JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
Volume 15, Number 5, 2005
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Pp. 723–728

Naltrexone Treatment of Adolescent Alcoholics:
An Open-Label Pilot Study
Deborah Deas, M.D.,1 M.P.H., Kim May, Ph.D.,2 Carrie Randall, Ph.D.,1
Natalie Johnson, M.A.,1 and Raymond Anton, M.D.1
ABSTRACT
Objective: This 6-week open-label trial of naltrexone was conducted in a preliminary fashion
to determine whether naltrexone would be safe, well tolerated, and lead to a reduction in alcohol
consumption in adolescents with alcohol dependence.
Method: Five outpatient treatment-seeking adolescents who met Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for alcohol dependence were recruited.
The Child Schedule for Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders (K-SADS), Structured
Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID), and the Family History Questionnaire were administered
at baseline. The Time-Line Follow-Back (TLFB) and two craving scales (Adolescent Obsessive
Compulsive Drinking Scale [A-OCDS] and a craving analog scale) were administered
at baseline and weekly thereafter. Each subject received a 10-day supply of naltrexone (50 mg)
and a 100-mg riboflavin capsule. Subjects were instructed to take naltrexone and riboflavin
simultaneously.
Results: Overall, the average drinks per drinking day (DDD) decreased significantly from
baseline to the end of week 6 with an average reduction of 7.61 standard drinks. There was a
significant reduction in the average A-OCDS total score, A-OCDS Irresistibility subscale score,
and craving analog score. Nausea was the only side-effect reported, and there were no elevations
of liver enzymes. Naltrexone was well tolerated by the alcohol-dependent adolescent.
Conclusions: Our data suggest that naltrexone is safe and well tolerated in adolescent alcoholics.
Naltrexone may lead to a significant reduction in alcohol consumption and craving in
adolescent alcoholics, but larger, randomized, controlled trials are needed.





These cases would seem to lend some credence to our theory concerning length of addiction affecting time to cure. I have the full PDF if anyone wants it.

Thanks Evan! These cases absolutely support the theory that the longer you have been drinking, the longer it will take to have your addiction reduced/eliminated and vice-versa. (I'm done using the word "cured.") I simply cannot imagine a scenario where a thirty-year drinker will have their cravings eliminated after a mere one to six weeks.

This also happens to be the only study that I can recall that doesn't instruct the subjects to try to drink less. Even the Finnish DBPC study was just a comparison between "supportive" and "coping" groups. It is evident by the results IMO that even the "coping" groups were trying to control their drinking.

To date I have found none where the instructions are to "drink as you normally do." Those instructions were only given in clinical settings, not in DBPC's.

Right - but the book says 3-4 months minimum and many of us are way past that and on double doses with little to no changes. I am still hoping this means I am on the right track...if only we knew!!

Unfortunately, we as pioneers, are learning as we go along.

It very well could be that, but I watched a documentary recently where they injected both groups of adolescent and adult rats with alcohol and then put them on vertical grills they had to climb up and off. The youngsters could still do it but the older ones couldn't, they were completely confused and disorientated. The conclusion was that alcohol has extremely different effects on younger and older brains, and this study could simply reflect something similar. Nonetheless, I hope Drs Eskapa and even Sinclair will see this thread along with our other speculations throughout the forum, and if not give any firm indication (which I hope they will) at least consider this an important avenue of further investigation.