Reddit mentions of The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction

If you want to try drugs, look into the Sinclair method. You can read about it in detail in this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-Addiction/dp/1937856135

It uses naltrexone (an opiate blocker) but in an unconventional way... you take the drug before you drink and then drink like you normally would. The drug blocks the opiate pathway which is what causes addiction in alcoholism. You get drunk but your brain doesn't get the neurochemical reinforcement that makes you subconsciously enjoy being drunk. There is a treatment for nicotine addiction (Chantix) that works in a similar way. When you engage in a habitual behavior but take the reward away, the behavior slowly gets extinguished. The treatment hasn't caught on widely. My guess is that doctor's have a hard time recommending that alcoholics intentionally drink. The drugs involved are also generics at this point so there's little money in it.

Terrific post, hopefully will inspire many to act.

You can pick up a copy of the book for $10.19. Totally worth it.

I volunteer with people who have alcohol use disorder.

Most treatment options are ineffective. AA has a 5-15% effectiveness rating, it's practically worthless.

I'd recommend reading this book and finding someone who can prescribe naltrexone: https://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-Addiction/dp/1937856135/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=cure+for+alcoholism&qid=1566620156&s=gateway&sr=8-3

If you Google the book you will find a free PDF version. You can also find naltrexone prescribers online via telemedicine. Taking the drug at least one hour before drinking blocks the pleasure response from alcohol, and the victim deconditions themselves over time.

If the person you're interested in follows the protocol, they have an 80% shot at recovery. It takes 9 months - 2 years on average to take effect. I have seen this work for many people. It's not heavily promoted in the United States because you have to keep drinking for it to work, and that flies in the face of our abstinence-oriented puritan culture.

SMART recovery might be a good supplement - AUD victims are always going through a fierce emotional battle inside everyday. Most are addicted to alcohol because they were using it to self medicate a greater mental health issue. He/she will need someone to talk to. That person shouldn't be you. Get them into individual counseling if you suspect something greater is going on. An addiction psychiatrist can also help with off-label drugs to discourage cravings (propanalol, topiramate, gabapentin, etc).

Good luck!

PS edit:

If they pursue this, it is a lifelong commitment. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to drink without taking naltrexone at least an hour prior. The half-life is four hours, so they may need to re-up if they are drinking over the course of the day.

It's also important to remember that they are addicted. They're not drinking because it makes them feel good. They're drinking because they feel bad if they don't. It is no longer a choice.

I travel alone a lot. I found my alcohol consumption gradually going up over the years, and there were a few incidents in my life that let me know that I really need to knock it down.

Here's what's been helpful for me to cut down on my alcohol consumption.

1. I'm using a technique called "The Sinclair Method" [1] using a medicine called Naltrexone to reduce my physical cravings for alcohol
   
   
2. Speaking to a doctor who specialized in addiction once a month
   
   
3. Attending SMART recovery meetings online. [2] I do them online because I travel a lot. (I personally find AA to be a bit dogmatic for my taste, but it has worked for other people, so decide for yourself.)
   
   
4. I think the best books on the subject are "Alcohol Explained" by William Porter and "This Naked Mind" by Annie Grace.
   
   
5. Speaking for myself, there's a bit of a hole in my life that I am trying to fill with positive things other than alcohol. The Sinclair Method is helping with my physical cravings. I'm realize that there is a spiritual/psychological reason that drove me to drink in the first place, and I'm working on that.
   
   
   [1] https://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-Addiction/dp/1937856135?keywords=the+sinclair+method&qid=1537796665&sr=8-1&ref=sr_1_1
   
   [2] https://www.smartrecovery.org/
   
   As others have said, if your drinking is severe you may have strong withdrawal symptoms (shakes, convulsions, etc.) if you stop cold turkey. If you're in this situation, you really need to see a doctor.

You can quit drinking by taking 50mg naltrexone and then drinking. 78% of people who do this will be able to moderate their drinking (or quit completely) after 4-12 months of treatment.

Antabus will not work with this strategy and has significantly inferior remission rate. Same with the naltrexone taken via remaining absistent (placebo-level of efficiency).

To have full explanation why, read Roy Eskapa’s ”Cure for Alcoholism: Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction”. In the nutshell, The Pavlovian conditioning element (drinking without pleasure) is an essential element to undo the cravings.

You can best acclimitize to the side effects by taking nal 25mg the first 2-3 sessions and then upping to 50mg. They often go away with this strategy.

Then the issue is (rather ironically) that he is following the advice of the doctor, but the problem is that the doctor’s advice is faulty. It’s a big issue, since people should believe doctors over random redditors for medical advice, but when those doctors give that advice based on faulty assumption that naltrexone works like it somehow drops cravings on it’s own, people fail with the treatment. You see, to do TSM, he needs to take naltrexone ONLY when 1) he is feeling a craving 2) is intending to drink. Then he waits 1 hour, and drinks.

