sounds like you are doing great! keep up the good work.

--pepper

I recently wrote Dr. Sinclair and thanked him profusely for helping me, among MANY others, get our lives back. This is what he wrote:

Dear Laura North aka Ketchikan1, Thank you for the email. It is a tremendous reward to hear how the treatment has helped.

I must say, your name is appropriate for someone in Alaska. More than Florida. My parents had retired to Ellenton, Florida. The Sarasota clinic has its origins there. My father was being treated at a Bradenton hospital and I flew over to see him. I found his doctors were much more interested in talking to me about the alcoholism treatment than telling about what they were doing with my father - he was a great salesman!

From that visit, the Sarasota clinic was started. There was a complication. I had gotten a patent on the treatment, and the patent was owned by a company that was not interested in starting clinics in the US at that time, about 1999. So I set up a clinical trial with the USF, and the Sarasota clinic was part of the trial. They got the same great results as we had in Finland, but they were notable to make a huge financial success. Even the NIAAA has been frustrated with the failure of alcoholism treatment facilities to include naltrexone. NIAAA backed the American research and were very positive about it. But established chains reported that, although they knew the scientific results show naltrexone provides significant benefits in alcoholism treatment, it does not fit into the chain's procedure and so they do not use it.

Another problem is that most alcoholism treatment facilities have not used naltrexone correctly. They start with detox and then prescribe naltrexone to maintain abstinence. Our dual clinical trial in Finland showed naltrexone is worse than placebo when used that way. Naltrexone has to be paired with drinking.

Using naltrexone incorrectly produced bad results and drove many doctors away from it. Furthermore, the package inserts that DuPont and then generics provided with naltrexone suggested that it should be used with abstinence. Nevertheless, many people are being helped after reading Roy Eskapa's book. The efforts to educate doctors and the public are continuing.

One new development is the expect acceptance of nalmefene here in Europe. It works about the same as naltrexone in the brain, but it is nicer to the liver. Nalmefene was tested using protocols promoting extinction, and the instructions with it will not advise use with abstinence but rather to pair it with drinking. Consequently, it is being promoted as a medicine to reduce the harm from alcohol drinking, rather than one to support the traditional goal of abstinence.

There has been a growing movement for along time for harm reduction in alcoholism treatment. I have to admit, however, that without naltrexone or nalmefene, AA was right about abstinence for most alcoholics. The worst results we got in the Finnish trial were from placebo patients being told to practice controlled drinking. 97% of the patients in the Finnish clinics wanted controlled drinking, not abstinence.

The antagonists now make controlled drinking an acceptable goal. Maybe this will get the message across. My own research has moved on to other addictions that are caused by the release of endorphins. Our lab recently completed an open label trial for pathological gambling, and is now doing a controlled study. My main interest right now is using the extinction treatment for people who are addicted to foods that release endorphins. This usually shows up as binge eating disorder (BED).

We are currently doing a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Indeed, yesterday was the first day of giving patients the medication. We are using a short acting antagonist,naloxone, so that the medicine is only present when the eating binge is present, for about 2 hours. Naloxone cannot be given by pill, but instead is taken by nasal spray.

You can learn more about this by googling Lightlake Therapeutics; it owns the patents I wrote for the treatment and is supporting the trial. I have been considered becoming a snowbird, buying a now-cheap placeprobably near Sarasota and spending winters there. Perhaps once this trial is over, I will have that opportunity. For the time being, however, I will be staying here in Finland. David

That's so cool! It's good they are coming up with more drugs!

Hope all is well!

Cool! Thanks for sharing that, Ketch!

"Nalfamene is being promoted as a medicine to reduce the harm from alcohol drinking"

Now where's my fast acting nasal spray damn it!

Seriously though, how about we club our pennies together and develop a global chain of harm reduction resorts, where patients drink, party... but in moderation.

Now that would get unprecedented global media coverage. Imagine the press coverage and PR.

Now where's my spare $5,000,000?

A.

Hi Ketch

Great to read Dr Sinclair's letter. Glad things are going well for you too.

Take care
Sticky

Hello All!

It is 6:47 a.m. and I woke up an hour earlier than I could have because somehow my clock was an hour ahead... weird. I took a shower preparing for work and checked my phone and saw the real time and with this extra hour on my hands... well, let's just say that the Heineken I am sipping on tastes pretty good.

