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Naltrexone

I will start with naltrexone, which can help people who have difficulty regulating their drinking have a more natural and sustainable relationship with alcohol should they choose to not cut it out of their lives entirely.

  • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    2·
    11 months ago

    How do you find it? I’ve been curious but it’s very expensive. I come from a long line of alcoholic suicides and have had issues with it. Not like permadrunk but 4-6 drinks each evening when it gets out of hand (I also homebrew quite delicious beer and wine which does not help but is fun and I don’t want to stop that :/).

    I enjoy a good beer or wine and would love to have a sustainable one bottle on the weekend type relationship with the drug again rather than cutting it out totally.

    • cheese_greater@lemmy.worldOP
      41·
      11 months ago

      Just talk to your dr and tell him you suspect you have AUD (alcohol use disorder) and you’d like to trial naltrexone (50mg+generic) to see if it helps you handle booze+moderation.

      Its called

      Sinclair protocol/method

      All it is and requires is:

      1. If you are going to drink, pop a naltrexone 50mg
      2. Set a timer and wait 90 minutes (==1.5 hrs)
      3. Once you’ve taken naltrexone and waited that 90 mins, YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 1 alcoholic beverage, don’t get hung up on how many.
      4. Count your drinks each time you have one and keep that data in an app or spreadsheet to track over time.

      Just show your doctor this reply to give them an idea

      Do not take no for an answer. You have a family history of alcohol-related pathology and let him know you’ll be drinking with/without their help as a last resort.

      • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        2·
        11 months ago

        I am in Australia, it’s not covered on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme so it’s something like 350 AUD a box.

        My ex tried it and it worked for him, but he was earning 3x what I do so it was more affordable.

        • cheese_greater@lemmy.worldOP
          21·
          11 months ago

          Edit: Also look into baclofen, per the book by a French doctor called End of My Addiction, I used it as an adjuvant to get me off initially to scratch the itch and safely replace but it is nowhere near as compelling as alcohol. I still keep it around for that and if I get a muscle spasm and I don’t want to sit in the hospital but I never use it unless I def need to. I hate the fuzziness and tearing up of my eyes it can cause at higher doses

          What about nalfamene, can you call ur version of NHS and submit an exceptional drug request form? Any Aussies wanna chime in regarding getting stuff covered?

          All you need is an opioid-antagonist, usually they will also be approved for alcoholism/AUD (same name as dollar ;), there must be a way to access it. If not, you could try breaking them i half to 25mg and see where that gets you. It may well work, there’s work being done on low-dose naltrexone at far lower doses that seem to still have variable efficacy relative to the treatment regime/profile so that might be a way to cut the price in half.

          Talk to your dr and ask how you can get access and if they can help facillitate that.

          • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            2·
            11 months ago

            It’s definitely prescribed. Doing some reading now and it seems like it might be now be authorisable with special authority if and only if you’re also doing “a comprehensive treatment program” so likely therapy etc which is probably more expensive than just eating the cost. A visit to the GP atm sets me back like 70 bucks, seems like generic naltrexone is about 150 now. Not a cheap thing to trial what with thr economy up the shitter now.

            I wonder if I can buy some clandestinely, I doubt you’d get in too much trouble if caught importing an opiate antagonist.

            p.s. so glad our healthcare system is collapsing in order to make a few old white guys extremely rich. Whenever I have to wait 3 months to see a doctor I comfort myself with the thought of Gerry Harvey wiping his arse with 100 dollar notes.

                • cheese_greater@lemmy.worldOP
                  1·
                  11 months ago

                  Honestly, nobody would ever care about its schedule outside of knowing you need a dr to prescribe. It really should be OTC, zero abuse potential. It helps you prevent drug abuse.

                  And It never would be, the Crown would never fuck around with something like this. You would win in both respective Courts (real+public opinion).

                  I mean that you need to be sure what you’re using is legitimate and quality controlled and fucking covered on the public’s dime, not yours. We live in fucked up societies and they need to start paying and helping people handle their shit.

                  Here’s what you’re gonna do:

                  1. Setup dr appointment.
                  2. Bring your phone/this thread.
                  3. Ask your dr about naltrexone/nalfamene and express assertively that you would benefit from their help with this and if they aren’t already familiar with it, might help with other patients also.

                  They may need you to commit to trying therapy in combination as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. Agree and commit to doing that as the means to get what you need.

                  Also, re:that, try keep an open mind, I know it seems lame and on a practical level I would never rely on or trust AA-type stuff as the primary first-line treatment; but as long as it grants you access to the thing that is the gold standard treatment (naltrexone/nalfamene), its all good and may help you with some other triggers or things that are tied in with that.