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Death from alcohol overuse can be prevented with medications | TheHill
Getting off alcohol is all about getting rid of the cravings for it
Forget your 12-step meetings. You're only trading one addiction for another.
The root of the problem of alcohol withdrawal is biological, not social. It's in your brain, not your friends at meetings.
Alcohol is the most common problem encountered by primary care providers, yet the one they are least able to manage. Often missing from treatment is discussion of medication as an option. It is still rare for a person struggling with alcohol to hear that medication therapy exists.
People in alcohol treatment, then, often have the most serious problems. Yet less than 10 percent of them are prescribed medications, which are very effective.
The FDA has approved 3 drugs for alcohol withdrawal symptoms: Naltrexone and acamprosate are the two drugs on the market for patients with alcohol cravings and they’re effective. Both are easily tolerated and produce few side effects. There’s ample evidence they work. But they don't really nullify the cravings. They just take some of the high out of being drunk. And naltrexone is an opioid. I'm not familiar with it or its side effects, such as constipation or failing a drug test for opioids.
The one that does work is not yet approved by the FDA but may be prescribed off-label by a doctor: baclofen. Originally developed as a muscle relaxant, it works on the same brain receptor as does alcohol: GABA-B. It has the same biological effect as a couple of stiff drinks without the resulting intoxication. It can be overused and does have side effects, especially if overused: loss of balance is one significant one. But it has the peculiar property of having an extended effect on the brain: weeks or months between taking a pill. And the craving for alcohol just vanishes. Amazing stuff.
A final word of caution: muscle relaxants like baclofen are often in the drugs of abuse category & can have there own withdrawal problems. Moderation in all things.
Moderation In All Things
moderation in all things proverbial saying, mid 19th century; a more recent formulation of the idea contained in there is measure in all things. The essential thought is found in the work of the Greek poet Hesiod (c.700 bc), ‘observe due measure; moderation is best in all things’, and of the Roman comic dramatist Plautus (c.250–184 bc), ‘moderation in all things is the best policy.’
Getting off alcohol is all about getting rid of the cravings for it
Forget your 12-step meetings. You're only trading one addiction for another.
The root of the problem of alcohol withdrawal is biological, not social. It's in your brain, not your friends at meetings.
Alcohol is the most common problem encountered by primary care providers, yet the one they are least able to manage. Often missing from treatment is discussion of medication as an option. It is still rare for a person struggling with alcohol to hear that medication therapy exists.
People in alcohol treatment, then, often have the most serious problems. Yet less than 10 percent of them are prescribed medications, which are very effective.
The FDA has approved 3 drugs for alcohol withdrawal symptoms: Naltrexone and acamprosate are the two drugs on the market for patients with alcohol cravings and they’re effective. Both are easily tolerated and produce few side effects. There’s ample evidence they work. But they don't really nullify the cravings. They just take some of the high out of being drunk. And naltrexone is an opioid. I'm not familiar with it or its side effects, such as constipation or failing a drug test for opioids.
The one that does work is not yet approved by the FDA but may be prescribed off-label by a doctor: baclofen. Originally developed as a muscle relaxant, it works on the same brain receptor as does alcohol: GABA-B. It has the same biological effect as a couple of stiff drinks without the resulting intoxication. It can be overused and does have side effects, especially if overused: loss of balance is one significant one. But it has the peculiar property of having an extended effect on the brain: weeks or months between taking a pill. And the craving for alcohol just vanishes. Amazing stuff.
A final word of caution: muscle relaxants like baclofen are often in the drugs of abuse category & can have there own withdrawal problems. Moderation in all things.
Moderation In All Things
moderation in all things proverbial saying, mid 19th century; a more recent formulation of the idea contained in there is measure in all things. The essential thought is found in the work of the Greek poet Hesiod (c.700 bc), ‘observe due measure; moderation is best in all things’, and of the Roman comic dramatist Plautus (c.250–184 bc), ‘moderation in all things is the best policy.’
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