Whats the best anti-craving medication?

[_EndOfTheLine_]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering, what have you found to be the best anti-craving med, apart from baclofen? I'm gonna go on antabuse but I need something to take away the craving. I won't be able to get baclofen from my dr

[Guest]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

EOTL

Anti-craving meds unfortunately(or fortunately) don't remove the craving completely - partly I believe because this is such a complex disease. Campral is such a drug which CAN help with cravings, but doesn't work for everyone. It's fairly side effect free and your GP will prescribe it as long as they see you are serious about giving up. You can buy baclofen yourself online but you need to read up on the dosing etc yourself, and there are plenty of threads on here covering the information that you need. From what I see bac still isn't an easy way out, and there are some side effects for some people. L-glutamine is a completely natural supplement, available in sports and health stores and can help with both alcohol, as well as sugar cravings. I used to take a teaspoon in my morning porridge, and a teaspoon in a hot drink in the evenings.

Whilst your question is directly regards meds I would say you also need a plan around you whatever you take. The mental battle is often a huge part, and if you have strategies for that bit you are pretty much well on your way. There isn't a quick fix for all of this, but there are lots of things you can try.

[guardian]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

At sufficient doses, baclofen eradicates my desire to drink. I must have brain chemistry deficient in gaba or something downstream of gaba. Provided one has the will to put up with the side effects, and the requisite screw loose, it is THE anti-craving med.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

Guardian, and others,
Why not lobby hard for the baclofen with your doc. It has helped so many. Only contraindication is a seizure disorder or a particular sensitivity or other drugs.

In alcohol abuse we have an acquired GABA deficiency not an inherent one. The prolonged heavy alcohol in the brain has reduced the GABA released by the cells and the receptors which receive it. It takes time to repair these deficiencies. This is how the bac works. It allows the withdrawal from al without the symptoms & cravings which are often largely GABA deficiency as well as habit patterns.
This is another reason that I, for one, believe most can taper off the bac (slowly!) in time.
Best of good luck. So far bac is the best IMO and I have studied all of them thus far and tried several. None worked like bac did for me.
Sunny

[gyco]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

i dont no,ive had many meds,i d have to say vallium,it relieves the depression,which causes many to drink ,helps you sleep and actually makes you think twice about drinking,and if you do drink with it,it will be a nightmare,and at a low dose, .5 mil,i have to say if your into over the counter meds,there s nothing better gyco

[betty boop]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

Gyco ..... am I reading right that you can get valium over the counter????

[Guest]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

I really hope gyco has made a typo and meant valerian.

Valium is an addictive, sedative.

[guardian]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

That may be true, but I believe in and there is strong evidence for inherent alcoholism. I may have acquired gaba deficiency while drinking myself to death, but I am a born alcoholic, there is no doubt. I misspoke if I implied that gaba deficiency was the cause of my alcoholism. I believe that baclofen's action is downstream of gaba, likely in the dopaminergenic reward center of the brain. Baclofen inhibits dopamine release initially, so this may explain baclofen's blunting of the reward effect of alcohol.

THE GABAB RECEPTOR AGONISTS BACLOFEN AND CGP 44532 PREVENT ACQUISITION OF ALCOHOL DRINKING BEHAVIOUR IN ALCOHOL-PREFERRING RATS ?€” Alcohol Alcohol

That's a study where alcoholic-bred, alcohol-naive rats were given alcoho and baclofen. Baclofen prevented the addiction from occurring in the first place. Whatever the explanation, it's pretty cool.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Whats the best anti-craving medication?

I agree, Alcohol addiction seems to be part genetic and part environmental. Like many genetic traits (think diabetes, allergies, eg.) there is not a 100% correlation between the genotype and the phenotype. There are several things that get messed up when we drink to excess. But someone "born alcoholic" would never express the gene in the absence of alcohol in the environment. For me Bac has allowed me to overcome my genetic + environmental disease and express a better (also partly genetic and environmental) destiny.
All the best,
Sunny