Does anyone here have any experience with this method? It doesn’t appear to be that well-known, but it’s been around for many years now. This is the only method I know of that does not condone abstinence. You are actually encouraged to continue drinking. Supposedly taking the drug Naltrexone combined with drinking helps you unlearn the behavior by blocking your pleasure receptors. It’s not something like taking antabuse, which makes you sick, this actually helps you unlearn the behavior by removing the reinforcements. Any personal experiences with this?
Its an interesting aproach to getting sober. True statistics for it are limited at best, due to how little its used, or was used. The theory of it has always intrigued me. Dr. Sinclair was basically influeced by Physiologist Ivan(i think) Pavlov. Basically, Sinclair thought this was was basically “unringing” the bell in Pavlov’s dog experiment.
Oh…while I am not an expert by any means, its been years since I really did any research into it. I think “encouraged” is a strong word. It was always meant to yield sobriety…if my memory serves me correctly…kinda like the nicotine patch or nicotine gums does for smoking.
Yeah, I read about it a little bit last year, then forgot about it, and started reading up again. Yes, very much like Pavlov’s experiment.
For this Goat, Idk that there is any way to unpickle this drunk like this method seems to suggest. The skeptic in me seems to think that if it really was that easy, somebody would have already made more money than he could spend.
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Results are mixed. I have never read why in some it works and some it doesnt. My guess is, that you can unring the bell, but can easily ring it again.
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Maybe that is the difference between a problem drinker and an alcoholic.
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That’s actually one of my concerns, the financial issue. Has it maybe been suppressed due to the tens of thousands of dollars one person spends at most inpatient rehab centers for three to four weeks. Also, the drug used in conjunction with this is supposedly very cheap according to the book I’m reading, and reads that big Pharm would not make money or just does not have an interest, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I personally WOULD expect big Pharm to have an interest.
Use disorder vs alcoholic…i highly doubt it would work for me…my stubborn butt, would just relearn the behavior all over
Yeah, I’d probably be the same.
The head shrinker in me is fascinated. There is one guy in AA I know…i honestly dont know if he will ever quit. Would something like this combined with AA do the trick. Some people can quit smoking cold turkey, I did. I have a friend that took years of patches and gum.
My doctor put me on Naltrexone many years ago. It worked sporadically for me, most often it did curb my binge drinking (it is supposedly good for bingers)…I would usually stop after 1 or 2 since I no longer caught the buzz (most of the time). Unfortunately, it blocked ALL my pleasure receptors and I was a depressed down in the dumps mess on it so I stopped taking it after several months.
I can see how it would work well for some people if it interacted well with their body chemistry. For me, it sucked all the fun out of everything.
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I’ve read a lot about the Sinclair method - and I get that there is some success for people who want to drink moderately. Results for those who want to quit all together are not as promising.
I guess the thing for me is this. Naltrexone might turn on my non-existent off switch and allow me to drink one or two. (Whatever the point in that would be…lol.)
When I am an active alcoholic, my thinking is as screwed up as my liver. I am a self centered, angry, resentful, self-pitying mess. Putting down the bottle was just the beginning of learning how to live an emotionally sober life. For me, the Sinclair method would not have started the changes I needed to make on a mental and spiritual basis. For me, trying to quit through moderation was just one more way of lying to myself about who I had become.
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I don’t know if it would work for others but it could never work for me. I drank to get that golden buzz, so if I took a medication that prevented the buzz all it would do is make me want to drink more.
100% abstinence is the only thing for me.
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From my experience, naltrexone is hit and miss with alcohol. Some do well on it, some get really ill and some it has no effect on. For me, naltrexone was just what I needed for my opiate addiction. Knowing that if I take something that it’ll have no effect on. For me, because naltrexone attaches to opiate receptors AND reduces cravings, it has been a miracle drug.
Side note: My experience was gathered while in an inpatient rehab center.
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