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A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

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Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#41

Post by anon9001 »

xanaxagoras wrote: post #36
anon9001 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Xanax is about the worst choice for this because the half life is so short. Most often people receive ativan or librium for the taper you describe.

Any of them work, and it probably depends how deep you're in.

If you can't fall asleep without a drink, xanax would be a good choice. If you need a drink in your hand all day, I'd guess librium. If you're drinking from shift end until you pass out, probably ativan.

Alcoholism takes a lot of different forms, and obviously a doctor should come up with a taper plan.

But I think the reason these drugs (which actually work) aren't first line treatments is puritanical. They feel good, so giving them to alcoholics to feel just as good (or better) than they did with their drinks feels uneasy. But it really works, and it can be much more easily tapered and controlled.

It's frustrating to watch after having seen multiple people successfully taper themselves off booze with other drugs (without doctor's supervision, sadly).

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#42

Post by bee_rider »

xanaxagoras wrote: post #35

There is absolutely no sense in which antabuse "cures alcoholism", I really can't think of a worse way to put that. All it does is cause a violent physical reaction when alcohol is consumed. Alcoholism is an umbrella term for 2 co-occurring disorders, one physical and one mental. On the physical side, alcohol produces an allergy which manifests as an intense physical craving for more alcohol - craving in the sense of…

Is there any medically backed information on the idea that alcoholism is an allergic reaction to alcohol? I mean -- it doesn't seem like a great analogy, but I don't generally have an uncontrollable desire to overindulge in cat dander and pollen, personally.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#43

Post by neuroma »

xanaxagoras wrote: post #35

There is absolutely no sense in which antabuse "cures alcoholism", I really can't think of a worse way to put that. All it does is cause a violent physical reaction when alcohol is consumed. Alcoholism is an umbrella term for 2 co-occurring disorders, one physical and one mental. On the physical side, alcohol produces an allergy which manifests as an intense physical craving for more alcohol - craving in the sense of…

Loved your comment.

Also I'm impulsively here to query the use of Physical vs Mental components of alcohol abuse.

I personally find it difficult to separate the two domains. I understand one is referring to detoxification and the other to habbit and belief. Both those are simultaneously physical and mental, and benefit from support within both those frames.

Mind brain dichotomy is not very useful IMO. Happy to be shown counter examples.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#44

Post by cameronh90 »

jrapdx3 wrote: post #27

Disulfiram is a very familiar and very old line drug. It doesn't (directly) stop people from drinking alcohol, but just makes it very unpleasant. Disulfiram interferes with the breakdown of the normal metabolic products of alcohol, which cause nausea, headache, flushing, sweating and other autonomic symptoms. With large amounts of alcohol the interaction can be dangerous, rarely even fatal. But the article is reporti…

I have bad anxiety and I would 100% be willing to give up alcohol for some relief from anxiety. Anxiety already means I can't really enjoy going out.

Social pressure to drink can be a problem but usually saying you can't because of medication will get people off your back.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#45

Post by taneq »

xanaxagoras wrote: post #35

There is absolutely no sense in which antabuse "cures alcoholism", I really can't think of a worse way to put that. All it does is cause a violent physical reaction when alcohol is consumed. Alcoholism is an umbrella term for 2 co-occurring disorders, one physical and one mental. On the physical side, alcohol produces an allergy which manifests as an intense physical craving for more alcohol - craving in the sense of…

Allergy? Are you sure that’s the right word?

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#46

Post by taneq »

toxicFork wrote: post #17

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25586396/ > Psilocybin-assisted treatment for alcohol dependence: a proof-of-concept study Mushrooms will help us.

Are you sure? One time in a Amsterdam I tried mushrooms and I’m pretty sure I drank the same pint of Heineken four times.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#47

Post by sab24 »

anon9001 wrote: post #31
teirce wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One anecdote to another: Naltrexone isn't all that different from what you're describing Disulfiram as here - it's an opiod blocker so when you drink you get the poison and not the happy chemicals. That doesn't help with addiction, it's subjecting yourself to negative effects / conditioning for drinking. Naltrexone doesn't work for me. It is not very effective for some people.

Quoted post unavailable.

Even with drugs that are supposed to stop addiction, many people are still addicted after the treatment stops. Continuing with the drugs over a long time can lead to health problems, thus not solving the issue. Many studies show that a change in environment has a major influence on the change in behavior of patient.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#48

Post by bin_bash »

Quequau wrote: post #7

Given the extremely strong negative reaction to alcohol that patients who are taking Disulfiram experience and given that this is apparently the sole effect that alcohol abuse cessation treatment using it relies on, it is my belief that the treatment is unconscionable and inhumane. I quit drinking after more than 25 years of problematic drinking using naltrexone (The Sinclair Method) and, given my experience with alc…

As a counterpoint, I tried Naltrexone 3 times in my life and it made no lasting effect on my drinking. I was religious about taking it before drinking as well.

I eventually quit last fall but I am not actually sure what I did differently that made it seem to “stick” this time. I didn’t take naltrexone though.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#49

Post by rjh29 »

noelwelsh wrote: post #4

The people I know who like to drink the most are also people I would say are highly anxious, which makes me wonder if they're using alcohol as self medication. Just an informal observation---not claiming a universal truth here.

Yes, it's usually a way to cope with negative emotions. Stopping drinking is the relatively easy part. What's hard is staying sober - building up skills and new behaviours to replace the old ones so you don't relapse again.

Re: A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication

#50

Post by [deleted] »

Quequau wrote: post #7

Given the extremely strong negative reaction to alcohol that patients who are taking Disulfiram experience and given that this is apparently the sole effect that alcohol abuse cessation treatment using it relies on, it is my belief that the treatment is unconscionable and inhumane. I quit drinking after more than 25 years of problematic drinking using naltrexone (The Sinclair Method) and, given my experience with alc…

[deleted]
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