New user of selincro

Thank you Paul, I have had the side effects explained, Im not expecting the first week to be a walk in the park, but whats a week out of our lives... as I said I run a guest house, so work form home, we have no guests in for the next ten days, so If I cant sleep at nights, so be it, I can have a nap during the day or whatever. 

I think this an amazing forum and thank you for taking the time to reply to my question, Im sure you have to say the same thing over and over again to new members.

isnt it strange the way our minds work, I keep thinking I better drink as much as I can tonight before I start taking the tablets.....

Thank you once again, Jo 

I am just starting week 4. The first two weeks were really awful. Be prepared ! Everyone is different of-course but if you are able, treat yourself as if you have flu. Be kind to yourself and relax as much as you can. Its worth it....IT WORKS ! I have gone from 1 to 2 bottles a night to 3 glasses.

I found it worked fairly quickly. Beast of good luck !!

As a obvious expert in this subject, is it right to assume that if the receptors in your brain don't need a bridging agent that the drugs are useless as the gap does not need to be connected? Is it also right to assume that given the high levels of alcohol you intakedoes not destroy the bridging agent.  So people who take high levels of alcohol do not necessarily depend it. where others depend on the connection to feel normal!   If I am assuming correctly substance no matter what it is! Addiction is then based on nature not nurture!   But environment can create habits  I feel very strongly that habits and behaviour can be cured due to environmental circumstance, where as afflictions are based on biology!   We know so little of the brain, and Scans won't connect it properly ( at the minute) but by being open its easy to determine environmental behaviour than phyisilogical in difference.  I am very outspoken becouse I want to try to understand mysi do find it hard though when obvious environmental issues are prescribed with drugs just me

Also I weren't discrediting your opinion at all, please don't read it as that.  It's very good to have knowledge like this and share and debate it.

Of course I don't think you are discrediting my opinion, Andy Always glad to discuss things as well as agree and disagree.

I hope that I can put this into laymen's terms and make sense

Imagine two students, Peter and Paul (not me ) They do what many students do and spend a great deal of their student days socialising and drinking way in excess of what is advised. They drink equally irresponsibly and spend many nights seriously drunk. Then they graduate and get jobs, get married, have families. Both know that this is the time to start acting more responsibly.

Peter turns to an occasional drinker, he loves a pint but, if he doesn't have one, he doesn't really think about it. He can enjoy the taste and the atmosphere of a social occasion but he doesn't think about it in between such occasions. He has alcohol in the house which was bought for Christmas but which has remained untouched since New Year's Eve.

Paul finds that if he goes without alcohol, he keeps thinking about it. He can't just sit and have a pint in the pub garden on a sunny day and walk away. If he has one, he goes on to have a session. If he has a hard time at work, he has a drink and always keeps alcohol in the house and frequently drinks it and replaces it when it runs out. During a particularly stressful time, he begins to rely on having a drink to deal with the pressure of life. When he drinks, he gets great relief. As time goes by, his two or three pints is not enough to satisfy him and he needs more because his daily drinking has led to a tolerance of alcohol and it takes more to satisfy his need.

Clearly, Peter is fine, Paul is heading for trouble. The difference between the two of them is the way their body reacts to alcohol. Peter gets the common reaction of enjoying the taste, soaking up a fun atnosphere and the less inhibited conversation with other people. Paul gets all that but he gets an additional 'reward' on top.

Certain pleasurable activities release endorphins. Exercise, extreme sports, rollercoaster rides, sex, gambling, cuddling babies and seeing cute animals all do this, and so does drinking alcohol.

Alcohol, for Paul, however, gives him way above the normal pleasure. he gets a hit that Peter doesn't get as the endorphins attach to his opioid receptors. When Peter and Paul meet up, Peter thinks 'what the hell is Paul doing? Why does he have to get so drunk, why can't he be like me and just enjoy a couple of pints?' That is because Peter doesn't know about this additional reward that Paul gets from alcohol. To Peter, it is simple, Paul is CHOOSING to get drunk all the time. Paul doesn't understand how people can drink small amounts and appear satisfied with that.

The difference between them is physiological. Their opiod receptors react differently to alcohol. It is likely that Paul has inherited this vulnerability. But when Paul realises that he needs to get some help, he is made to stand up in front of strangers and talk about his guilt and shame, how he has let himself and his family down, how it is nobody else's fault but his own, nobody put the bottle to his lips. Paul tries to change what he is doing, but the cravings get stronger and stronger, the longer he goes without a drink. Every day is a nightmare, just trying to get through to the end of it without having a drink. It is like telling a person to hold their breath and not to let go, eventually, they will have to breathe. Paul feels like this about having a drink.

Nalmefene (Selincro) blocks the opioid receptors. It prevents endorphins from attaching to them. If Paul takes Nalmefene before having a drink, that drink will not have the same effect that it has for him before. He will therefore find that, without that additional reward, he will drink far less. If he begins to take a tablet every time before he drinks, he will eventually 'unlearn' his addiction because he will be getting only the same response to drinking as Peter.

