Originally Posted by Obladi

Hey Patrick, there are medications for that. I've been on pretty much all of them. I've heard that they can be complete game changers for some people as far as cravings go. My experience is that none of these helped me, but I think that's because they did nothing for my underlying issues. So if your challenge is craving, I'd heartily recommend you give one or more a go, under the supervision of a very open-minded GP, or even better working with a physician/psychiatrist who specializes in addiction.

Here's what I've been prescribed:
Antabuse (disulfiram) - does nothing for physical cravings, but sure can help as a deterrent, because I did become violently ill when I drank on it.
Naltrexone - opioid blocker that seems to have initially been marketed for alcoholics, but i believe has turned out to be more effective with opioid addicts. I know former drinkers who say it does the trick for them, too. Didn't "work" for me because I still had a compulsion to drink. Oddly enough, this is the one substance abuse medication I continue to take under the advice of my GP and I haven't had a drink in 7 months+1 day. But there's more to the story than a miracle pill...
Vivitrol - same thing as naltrexone, only injected. It's absorbed better, so it's just one shot every 28 days. Alcoholics I know who have been successful with naltrexone say the vivitrol is even more effective in eliminating cravings for them. I drank on it. Maybe had to drink "harder" to get drunk, but still drank.
Campral (acamprosate) - reportedly works on actually healing those neural pathways we damaged with alcohol. I've read wonderful reports of success with this medication. One needs to be highly motivated because it's two pills three times daily. I've no idea if it did anything for me at all because, you know - compulsion.
A number of "off label" medications not originally intended for substance abuse. Again, I've read success stories, but my case was not physical - it was primarily of the psychological/spiritual variety.

The only medication I remember experiencing side affects with was the Antabuse - that was some stomach upset and a bit of spaciness for the first week or two.

For me, I think the right cocktail is much more complex than a pill, but I'm not about to drop the naltrexone. Why would I? Whether it helps or not is almost irrelevant. I'm not drinking now. Whatever works...

O