nalmafrene / selincro side effects

i agree with you over the lack of knowledge about alcohol medication and the availability.

am sure there was a thread last weekend about someone who had been told to take it every day, regardless of whether or not they were drinking. Also some have been told they have to take it for life and others 6 to 12 months. Luckily Paul picked up on the discussion and gave exact instructions, a laymans explanation of the drug and how it works.

I'm coming to the conclusion that alcohol dependency is right down at the bottom the pile with some in the medical profession. I think they see it as a weakness in the individual, rather than an illness, hence the lack of help and conflicting advice and knowledge of the drug. That is only my view though

The reasoning behind this is that although it works just as well for very heavy drinkers, by prescribing it to those who suffer 'mild' dependency the medication will do it's job whilst the hope is that additional counselling/support will get to the bottom of why someone drinks.

So, this time limit of up to a year, will hopefully allow someone to resolve their issues and have other plans/actions in place so that they no longer feel the need to drink.

This should be absolutely adequate for those early in their dependency.  The flood can be stopped this way - all the clinical tests show that it works.

However, if the person comes off the medication at the end of the time, there is a strong possibility that the learned behaviour that has been extinquished by the medication and counselling WILL at some point be relearned and it's back to square one again.

Sadly, most probably because the medication is quite expensive and the medical profession's understanding of how and why it works is so low, this point is often missed.

I started the medication in October 2013.  It took approx 9 months for me to say 'yes, I no longer have cravings, they are completely 100% gone'.

But it is true to say that in my case, if I drank without the medication before, I would end up going backwards.  That might be immediate if my brain lights up to the alcohol, or take weeks or months, but it is known that an addiction once learned, it easier to relearn. 

However, because the medication keeps my brain from relearning the compulsion to continue drinking, if I go out for a meal now I may drink a glass or two with it and then stop.  I drink, perhaps once or twice a month now, so go through approx 24-28 tablets a year.  The rest of the time I am happy to live my live without drinking because I no longer crave it constantly.

This is short sighted of the NHS not to recognise.  One pack of 14 tablets costs the NHS about £42 per year.  So, using myself as an example, my long term care would cost the NHS under £100 a year to keep prescribing.  If I drank without the medication and 'relearned my drinking again', the long term NHS cost would be huge if I ended up in hospital, or needing a liver transplant etc etc.

On a 3 and 5 year follow up with the patients who took part in the clinical trials, their overall health was much higher than before.  My own liver tests now show that my liver is healthier now than it was 10 years ago.  And I know for certain that so few tablets a year will likely have less long term effect on me than the many, many painkillers etc I was throwing down me trying to cure the hangover, not to mention the future damage of long term heavy, uncontrolled drinking would do to me.

It is a real shame that the company who makes them needed to get the tablets into the market for financial reason.  Given more time, it may have been possibile to show NICE that the long term cost of maintenance for those with more than mild dependency would also have been very worthwhile. 

It's my thoughts that the barriers we face to get this medication is overall cost and probably most importantly, sheer lack of understanding for addiction in general and what the medication actually does.

A depressing situation indeed, but hopefully one we are very slowly changing.

did your alcohol worker ask to see you weekly for a 20 minute appointment once you had settled into using selincro?  i.e for 6 months - weekly appointment    i agree that it could hopefuly work for me with regards irregular use as required and balance things out

Hi Jamie,

When I began this method Selincro was not approved.  I used a generic medication that does the same thing called naltrexone. 

So, I had NO official support in terms of weekly appointments or advice at all.  Certainly not in the way it is to be provided now....

All I had to work with was the medication, a book that explains the method (how and why it works) and the support of the both the author of the book, Dr Roy Eskapa who lives in South Africa, and the C Three Foundation which is an organisation in America that works to raise awareness of the method.

I was rid of my drinking problem before Selincro was approved last November.  However, I've used Selincro because I now operate the European 'arm' of the C Three Foundation (C Three Europe) and thought if I wanted to really be able to support people through the method then I needed to fully understand the side effects etc.  How could I really say I understand how someone is feeling with the side effects if I hadn't experienced them for myself?  My own personal experiences (Joanna's TSM Journey) are all documented on the website.

Anyway, I am now a qualified alcohol abuse counsellor and provide the aftercare support that is part of the prerequisite of getting the prescription so if you feel you want that support but are struggling to obtain it from your doctor or alcohol worker, feel free to contact me and I will provide it for you.  Everything we do/provide at C3 is free.

In all honesty, the aftercare is really very straightforward.  It's just a case of monitoring that you are taking the medication correctly, and incorporating some goals and good behaviours in at the same time.  Nothing complicated at all, but very important to ensure that you are getting the best possible results from the method

Very much in the UK, Cleethorpes on the Lincolnshire coast actually!!  C Three Europe is the non-profit organisation that I run to raise awareness of all this.  It provides information, printed resources to take to doctors, general coaching through the method, and we've just launched the counselling section if you need that too.  It is the official counselling bit that you may need to show a doctor that you have your own aftercare support set in place for the medication.

I cannot put the link on here but google search C Three Europe Selincro and it should be the first entry.  Read the homepage so you know what we do, then about half way down the page on the left hand side there is a link about counselling.  Click that link and you can read more about it.

If you need to ask anything then just do so.  I will be 'live online' a little later today and there is the email address on the contact page.

The more people we can help, the better.