Medication

I started out using topamax but found that I was getting headaches and stopped. I might try it again, but only as you said, as a last resort. So far, I don't feel a need for it. Glutamine, kudzu, and evening primrose all curb a desire for alcohol. The amino acids that you'll be taking will boost your brain's neurotransmitters so that they'll soon function like that of a non-drinker's. Joan Larson's Seven Weeks to Sobriety has lots of solid information on nutrition.

The hypnotherapy CD's are very powerful. I'm something of a skeptic, but was amazed by the inner changes that took place after only a couple of weeks.

Glad to have you with us.

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carmen840

Carmen

I woke up this morning, sick and tired of thinking about alcohol and I grabbed the phone book determined to call every doctor (including podiatrists!) and ask if they'd write me a scrip for Topa or Campral and while I was honestly getting ready to do that, my husband called our HMO and demanded to see another doctor. I got in, my husband came with me carrying books, internet research,etc. and the doctor said, "I wish you'd come to see me in the first place, my mom died of alcoholism"
He didn't prescribe me anything as yet,though because my "fabulous" HMO won't cover Campral unless he gets a shrink (his words- not mine) to underwrite the scrip.
So, he's going to get back to me on Monday when they figure out which way to go. He said one way or the other I will have a scrip for Camp or Topa on Monday morning- he just wants to make sure it's covered by our insurance.
He also assured me that most of the side effects for Topa go away after a while (just like RJ has said) and he recommended vitamin therapy and exercise before I'd even mentioned MWO.
It's too funny, my husband was really determined to advocate for me and demand service and was astonished when this doctor was willing to do anything we asked.
So, it looks like I will finally have that last piece of the puzzle and I'll be able to jump fully into this program.
Thanks for your support, it really means the world!

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lovecarps

YB
I'm going the natural route for now also. It's been only 8 days but the best 8 days I've had in years. I haven’t gone more than two days over the last five years without drinking excessively. Of course I had the excuse of needing to entertain clients. I had and excuse for myself every time I drank and they were all lies. It’s been so great waking up in the morning not feeling guilty, and not trying to remember who I’d made promises to the night before.

I'm using the Glutamine, Kudzu, Milk Thistle, CD's, healthy diet, and exercise. The messages posted on this board have been the best help during the day.

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ThanksMom

...

And although I've said this many times before, to you new posters going the natural route and not following the program exactly as written, (actually either way, but particularly this if you are going this route) I think that if you are going this route you need to have a support plan in place...which means: don't isolate...you need to go to either individual counseling or a support group and regular exercise is even more important.

And, again, I really think campral or topamax is really helpful for the first year.

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jenram

Hey Lilly,

I think that Brigid has a good point about it's ultimately being up to you, but I do think that when you get the topa on board, it will help. Topa is like a miracle in some ways, and yet, as I'm discovering, still not the complete answer. I'm finding that the complete answer is still the one inside of us, in the desire to change our lives. You've done great in descreasing your drinking by 1/3 to 1/2 already! I could only do that for a day or two without the topa! Topa makes it so much easier to abstain or moderate, but it doesn't stop me from drinking to much if that is what is in my little brain to do that night!

At any rate, I have found it hard to allow myself to fully "let go" for the hypno tapes, I'll find myself getting distracted and stuff like that. I kept doing them anyway, and I think they have helped a lot. My biggest problem was finding the time, and for the last two weeks, I haven't been able to find the time, and it's been a lot harder to stay on course, and I find that I am really missing that "hypno time" Who'da thunk it?

Just some thoughts! Anyway, if you can, try not to feel too bashful about posting. I'm not sure why you think you might be "negative". Whether you're reaching out for help, sad or scared or questioning, or even offering something to someone else (you don't have to be perfect to do so, you know! ) everytime you write, you help yourself and maybe someone else, too! Sorry if I sound preachy. I hope I don't! I've been slippin and slidin all this week and hardly in a position to preach to anyone! I've managed to drink quite a bit even on the topa, which is kind of scary to me. I'm going to post more about it this weekend, when I really have some time to relax. I will be able to hang out and let my MWO friends help me peel myself back off the ceiling and get myself back on track! Meanwhile,

Hanging in there from here! Keep up the good work! I think you've already accomplished more than you're giving yourself credit for, Lilly! Alcohol is no little trouble. It is a formidable and cunning adversary, whether you're trying for abstinence or moderation.

Hugs,
Kathy

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YoungAtHeart

Don't be discouraged. There's no reason you can't get back on track. Campral is a very good medication - it's for people who are aiming for abstinence, not moderation, so you should not drink for 5-7 days before you begin taking it. Topamax is used primarily for people who are looking to moderate, although some (like me) use it with abstinence as their goal. Quite a few people at MWO are using Campral with great success, and if Topamax were to become a problem for me, for any reason, I wouldn't hesitate to use Campral. Why not work with your doctor and see how it goes? It's a very safe medication-you can get more information on it under the "research" tab above. Good luck.

