I have around 120 u/wk. I am in the "honeymoon stage" and have cut down about 30 u/wk. I feel better than I have since I was 18 years old. I have many liver and kidney problems that I am under a doctor's care for. How long should I stick with it? My Dr. only prescribed 3 months of Nal. He also Prescribed Librium but I am not taking it. Any Suggestions?

I apologize. I may have posted this in the wrong place. Please forgive me.

Q:

I have around 120 u/wk. I am in the "honeymoon stage" and have cut down about 30 u/wk. I feel better than I have since I was 18 years old. I have many liver and kidney problems that I am under a doctor's care for. How long should I stick with it? My Dr. only prescribed 3 months of Nal. He also Prescribed Librium but I am not taking it. Any Suggestions?

A:

It is not unusual to have a dramatic reduction in drinking when first starting treatment with the Sinclair Method. While this can be a 'honeymoon' effect (partly because the naltrexone blocks 'first-drink effects' caused by endorphins released after drinking alcohol) there are instances where craving and drinking levels go down and stay down rather quickly. There are of course individual differences in response rates.... You may find that you are able to abstain as you progress and on those 'wash-out' days you will not be taking naltrexone - just as the book explains - you only take naltrexone an hour before drinking: for the reset of your life. If you want to listen to an informative radio interview about a young woman who responded quickly to the treatment go to http://www.TheCureForAlcoholism.com (scroll down to bottom of the page to listen to Ella by downloading the mp3 file).

I applaud your not taking the Librium. Librium is a benzodiazepine (BDZ) similar to Valium (diazepam) or Xanax (alprazolam). These medications work on the 'GABA' system - which is also affected by alcohol, a 'dirty' drug that affects many neurotransmitters including GABA in the brain. While these drugs are used to assist people with withdrawal effects when they stop drinking suddenly (they compensate for a drop in the GABA production in the brain) they are addictive themselves. The clinical picture indicates that they hamper rather than enhance the Sinclair Method. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Well wasn't this last two months a colossal waste of my time and health, then? I have the one condition (hypomania) that requires sedatives to be functional and the best ones with the least side effects are benzos. Now, after faithfully following the book to the letter, I find out that benzos hamper TSM. I guess I can drop out of the program now, since I have an dislike for being in psychiatrist institutions and that's where I'll be if I'm off my sedatives.

I guess the reason why this significant observation is not mentioned in your book is that it must be a recent observation. It's obvious you want to help people and would not have left pertinent information out such as no benzos, May I ask if Buspar, which is not a Benzo, hampers TSM? It's the only other sedative that works for my condition, but the side effects are quite uncomfortable. I should be able to "tough it out" on TSM with no Benzos and just Buspar until extinction occurs. Then get back on the Benzos when the craving for AL is gone.

Please please please don't read anything into the tone of this post. I hold no malice toward you or your book. I am just so frustrated after trying to quit for so many years, only to find out that TSM will not work on me with my mental condition and benzos.

If I can't make this method work, then this is will be the end for me.

Bob

PS This is my 2nd consecutive AF day, so I am posting this with my full mental faculties.

Bob, my heart is with you. I take Klonipin for anxiety .25mg. per day and can not stop taking this med. At one point in time I was on 4 mgs. of Xanax but that was years ago and the withdrawal from that was a very scary process. I realize that benzo's are highly addictive but in some cases they are needed. My understanding is that Klonipin is also in the benzodiazepine family of drugs. I too have tried everything to quit drinking. I was at MWO before this and tried the Topamax first which caused great depression and no success for me. I too have tried AA, not for me and cold turkey and was sober for 13 years. I don't know what to do at this point. I am only on week three and really have not seen any difference in my drinking. I am under doctor's care and have a script for the Naltrexone and also the Klonipin. My primary knows exactly what I am doing and how I am doing it. I did give my doctor information on this process prior to starting. Hope we get a clear answer on weather this will work at all for us. I don't think you should get off your meds just yet. Wait for a direct answer to this big bump in the road that we have encountered. I am more than a little disgusted at this point! I hope that the good doctor can tell us how or if to proceed!

Bob and LaBear,

Until Dr. Eskapa answers, please don't get too down. He didn't say TSM wouldn't work at all with benzos. . .only that the effect is hampered. Have either of you tried or considered baclofen? It is not in the benzo family, and is a safe, tried and true treatment for those with serious anxiety disorders. Ashl is using it very successfully - his drinking levels decreased dramatically as soon as he added baclofen to his routine.

Hang in there - we're sending you good karma!

My long history and suffering through mismanaged meds puts me in a place where I will not try another pill for anxiety. I am down to the very lowest dosage that I can use. Doctors have a habit over over perscribing, etc. I just don't feel safe playing around with any other anti anxiety med. I lost 20 years of my life due to Xanax, which to me is the devil in disguise. I really was desperate to ever even attempt MYO or Sinclair Method with Topamax and Naltrexone. The sad part is I do get side affects from just about every medication I have ever taken but with Naltrexone I was fine. I hope the good doctor can give us an answer that has some hope attached to it! Depressed!

P.S. Going 4 More thanks for your concerned post. It meant a lot to me as I sit here feeling anxious and defeated once again.

I will be curious to see what the senior members have to say about all of this. Bob has been with this program quite some time. I think it would be out of desparation that he would stop taking his meds. From what I know of this disorder it would be a big mistake to do so.

LaBear, I really believe with all my heart that this is going to work for all of us. I drank more last night than I have since starting TSM, and got all down on myself at the end of the evening. But Jake (bless his heart) reminded me in his morning note that there is only ONE THING we have to do, and it is as easy as can be: take 50 mg. of Naltrexone one hour before drinking. The process will work, whether we're consciously aware of it or not. While my drinking is UP (at least this week), my alcoholic behavior is WAY DOWN. So there's progress.

What I didn't say is that I've cheated on this a few times, and taken the Nal only 1/2 hour b/4 drinking - and I believe it's set me back. I'm not going to take any more chances like that again, but will absolutely stick to the program to the 'T.'

As for the baclofen, I don't think you can lump it into a class with benzos. It's a very old, tried and true, and SAFE medication that seems to be especially useful for decreasing anxiety and limiting cravings in alcoholics. While Dr. Olivier Ameisen, a renowned cardiologist from France, took it in massive doses to completely cure his own 'hopeless alcoholism,' (he wrote the book The End of My Addiction), a few people on here have had great success taking it in small doses, in combination with Naltrexone. If a person needs an anti-anxiety medication, this might well be the route to go.

Damn, don't you just HATE having to deal with all this crap tho?