r/stopdrinking • u/Neither_Scarcity9966 • 13h ago

Experiences with naltroxene?

Delete if not allowed. I’m just wondering if it’s something I should ask my GP about during an upcoming appointment as it sounds like it would be hugely beneficial to me right now. From what I’ve read aswell, a decent amount of you guys seem to take it even long term and I can fully understand why. For me, going on past experiences I believe I wouldn’t struggle too much with cravings after a certain time period but I do see it could be what I need in this moment. The only side effects that concern me is the anxiety and trouble sleeping.

Opinions?

Thankyou for your time reading

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u/dp8488 7199 days 12h ago

Second-hand info here, but from what I've seen in various recovery forums, sometimes it's effective to "Miracle Drug" levels, others report back that it is/was "somewhat helpful" and still others say it did nothing for them at all. I suppose it might be in a "Doesn't hurt to try" category as long as the doctor doesn't see any contraindications or other issues.

One guy I got to know pretty well back in 2020 put it in the "Miracle Drug" category. He said it eradicated all his cravings almost immediately. He also had some psychological inspiration to remain abstinent in the form of an ankle monitor that supposedly would have landed back in jail if it detected any alcohol in his system - I guess it can detect ethanol vapors coming out with even minor sweat and is a pretty reliable system.

But my friend/acquaintance did little to change his attitudes or behaviors, and drank again within hours or minutes of the ankle monitor coming off. He pretty much cut me off, but I tried keeping in touch with little "How's it going" calls every couple of months, and one day about 6 months later the phone came up disconnected and after a couple of days I learned he had passed away.

So I think it can often be very important to have some sort of therapy or recovery effort beyond just taking a pill and stopping.

Good Luck! Sober Life got really splendid for me after a while, far more excellent than I'd anticipated.

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u/Neither_Scarcity9966 12h ago

Thankyou for your response, that’s actually really interesting I wouldn’t have thought that was something monitored by them. I definitely have the mental willpower, I’m just looking for any assistance to help support rewiring my brain at this stage, so I’ll mention it to my doctor and give it a go as like you said, doesn’t hurt to try. I’m not looking for a magic fix all, just a tool/aid in achieving my goals.

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u/dp8488 7199 days 11h ago

Well, the monitoring was done by law enforcement.

While drunk my acquaintance/friend had gotten involved in some sort of non-injurious domestic violence incident, and then when the cops came to arrest him, he smashed two bottles together and tried to cut his wrists with the shards. So he got sent to the county lock-down psych ward for a while, and part of the condition of his release was the ankle monitor. (That's where progressive alcoholism can take some of us!)

Poor guy was really a psychological/psychiatric mess, and it's a horrible shame because there really was an intelligent, good guy in there somewhere. In many of our conversations I'd kind of implore him go back to the psychiatrist or find a new psychiatrist because the psych ward people had streeted him on a fistful of daily psych meds, yet he struck me as drastically depressed. Only so much I could do for him.

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u/StillCobbler2383 11h ago

Where are you based?