There are people who drink to deliberately get drunk because, when they are drunk, they feel less pain from the issues going on in their life. Nalmefene can be no help in this situation. However, if, like most people with alcohol dependence, the cravings are the reason for the excessive drinking, Nalmefene can make a massive difference by, over time, eliminating those cravings. The thing that people need to know is that their addiction cannot be totally cured. They would ALWAYS need to take a tablet before they drank. However, the decreased desire for alcohol means that many simply carry a pill with them just in case they decide to have a drink.

Nalmefene will not resolve issues which led to people drinking excessively like divorce, lost jobs, financial problems. However, the people who use alcohol to deal with those problems are normally biologically similar to Paul with that increased risk already built-in.

One thing is for sure. I am diabetic, I have to inject myself with insulin. I am not ill, I have a condition which I control and it causes me no problems except for minor hassle. I have never had to stand up and admit my shame and guilt for being diabetic. I don't have to say 'I'm Paul and I'm a diabetic and I have been a terrible person and it is all my fault' because diabetes is recognised as a medical condition that is not my fault. Alcohol dependence, however, is still seen as a behaviour and a choice. It's time that changed and the research done by Sinclair (The Sinclair Method) has proven that there is a physiological reason for it.

 

Paul, thank you so much for this explanation.  I have printed it off so that I can show it to members of my family who find it hard to understand why I struggle with my consumption of alcohol.

Pat

Glad you find it helpful, Pat

Very excellently written Paul, and as you have granted me permission in the past to share your comments with my cousellor - I will for sure print out this one to take on my next visit...

Thanks once again for being here.

Thanks for the nice comment, Tim Yes, anything I say here is public so never worry about sharing.

Thank you Paul.  Excellent writing and extremely helpful for me.

Glad it's helpful, Candis I put an edited version on my website today for friends and relatives of people with alcohol problems.

Still trying to figure out how this website works and its getting easier.  I am really interested in your own website.  what is it called.  I think I need to read the website instructions.  Never did read the instructions for anything.  LOL

Thank you Paul, everything is beginning to make sense. I am quite self disciplined in most other areas. Your last paragraph touched me quite deeply. I have felt so ashamed of my drinking pattern. I have been taking the medication for 4 nights now. Side effects at night and feel a little weird but not too bad! However, I'm a little concerned because although I have probably halved my wine consumption, I think I have used will power too!?? Because I could still drink more. This leads me to thinking that the medication isn't haven't a massive effect on me? Or is it because I set myself too big a goal from 1 1/2 bottles (on drinking nights 5 of which) to 2 large glasses? Perhaps I will feel more like the desire isn't as strong in a few more days? As I am writing this I am answering my own question! The reason the will power is there ( where it wasn't previously) is exactly because of the reduced desire! Ha. Is this right do you think? Sorry for rambling, just want this to work so much.

ps do you know why I only have a desire for wine and not other alcohol? 😃

Kathryn, will power doesn't come into it. However, different people respond differently and, while some people find that they very quickly reduce to tiny amounts of alcohol, others find that it takes a bit longer before they notice a real difference.

I would imagine that the reason your desire is for wine is simply that wine is what you have got used to drinking and it has become automatic to think 'I want a glass of wine' rather than 'any alcohol will do.'

Just read your laymans terms and I'm also going to print it off for the Mrs 

day 4 cold turkey feeling ok not had any major withdrawals put big cravings 

Is salencro / nalmefene the same thing? And would it suppress my cravings 

and are there any issues taking it with 

simvastatin 40mg

amlodopine 5mg

ramipril 10 mg

asprin 75 mg

No, Paul. None of those drugs interact with Nalmefene so you should be ok to carry on taking those with Nalmefene.

Yes, you only take Nalmefene before drinking (not on days you don't drink.) Because it stops the additional reward you get from drinking (compared to people without an alcohol problem), you will want to drink less and your cravings will subside over time until the process is complete (2-3 months). After that, you will still need to take a pill before drinking alcohol, but you should suffer no real cravings.

Hi Paul

I'm confused because I am taking the tablets but still get a buzz when I drink? Is this normal?

Has your consumption reduced? How long have you been taking it? Are you making sure that you ALWAYS take a pill before drinking and don't carry on drinking after the pill has worn off (8-10 hours)? Also, is it Nalmefene or Naltrexone you are taking?

Thanks for replying. It is my third night I am taking selincro and I am absolutely taking it correctly. I don't understand why I seem to still feel good when I drink. It has taken away the urgency to drink more but the desire is still there and it is making ma feel good.

Just keep ensuring you take a pill at least 2 hours before drinking. It will reduce your desire immedately but reaching pharmacological extinction takes a while (on average 2-3 months but can take longer for some people).

Good luck

Thanks Paul

I still don't understand why Inam getting a buzz. I wondered if it might. E candida.

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. Will the selencro effect any treatment? Thanks