Once again Campral saves me

Posted , 9 users are following.

Most of you know me..and know in high times of stress..I can't function without drinking.....as most of us...

So..yesterday...really bad news impacting my finaces..ok, I will say it out loud..,.the insurance company that was paying me....for 2 years...has stopped my income (this would be the income I use to pay my mortgage..and everything else).

Needless to say...when I realized the magnitude of this...I was in immediate PANIC....I started crying....and my first thought was I need a DRINK..and guess what most of the reason they are using is because I have anxiety and depression and substance abuse..which they only pay 2 years for...

I have been for about 4 months...taking randoms...I talked to the lady today and asked..what about the probable MS and Lupus and the lumbar puncture I am going for????  That is NOT...depression/anxiety or alcohol.

So I can appeal.

Anyway...Campral was actually what made me NOT drink.  As I thought about drinking...envisioning it going down my throat...I really was kinda turned off by the thought....so I got more panicky and desperate...but because of this drug (I KNOW it is this drug)...I got thru it.

I will fight them....I will win...or I will deal with whatever....and do it sober....bless Campral.

1 like, 24 replies

24 Replies

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  • Posted

    I appreciate what you are saying, but Campral did not help me. I think because the reason I drink is borne out of different problems which Campral cannot address or make any difference to.
    • Posted

      That s*cks it didn't work for you...because I know drugs work differently on everyone...and how this is helping me is amazing...It really does s*ck that it doesn't work for you.....

      Do you want to talk about the reason you drink here?  If not I understand...just thinking there may be something else someone has tried that worked for them...with your same problems. sad

    • Posted

      Misssy there are things in my past with the break up of my first marriage and told by my arsehole ex husband that I could not have my kids - by the way I was not drinking at that time, it came later. I went to a substance abuse project it did not help me. The counsellor I was assigned to never got it. In fact I came out worse and my husband will not let me go back there so I am pretty much on my own. When I drink I can deal with stuff - look after my home etc but drink accompanies me through my daily tasks. The hardest thing I have to learn is doing 'life' without drink - disassociation - and that is so hard
    • Posted

      How much do you drink? What do you drink?
    • Posted

      I drink vodka, sometimes a bottle a day sometimes less
  • Posted

    So pleased for you Missy
    • Posted

      atta girl...I go on...smile...Thank you h1954
  • Posted

    Thank you for sharing!  I am still going to try Campral but I have to wait until the 28th of this month.  My doctor wants to see me because she prescribed the naltrexone without an appt.  

    I'm sorry you're going through all this crap.  I'm glad the Campral is helping you!  Different thing work for different people.  Hang in there!  I'm so proud of you.  I know all you went through and you give the hope to hang in there!

    • Posted

      like numpty said...different pills work for different people...but if you stop totally and want to stay stopped at least try it...

      US Drs....are more than willing to hand it out...I don't know why the UK remains to be so difficult.

      '

       

    • Posted

      My doctors won't prescribe campral or anything else. You are expected to go to a substance abuse group. In fact when I asked a GP for campral she told me in no uncertain terms that they were not a drug and alcohol service!! I was devastated.
    • Posted

      Hi Numpty

      I am assuming you are in the UK?

      GPs CAN prescribe Campral. It is RAG rated Green in conjunction with a specialist service ie the Alchohol recovery centres.

      RGHB has a lot of experience with this.

      I only got it prescribed once I had been to Turning Point, tried to reduce my intake and failed spectacularly. I then had a huge bender which resulted in a section 136. 4 hours later I was back at Drs and demanding that she contact my key worker at the ARC and he along with their specialist DR agreed that Campral would work for me after I had detoxed at home. My LFT re adults were looked at and My GP then wrote the prescription for Campral and the meds needed for the detox.

      I HAD to agree to continue to see my key worker at the ARC weekly along with my Mental Health link worker and GP on a regular basis.

      You have to show that you are serious about abstinence.

      If you definitely want Campral, do you research and get into the ARC system.

    • Posted

      Hi Vic

      Yes I am in the UK.

      I will research the ARC system. Thank you

  • Posted

    Good for you it would have been so easy to use the unpleasant news as a trigger for drinking abd simply not use meds. You are clearly on the road to recovery and sobriety.

    Remember your worst day sober is still better than your best day drinking!

    I'm taking out the cheering pom poms for you are going thru a lot to stay in a good sober place. Not activating those old triggers . Hope you have good support at home and many here care .

    Stay strong & safe, my thoughts and prayers are with you!

     

  • Posted

    I so pleased that the Campral is still working for you Missy.

    I too am still AF and have been taking Campral now for 3 weeks. I am really struggling at the moment but it's because I've been swapped onto a generic AD rather than my norm and I have gone straight back the mess I was before treatment. I know a drink would make me feel better and am trying to hard to stay strong.

    • Posted

      It is well known that when medications are swapped to generics, the fillers and coatings are different and this can have an effect on how effective they are. I don't take ADs, but some of the medication I take is quite serious vicious stuff and the side effects can be quite bad in people. It even has its own forum section on here deidcated to this one medication.

      You need to go to your GP or pharmacy (whichever you get your meds from) and tell them that this current brand is not working and you need your original brand back. They can't just tell you to stop whinging, they have to take the request seriously.

      The alternative is, well you know what will happen if you continue as you are.

    • Posted

      Thanks RHGB

      I've just made an appointment with my GP for later today. So will request the swap back to the original meds. I'm surprised at how lousy I feel from 4 days on the generic.

      It's such a pain as its taken me years to get the right AD and bl**dy DRs and their cost saving have messed it up.

    • Posted

      I worked for a company that made pharmaceuticals medicine made from (chemicals).

      I worked for a company that made medicine from cells (biological).

      Regardless of the drug...generic or brand name.....the pills, injections, whatever prior to being approved...have to show they have the same "efficacy"....

      Which means they have to contain the same active ingredient that the brand name drug has and they have to be approved by the FDA. 

      The pill manufacturers are allowed to make the pills...different colors, shapes...etc...but the generic pills go thru much scrutiny by the FDA prior to being allowed on the market and generic drugs actually have MORE testing and research done on them than the brand name.

      So don't be dissapointed getting the "generic"...it is the same thing...only usually CHEAPER.  And the reason they are cheaper is not due to the fact that they are "weaker"....AGAIN...they have to meet same criteria as brand name and sometimes MORE criteria....

      The reason they are cheaper....is the first company to make the drug....has more costs to getting their drug on the market....and the generic drug companies don't have to do all of the same things that a company has to do for an "original" drug...THAT IS IT.

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