Stopping drinking by myself

Don't encourage anybody to kid themselves that an alcohol problem isn't serious if they are not drinking spirits, Roger. I frequently detox people who are just drinking beer and one was recently in such a bad state, he spent a week in hospital having fluids drained because he was in such a bad state (before his detox, not because of it) that his liver was very close to failing.

Sounds like you have cut down, yourself, though. If I assume right, well done

I'm not encouraging anything at all. Thanks. 

That wasn't meant as an 'accusation' Roger, more to ensure that people don't think 'oh my problem isn't bad because I am not drinking spirits.' I'm sorry if I came across harshly.

Alls cool here👍 I've been in detox twice (Thames clinc, Kingston) cost a bomb. This time round I got hold of Librium , not from my GP......I did my rip at home. Fine now. All I was saying is that I've seen & experienced alcohol dependency in its worst and mildest forms. It's insidious, thus my comment regarding the 'dark side' with spirits. Whatever the choice of poison, I believe  a natural progression from ales to spirits is inevitable due to tolerance levels being so high. I've personally turned down lager that was offered to me in my height of addiction. I went up the shop and bought vodka. Couldn't waste valuable stomach space on lager👍 But that was just me. I didn't take any offence no more than I intended offend. Cheers, Roger👍

You are right, Roger. When the fluid required to get the desired effect gets too much, people tend to move to drinks which contain more alcohol per litre but we do a LOT of detoxes with people who drink wine or beer and never moved onto spirits.

Don't tell me, for your thousands of pounds, you had your mobile phone taken from you, were not allowed visitors, were forced to participate in group therapy, had set times to go to bed and get up and had to clean the place too

Paul, your second paragraph about the restrictions, etc... has happened to me as well...don't ever want to be in that situation ever again 

I don't even know that I was detoxed in there, 30 days (and useless AA meetings) and then let loose (to my own devices)...just powered over to the extent it drove me to drink, MORE.

I can't trust the big expensive institutions that care more for the money - than for ME. What's this world coming too???

Most of the above, no cleaning & wasn't forced to go to therapy ( but went anyway due to boredom). They can't make a private patient do anything they  don't wanna😄. I knew what to expect, but I wouldn't recommend wasting Al that money as a knee jerk reaction. It worked great the first time, I went 2 years and 2 months completely dry. No AA meetings as I personally don't dig  being part of a cult & I certainly cannot for the life of me understand what a higher power is....LOL. Each to their own I suppose. I won't go back to a detox, home all the way with librium👍👍

Ditto. I stopped eating for about 3 weeks, think I may have had a couple of crisps in that time. That's what made it extra dangerous for me, no food, couldn't face the thought of it. Horrible times, jaundice, weight loss, short term memory loss ( still have this) long term memory fine. Wretching every morning, only thing that stopped me being sick was vodka. I still can't believe that I escaped with no permanent liver damage. 👍👍

Please dont tell vulnerable people that seeing Drs, counsellors, 'shrinks', AA are a waste of time!  They may be in your experience - perhaps you weren't ready to quit.  If someone is a heay drinker and has been doing so for a long time they CANNOT just quit!  Reduction is the first step which I think Selincro can do.  But not all GPs are willing to prescribe this very expensive drug on the NHS.  £80 per 28 tablets.  For someone like me that would only last 28 days.  Forums are good, but people shouldn't read and rely on what some people may say.

I think Tim was only talking from HIS perspective. He has found the people on this forum more help than he found any services he used offline.

Different things work for different people. If something works for a person, then they should do that.

You probably need to look at other posts Tim has written to see that he isn't the way you perhaps guessed he is from that one post

good reply Paul. I just gave the same advice to another lady = summary that some of the advice here is sometimes better than what you get from professionals...excluding yourself since you have a well balanced point of view...

Thanks guys...I re-read these posts every now and then - and must say the most important thing is communication.

So everybody is different, not only in the way they respond, but their habits as well ...Mine have improved greatly because of this forum, thanks to all, good and bad comments...

I take my meds, Campral and Naltrexone daily only to find out they only last for about 6 hours or so..then...it's easy to fall back into habit.

Anybody else have this happen?

Anna, I have raised children/grandchildren  as well. Good wishes to you.

In light of this nastiness, my previous post has not been replied to.

I am still wondering if anyone on here who is on Campral and/or Naltrexone who have experienced the ability to go beyond the meds' effects and still gotten drunk?

Was it the pure need or pressure to go beyond? I haven't figured that out yet but will keep a better eye-out next time...

