does underlie alcoholic addiction because at the moment it's a free for all and it would be better if people who have anxiety craving type alcohol illness are steered towards a treatment for that condition, and that those who don't have that condition are steered towards some other treatment. Without some explanation of why someone like Chick gives some people baclofen and other Naltrexone, people aren't going to get the right medication.

[YouKayBee]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I had a look at the TSM forum and there's hardly any activity. There is one poster called Wolfie who has reduced his drinking and looks like he is there to promote TSM. TSM is a profit-making business. Eskapa is rolling out a program of advertising and Ted talks to promote their product. Nalmafene is also a commercial product so it has big pharma behind it who have applied for approval of its use in the UK and other countries.

I've read the posts on TSM and it seems that what Ameisen said about it is true, that it only reduces craving for alcohol and that you then have to decide to give up. That is ok for those it works for so it's important that those for whom that sort of approach won't work aren't steered into a drug treatment which isn't going to benefit them. I know it has worked for some and it would be helpful if anyone could explain why, for instance, Dr. Chick would say that a person isn't benefiting from baclofen and recommend that they take Naltrexone. He recommends baclofen for many and he also advises his patients to go to AA. He even arranges transport to AA meetings with sponsors so he has a very open mind about it. However, he has a private practice made up mainly of professional people and he does not, nor has he ever, to my knowledge, treated serious life threatening alcoholism, since he is not a gastroenterologist, which is where all cirrhosis sufferers end up.

I'd like to know and I think it is important for all to know, if possible, why he says that baclofen is not suitable for some people with drink problems? Is it because they don't have the anxiety that Ameisen speaks of and they just need to find a way to slow down and then stop drinking. Are these people for whom drinking itself has an appeal or buzz that they enjoy and it's just a social activity that has gotten out of control? Or do they drink for enjoyment and not because they have uncontrollable craving?

It's important that science and medicine move towards a better understanding of what does underlie alcoholic addiction because at the moment it's a free for all and it would be better if people who have anxiety craving type alcohol illness are steered towards a treatment for that condition, and that those who don't have that condition are steered towards some other treatment. Without some explanation of why someone like Chick gives some people baclofen and other Naltrexone, people aren't going to get the right medication.

Interesting stuff Otter.

Because I was able to find my recovery via TSM I believed that anxiety could not be my underlying issue. In sobriety I have found that is definitely not the case, anxiety definitely is there, and it definitely causes me a problem (can be crippling) which I struggle with daily. I don't however want to use Baclofen, so have to manage it in other ways.

I am however no longer drinking the huge, and life threatening quantities of alcohol which would have eventually have led me to cirrhosis, if I'd not died sooner as a result of what I was like in drink pre-TSM.

[Mom21961]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

There is room for multiple approaches on this board. I was interested in TSM originally but was nervous about the time it may take which is why I tried Baclofen. However that took a long time as well. The beauty of Nal is that you only take it when you drink so you are not taking high doses of a medication every day.

Baclofen was a miracle for me, but it's one option. Not the only one.

[YouKayBee]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

There is room for multiple approaches on this board. I was interested in TSM originally but was nervous about the time it may take which is why I tried Baclofen. However that took a long time as well. The beauty of Nal is that you only take it when you drink so you are not taking high doses of a medication every day.

Baclofen was a miracle for me, but it's one option. Not the only one.

Yes in my experience either way can take a similar timespan, and some respond to one or the other method almost immediately.

For me I couldn't tolerate Bac's side effects, and I don't want to have to take pills every day of my life. As you say Mom with TSM the medication is only required on the days on which alcohol is going to be consumed. I've not touched alcohol in over 3.5 years , so don't take the pill. Sure I have the anxiety to deal with, and I do that my way which is via a lot of therapy/personal digging/exercise/diet and learning to be me which is a constant process. I also have recently started using alternative therapies (pilates and massage) to help physically and mentally, and it's making a big difference (this comes from someone who poo pooed yoga/meditation etc when suggested in rehab).

[Otter]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

There is room for multiple approaches on this board. I was interested in TSM originally but was nervous about the time it may take which is why I tried Baclofen. However that took a long time as well. The beauty of Nal is that you only take it when you drink so you are not taking high doses of a medication every day.

Baclofen was a miracle for me, but it's one option. Not the only one.

Yes, I agree it's not the only option. I would put it slightly differently. It's a question of different options for different people who have different conditions. I think it's better to say that people who have an anxiety disorder should be treated in one way, with baclofen, for instance, while others who have a different disorder, or suffer to a different extent should be treated in another way.

For example, Joan Larson, in her book, Seven Weeks to Sobriety, focuses on serotonin deficiencies as the main cause of alcoholism. But, she also explains how alcohol damages every organ and system in your body. She uses questionnaires to find out what health and psychological problems you have and then suggests natural treatments for each condition, so that you end up taking 70 or so pills a day. It's only at the end of her book that she says that people are left with a big anxiety problem and she treats this with GABA. The book leaves you with a big question though, because it is based on in-patient treatment and there is no guidance on how long to keep up the treatment and it doesn't deal with anxiety as a cause of the problem for some people. Medical practitioners prescribing baclofen need a comprehensive guide like Larson uses to figure out what precisely is wrong with a patient's health and how to repair that as well as dealing with the addictive craving. The one saving grace for my wife is that she is physically very strong and her liver never suffered, which I could never understand, so she recovered, physically, after drinking spells very quickly.

[Mom21961]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I have the anxiety to deal with.

I comment about this frequently over on EOMA, but I can't say enough about l-theanine for anxiety. It's an amino acid that helps me tremendously. It's the same as with anything, YMMV, but it's worth a try. :happy2:

[Otter]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I keep meaning to look out for some l-theanine.

[YouKayBee]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I comment about this frequently over on EOMA, but I can't say enough about l-theanine for anxiety. It's an amino acid that helps me tremendously. It's the same as with anything, YMMV, but it's worth a try. :happy2:

Thanks, this is something I tried for quite a while, I had some and used it until it ran out.

I found it did nothing.

Same as L-glutamine for alcohol cravings (although it does help me recover from training), same as GABA.

I use herbal teas..............no real effect, I've given up looking for the answer in a bottle.

[doodle]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

Thanks for the info bacman

I have now been on Naltrexone for one month and saw very little difference in my consumption. I saw my doctor yesterday and he has double the dose to 100 mg. He wants me to try that for 2 weeks and has also perscribed baclofen 5mg 3 times a day which I am suppose to start in two weeks with the Naltrexone. I guess I shouldd be glad that I have found a doctor who is not afraid to perscribe this for me but I can't find anywhere in any posts where people have been on both drugs at the same time Any thoughts?

[doodle]

Re: When will naltrexone start working

I have now been on Naltrexone for one month and saw very little difference in my consumption. I saw my doctor yesterday and it is his belief that the Naltrexone should have started working right away. He has double the dose to 100 mg. He wants me to try that for 2 weeks and has also perscribed baclofen 5mg 3 times a day which I am suppose to start in two weeks with the Naltrexone. I guess I shouldd be glad that I have found a doctor who is not afraid to perscribe this for me but I can't find anywhere in any posts where people have been on both drugs at the same time Any thoughts?