I haven't had an alcoholic beverage before work in forever. But if you saw me up close and personal, you would see that I am 5-degrees-of-I-don't-give-a-sh#t. Sorry.

First of all, I am waiting on tables at a diner. This is something that I could do with one hand tied behind my back, blindfolded. Then add to the fact that I am outta' here in a couple of months.... well, let's just say one foot is already out the door. Mentally I am no longer here.

Had a great night last night with Patrick, that buddy with benefits I have. We reunited after 20 years and he moved here from Pennsylvania for the season within a week of finding each other on Facebook four months ago. I had eight units out at a cool-bean bar called, "The Asylum." Then we made our way back to my flat with a 12 pack of Heineken. Had one more here and then... well, use your imagination.

I have to get ready for work. Asking people how they want their eggs and if they want a whipped-cream smiley face on their blueberry pancakes is getting old. Very.

Too bad for me I have an iron-clad work ethic. So on I go.

Just checking in and I am stopping after three beers.

Pinky swear,

Ketchikan1

P.S. Congrats again to WarrenJames for regaining control!!!

Wow, up that early AND drinking?? Your stamina astounds me
But seriously...try not to let the fact that you are outta there soon give you a permission to just totally drink yourself under the table. You owe yourself better than that. It's not just about getting through work, or life - it's about enjoying it and being present for it if you can!!
Good luck Ketch.

Hi all.

I just finished with a three day binge. And I have found that I have been underestimating my alcohol intake. Take last night, for instance. I drank six Alaskan White's and then went to the store and picked up another six pack, this time it was Alaskan Amber. I wrote down a total of 12 units.

That is wrong, wrong, wrong according to this drink calculater I located online. Last night's unit intake was actually 20. No wonder I had yet another severe hangover. I have been miscalculating my intake the whole time. I have been drinking much more than I've led myself to believe (and admit) because of the alcohol volume.

This past week I drank unusually high amounts with only two AF days. Up down up down as usual.

I'd like to think that this is an extinction burst. Let's hope.

Today I hiked with Ripley and picked up prescriptions. I now have 58 Naltrexone's. That is comforting as I am relocating soon to Juneau. Not soon enough though!

Have you guys ever known when it was time to leave a place, a relationship, a job??? Well, I have overstayed my welcome here in Ketchikan.

I was able to have closure with the man who owns the Alaskan Lumberjack Show, where I no longer perform. He came into the restaurant and I was able to tell him that the (stupid) show manager finally got his way and found a way to get rid of me, that he never liked my theatrical style. That my shows were strong and the reviews were solid. And that his (more stupid) GM always sides with every decision and whim of the show manager (because they banged like ten years ago and the GM is forever in love with the much younger show manager). I added too that the reason for my dismissal was ludicrous. That I miss it every day and that I am moving on to Juneau.

The guy didn't say much. Said that it was "unfortunate." I know this is true, that his hands are tied and he is spending most of his time and energy on the new venue in Tennessee. The GM has worked for him and the Alaska show for 10+ years. I respect that. That's fine.

As I hiked today, the realization came that I would not return to that show under any circumstances. Not even if they begged to have me back. I am ready for what is next. I am ready to shake myself out of this dispondant rut that I find myself in. I am bored here and I lend way too much time to drinking and cable television.

I have decided to not have cable in Juneau. It is making me lazy.

I am going to rattle my own cage! Rouse myself out of this dull nap I've been taking.

Tonight I am sharing the last scrumptious piece of the white king salmon I caught in the derby a couple months back. I am sharing it with my landlord/owner of the Potlatch as a "thank you" to him. He is so generous for giving me the lowest rent in the state. I've appreciated NOT being stressed for money and for being able to create a sizable nest egg. Alaska has always been good to me financially.

For the dinner I bought a big bottle of pinot grigio. A) For good old times sake B) Because white wine goes best with fish and C) To see how I will react to this abrupt beer/wine switch back.

I wandered through the liquor store and nothing called to me. Not beer, not wine, not Jaegermeister.
As a matter of fact, I took my Nal an hour and a half ago. I am not excited about drinking alcohol tonight....

That's different!

I'll keep you posted,

Ketchikan1

Hi, Ketch! That's hard news to find out. That's why I am sticking to light beer. Which drink calculator did you find?

On a brighter note, glad the bottles aren't talking to you! I hope this is one of the last extinction bursts.