Tim, Campral works on cravings. If you drink regardless, it will have no preventative effect with regard to you getting drunk.

Naltrexone (and Nalmefene) stops a person getting the additional subconscious reward from alcohol, which is what makes a person addicted to alcohol carry on drinking compared to those who don't have the problem and can stop drinking when they want to. Again, you will get drunk just as easily but have less desire (over time) to do so.

Both Naltrexone and Nalmefene last, as you say, for just a few hours before you become 'unprotected' again and you need to remain aware of this.

I think I am a little nieve in beleiving most pharmacuticals who advertise "lasts xxx hours" don't really give the most acurate info.

For instance, my high blood pressure meds say once a day, vitamins and supplements say the same. Others like above have a shorter time frame.

Yes I will stay more aware, thanks Paul 

Yes, Tim. Each drug has an official 'half life' which is the time it takes for the amount in your body to drop by half. However, different people's bodies process chemicals more or less quickly than this so it cannot be totally relied on as an accurate measure. The official published half life for Naltrexone is 13 hours and for Nalmefene it is almost 11 hours.

When you consider that, not only the difference in how quickly different people's bodies process the drug but, what percentage of a full dose is still effective, it gets complicated and means that each individual needs to 'play it by ear' to judge when they are effectively protected.

Thanks for this info Paul. As you have mentioned before Naltrexone is harmful to the liver so hope I can beat this habit soon. Or get better control over it psychologically.

Nalmefene would be my choice if it were available here in Canada but sadly it isn't. If there was a safe place to buy it on-line without having to go to a doctor - I would be willing to give it a go.

Would you happen to know if the World Health Organization has approved it or recommending it to the world? If so, I would request a PM from you, to take to my local governments and health care providers that there is a better/safer way.

I wouldn't go as far as saying Naltrexone is 'harmful' to the liver. Nalmefene is more gentle on the liver but alcohol is more harmful to the liver, if consumed excessively than both drugs.

I am sending you a link in a private message regarding Nalmefene clinical research which talks about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of using it as a treatment for people with alcohol problems, Tim.

Thank you for the clarification for the effects on the liver.

WOW, that article is massive and technical !!! OMG

Might be best to just write down the link to take with me to my next appoinment. Thanks Paul

It's not light reading, but if you want to convince local government and healthcare providers it gives the evidence in COST EFFECTIVE terms and QALYs which stands for quality-adjusted life year which is defined on a Google search as:

"The quality-adjusted life year or quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is a measure of disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived. It is used in assessing the value for money of a medical intervention."

If you put things in money terms, you get the attention of those people

Hi Paul - hope you are well - have you any knowledge what to expect at a "preparation for treatment session" ? - last year i was referred by the Community Mental Health Team to attend a local service and today received a letter - advising id have to go so that structured treatment can be made, i have attended seesions before but not in this way. I also asked my GP for help last year and mentioned Nalmefene but was told no - they couldnt afford it. I was quite upset by this to be fair, as im freely given other meds including Diazepam no problems. I felt like i was not being taken seriously. I have sucessfully stopped on my own many times but all it takes is for life to throw something at me and thats it, and then impulsively im drinking again. I hope the service i am entering can help but i have to say i am a little worried.

Attitude, I am afraid I don't know what treatment they are 'preparing' you for, I would guess it is some sort of assessment of your situation with a view to providing some sort of 'talking therapy.' I imagine you will be allocated a counsellor who will work with you to identify reasons why you drink and ways that you can change how you do things. That may be Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) or similar but, as I said, I am only guessing here.

Nalmefene IS expensive. Around £3 per tablet. Diazepam costs pennies per pill so that is the reason that GPs hands are tied. Their local committee agrees a list of what can and can't be prescribed and that is why you hear stories of a postcode lottery when it comes to cancer treatments.

My view is that the £3 per tablet (or the cost of a detox) is massively cheaper than the cost of treating complications caused by long term alcohol misuse but with an NHS that runs on 1 year budgets that must be met, rather than cost-effective treatment which saves money and (more importantly) lives in the longterm, this is unfortunately what influences decisions. The whole system needs a thorough review by people with sufficient insight to understand the implications of their decisions.

Hi all,

I have removed the argumentative/attacking posts from this discussion. If anyone has any issues with other users do not get involved in debates in other users' discussions, it helps no-one. If there are any concerns there is a "Report" link on every post you can use to draw it to my attention or you can send me a private message me at any time. There is more information about all of this in the FAQ section linked at the bottom of every page of the forums.

Regards,

Alan