I’d compare naltrexone to an anesthetic that surgeon gives to their patient before a surgery. The anesthetic is only there to make surgery possible, but it in itself will not make the surgery. The surgery in this case is the act of drinking, which is done after naltrexone is consumed, so that the brain learns that alcohol is not a source of reward, and in turn withdraws the cravings over long-term. Why this is so, see this text I’ve posted before:

>>Endorphines are neurotransmitters that produce experience of pleasure in order to move the organism towards behaviours that maximize survival of the organism. Naltrexone blocks the endorphines from binding to endorphine receptors because naltrexone has higher affinity for the endorphine receptors than endorphine. The element of Pavlovian conditioning (drinking as behaviour) along with endorphine release (euphoria when alcohol is consumed) + with certain variant gene (in a nutshell alcoholics brains release much more endorphine than ”normal” people do when they drink) are the causal factors that result in AUD (in other words alcoholism), so when endorphine receptors are blocked while behaviour continues, AUD is unlearnt, since the whole purpose of reward neurotransmitters is to reinforce behaviours and so the behaviour ceases when it’s no longer rewarded. Cravings that alcoholics experience are the less conscious part of the human brain’s attempts to signal the organism (person) to continue the action that adds their chance of survival (endorphine=survival), since the naturally occuring activities (like eating of food and engaging in sex) are endorphinergic, but the reward system of the brain does not know the difference between alcohol and naturally occuring behaviours that actually promote survival. The intensity of cravings is in direct correlation of how much endorphine/dopamine certain activity releases, and alcohol releases massive amounts of endorphine (also dopamine, but it releases dopamine through a chemical process that happens only if endorphine is released, which is why only the endorphine needs to be blocked). AUD therefore is a miswiring of the reward system in the brain. The learning towards something happens automatically, and learning out of it happens automatically (as long as the associated neurotransmitters are blocked from connecting with the receptors). If it wouldn’t be automatic process, no complex life on planet would exist, since it’s so deeply connected with both survival and learning.

This is also why alcoholics would rather not eat than not drink alcohol for when money is tight or why they feel like absistence is so scary, almost like a small death sentence.

See the book ”Cure for Alcoholism - Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction” by Dr. Roy Eskapa where he explains the same thing but perhaps in a more easily understandable form. There’s a free online PDF if you google around.

Check Roy Eskapa’s book Cure for Alcoholism: Medically proven way to eliminate alcohol addiction. The mechanism behind it has a 78% recovery rate.

I followed the treatment in the book and finished it around 1 year and 11 months ago and since then I don’t have any cravings for alcohol. My drinking was largerly a coping mechanism for stress.

/r/alcoholism_medication is a helpful resource on this topic.

Therapy/rehab works for some, but for most it seems to be a revolving door that ends up in a series of relapses. The traditional detox/rehab/abstinence route has about a 10% success rate 5 years out and is generally quite expensive.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Cure-Alcoholism-Medically-Eliminate-Addiction/dp/1937856135/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Here's a website that has the content of the book, you can read it online:

https://www.the-sinclair-method.com/the-sinclair-method-guide/

Do you take Nal every day regardless if you drink, or only on days you drink. Or the third option - you drink every day and take a nail each time?

Are you taking it 1 full hour before drinking?

How long have you been on TSM?

How many MG? Have you considered trying upping your dose by half a pill? Have you read Dr Esacapa's book yet?
The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937856135/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1b1nyb6K73RXD

I'd avoid Antabuse and stick strongly to naltrexone using the Sinclair method exactly (taking a nal one hour before every drinking session and NOT on days you don't drink)

Have you read at all about the medications baclofen and naltrexone? I read a book The Cure for Alcoholism when I was trying to help a friend deal with alcholism and was struck by this method of treatment. It treats addiction as a disease, but not an inherited one - it's specifically targeting the "learned behavior" aspects of addiction (as others have mentioned). Radiolab just did an episode about this.

One person who uses baclofen complained that while he lost the desire for drinking, he was left with no idea of how to fill in that void, which I think speaks to what /u/BIG_TITY_HONKERS said.

It’s possible. I’d suggest Roy Eskapa’s book ”Cure for Alcoholism: Medically proven way to eliminate alcohol addiction”. There’s an online PDF of it if you google around. You can also find medical studies about TSM from PubMed’s website.

Only advice that I can give regarding skipping your pills - just take the pill even if you don’t feel like taking it. During TSM I had few times when I thought about skipping it, but I was very inclined to eliminate the issue altogether. The allure of that was not too bad as I got to drink regardless.

This book explains it well; I believe the "look inside" option shows enough of the intro to get a good idea of it all.

Have you heard of The Cure Fore Alcoholism?

It looks like there is very good reason to believe that there is an actual medical cure for this disease you're talking about.

I have read the book, and am in the process of speaking to a doctor to get a prescription for Naltrexone. I'll be happy to update with my results.

If you do not have the right gene expression for Naltrexone to work instantly (or almost instantly), you can use the "Sinclair Method."

With the Sinclair Method, the patient takes Naltrexone about an hour before they drink alcohol, and only then. The medication blocks the positive reinforcement effects of ethanol and hopefully allows the person to stop drinking or drink less.

Here are links to 2012 and 2008 versions of a book on the Sinclair Method. The book is titled “The Cure for Alcoholism.”
2012 edition
2008 version

Other sources say that Naltrexone is very effective if you have a certain “G” gene expression and is equal to placebo if you have the “A” gene expression. More info here: http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs1799971

Another post on reddit says the Sinclair Method has an 80% success rate within 4-12 months.

You can search for "Sinclair Method" here: /r/Alcoholism_Medication/