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AllegraC

If you've been stressed by the changes in your life and little things are making you cry, maybe you NEED to cry. I had two of them last Sunday and have felt better since. Also, I think we adjust to change more slowly than we like to admit, and sometimes it takes a while to really integrate changes into our lives. Sometimes we can't be "over it" in just a few weeks. You might be going through a "reactive" depression that's just related to life events (as opposed to the "chemical imbalance" kind of depression" we commonly think of) I think so many of us with alcohol problems use alcohol to mask or numb our feelings, at least I know that I did--for me, learning to deal with them again is a whole new thing.

Are you open to talking more about what some of your stressors are? Don't want to pry, but you can do it on the forum or send a private e-mail if you want...

I don't know if the topa is making you weepy. It makes me more mellow. I think I have more access to my real feelings, although that can be a little uncomfortable at times.
I think drinking makes me more emotional and erratic at times, although I use it to relieve stress. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

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YoungAtHeart

As far as the not drinking for four or five days before beginning.... nothing is going to happen if you start sooner, it is just recommended that IF you are still in any type of physical withdrawal symptoms, that you ride those out first before beginning. I personally, other than the usual hangover symptoms if I way over do it, have no withdrawal symptoms. I actually physically feel much better and more productive when I dont drink. It is more of a psychological addiction for me... I just WANT it every night to relax, get a buzz. I started it the very next day and noticed a difference the first night. Today it is working even better. I did have two glasses of wine last night, but I did not want anymore. Amazing! Normally I would have gone through four in a blink. I have heard that after about a full week, the desire is totally gone. I am on day three, so I hope it will be that way for me. I'm so tired of dissapointing me family and my husband with my lack of self-control. This is already a huge help to me.

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Allie

Source: Genome News Network
Subject: Search for genetic variation in early-onset alcoholism

By Bijal P. Trivedi
Posted: August 25, 2000

Whether alcoholism is the result of a weak character or a real biological disease with a genetic component has long been debated. But now scientists have shown that ondansetron, a drug originally approved for treating chemotherapy-induced nausea, can reduce the urge to drink in alcoholics who become problem drinkers before age 25. The drug is not effective for late-onset forms of alcoholism. The ability to specifically treat one form over another lends credence to the idea that there is a solid biological basis to the disease.

While the researchers are not exactly sure how the drug works, they believe it compensates for a genetic defect that causes an imbalance of two critical neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine, triggering a craving for alcohol.

"The hope and dream is that we could offer alcoholics a genetic test to see whether they would respond to ondansetron," says Bankole Johnson, of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, the leader of the study.

Early-onset is the most severe form of alcoholism and the most difficult to treat. The patients are young, more heavily addicted, generally do not respond to psychotherapy and have a history of antisocial behavior.

During the past five years 271 alcoholics participated in Johnson's 11-week study. They were given either ondansetron or a placebo twice a day. The most effective dose reduced the number of drinks consumed by half; early-onset alcoholics who took the drug drank one and a half drinks per day, while those who received a placebo drank more than three. Ondansetron was also more effective at promoting abstinence. Those taking it abstained from drinking during 70 percent of the study, those taking the placebo abstained only 50 percent of the time. The report appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Johnson believes that a genetic variation in the promoter region—the on-off switch—of the serotonin transporter gene may predispose people to early-onset alcoholism. In the next five years his team will scan the early-onset alcoholics and their families to determine which variant may be the most important in causing the disease. He will also screen about ten other genes that are part of the serotonin and dopamine signaling systems to look for variations that are linked to the disease.

"Alcohol is a dirty drug that affects many systems in the brain, and alcoholism is a complex disease that is about 60 percent genetic, and involves possibly 10 to 20 genes which all interact with each other. It is going to be very difficult to find one gene or one variation that stands out," says Ola Blomqvist, of the Alcohol Research Center at the University of Connecticut.

Johnson's research raises expectations that genetic studies will reveal subtypes of alcoholism that can be treated specifically.

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mwojewell

I'm one of those who has choosen not to take the meds. I cant talk for others who have really found benefit from taking the meds, but for various reasons I did not. At first I wasnt sure I could make it and really hassled over the decision (I even have bought campral so if this does not work I can go straight away onto campral!!) but not had to use it.

Someone earlier asked what makes this work.. again, I cant talk for others, but for me, it really was a state of mind and determination.. I used various parts of this program -tweaked for me - and I use this forum quite a bit to keep it in my frontal lobe and not to get to cruisy about the fact that I'm going well.

I'm now at 3 months sober and going well. It was very very hard at the beginning, but it has gotten easier. Ive found that as I've gone along I've really taken more of a total personal growth path, of which sobriety is a portion but not the driver.. but sobriety helps (no doubt!!)

Good luck with your decisionmaking.

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about time too