People in Moderation Management share experiences of naltrexone use

Madame Bozo - MM @ maelstrom.stjohns.edu - 5/28/01

I had a very brief relationship with Naltrexone. I decided, despite the fact that I had no health insurance, to go to a doctor and ask him to prescribe it in an effort to take drastic measures to end my downward spiral of nightly drinking. I had to educate him on what it was and he had to call a pharmacist and a few other reference people to make sure I was "legit" in requesting it. He finally prescribed it, but only seven days worth, until my liver function tests were returned. I took it the first night and drank a beer, just to test its effectiveness. It was true, the "buzz" didn't come from the first beer, or the second. I went to bed, satisfied that it "worked."

But for me, and I am strongly emphasizing that, it wasn't practical. For one, the prescription was not covered by insurance and would cost about $5 a shot/day to take. I realized I would be taking it and then realizing, when I wanted to drink, that I wasn't going to get what I wanted by drinking, so why bother? And I was just as pissed off about that taking the Naltrexone as I would be without taking it. I could be taking a placebo and convince myself that I wouldn't be getting what I wanted from alcohol and "decide" not to drink based on that, and could save myself the price I was paying for the prescription, not even reaping the benefits of the medication I was taking.

For some, I think the physical craving of the alcohol is so strong that the Naltrexone is supposed to aid in alleviating that. And I know for some people, just taking away the struggle of whether to drink or not is invaluable. But I personally only had a psychological craving that, I found, could be "shushed" by saying "you're not gonna get what you want out of it anyway" when I took the Naltrexone. So why couldn't I achieve that without taking the pill?

Again, paying out of pocket had a lot to do with my personal experience with Naltrexone, as did knowing that my struggles with alcohol were more psychologically than physically based. The drug was not doing anything more than changing my mindset and attitude toward what the alcohol could do for me.

Just my experience, and I hope I'm not dashing any hopes or attempts toward abstinence. I do believe that Naltrexone can be a great help to some who want to change their relationship with alcohol.