Hi, I found TSM when I started looking for reasons why my blood pressure med might be making me want to feel like drinking less.

Some background, 53yo F, a regular drinker (2-4units/evening, preference for beer) for years, family history of functional alcoholism. In 2012 I lost 80 lbs with religious calorie counting. I had been obese since my late 20s. I'm not sure what the trigger was. I just wanted to not care about food so much and eat like a normal person and somehow it happened. As I got a grip on food, my drinking ramped up to 3-6 units/evening. Over the last 3 years, my blood pressure has crept up as well and after steady 150/90 readings recently, I saw my Dr. for it and got a prescription for amlodipine (5mg/day), a calcium channel blocker. I specifically asked for a calcium channel blocker because after I lost weight, I developed Raynaud's Syndrome and I have a family history of autoimmune disorders. But I am feeling pretty disgusted with myself because the high BP is probably due to my alcohol dependence.

Within 2 doses of the BP med, I noticed the alcohol going to my head much faster and one week in, I'm back down to 2-4 units/evening, though the compulsion to take the edge off the minute I arrive home from work hasn't changed one bit. Still, the fact that my drinking seemed to be affected by a drug that also affects the sympathetic nervous system made want to look a little closer. And that's how I found Naltrexone.

Does anyone know anything about calcium channel blockers and alcohol dependence? My blood pressure is consistently under 120/80 now, so I'm hopeful that if I can cut way back on the alcohol and get myself hooked on aerobic exercise, I can ditch the BP med altogether. And TSM looks like it might be very helpful.

Laura

Hi littleme!

Oddly enough, I saw a small study on Isradipine that turned out well. There was another that used rats, they no longer associated a certain place with alcohol when given isradipine. Unfortunately, as with all out of patent medication, there just aren't many studies. But yes, I recall seeing info that suggested bp meds might help for Alcohol Use Disorder. I don't know that anyone here is a fount of information on the subject.

TSM does help people reduce or quit drinking, though it doesn't work for some (about 20%). The price of admission is small enough, it's likely worth a go if your doc says it will get along with the other meds you're taking, you're liver's ok, etc.

TSM works by resetting the addicted part of the brain to the state it was in before you began drinking. Situations that may have triggered you to drink before may still get you upset, but your brain will not suggest alcohol as a remedy if you use TSM until Pharmacological Extincition of your cravings occur. How long that will take varies from person to person. Some have taken over a year, but most everyone starts seeing results rather quickly. Initially, you may drink considerably less, then no less, then your drinking slowly decreases over a period of months.

Does that sound workable to you?

Thanks for the info, JoeSixPack! I think I found both those studies on isradipine. I'm going to try to track down the original paper for the rat study because none of the reports on it in the press mentioned why the researchers thought to try a calcium channel blocker. Has it been discussed in any other threads here? The possibility of multiple anti-addiction drugs with varying modes of action is pretty exciting.

I'm planning to order Naltrexone online without a prescription. I work in a research lab that handles controlled substances and I don't want any tracable medical evidence that I've taken an opioid antagonist. I don't know that it would jeopardize my DEA clearance, but I'm not taking any chances.

In the meantime, I'm going to slowly shift the time I take the amlodipine to shortly after lunch, so blood levels are highest in the evening, when 99.9% of my drinking occurs.

littleme

Interesting, Littleme!

Please let us know how you get along with this.

I wonder if your doc would switch you to Isradipine, or if that would arouse suspicion. Perhaps it would be worth talking with a pharmacist about it, to see if they would consider the two drugs equivalent in terms of side effects and efficacy.

Littleme,

I sent you a pm.