Hi justin, I have experience with a good number of medications prescribed for alcoholics. I didn't 'want' to try them all - that's just the way it worked out for me.
The way I understand it, there really isn't any medication to treat physical dependence, aside from those used to provide medical support during withdrawal. The medications you mention are both intended as deterrents - is that what you are looking for? Or do you need support to safely detox?
Here's my experience with the two medications you mention:
- Acamprosate (Campral) is intended to reduce cravings. For me, it seemed to help a bit to begin with. I took it for at least several months, but it didn't keep me from drinking. I don't really understand the concept of cravings, though - so maybe I'm just not that variety of alcoholic? When I went back to drinking at the end there, I realized it was more of a psych thing than a physical thing. If that makes sense.
- Disulfiram (Antabuse) is intended to keep you sober for fear of what will happen to your body if you drink. And if you do choose to drink, you experience a walloping dose of aversion therapy. This medication was required for the first 30 days of an outpatient program I attended. There were a few people in the group who said, "I love the stuff - I'm going to stay on it forever because it saved me from drinking." I didn't mind taking it at all. Until I decided that I needed to drink. The first time I made that decision, I stopped taking the medication for two weeks, then drank. All was well. The next time I made the decision to drink, I did an 'experiment' first. I drank one drink and experienced some pretty unpleasant effects, but it wasn't "that bad." The last couple of times I drank on antabuse were absolutely horrific. Unless you want to be scared straight, I won't tell you the gory details. It was bad, man. Really a crap-show.
So my personal experience is that neither of these medications prevented me from drinking, though both of them were helpful in the short-term when my motivation was really high. I know other people have had really good results with these same medications. My final approach was to throw everything I could at my addiction, including any medication offered. Eventually something stuck, but I wouldn't chalk it up to medication. For me, in the end, it was an inside job that required sort of scraping my guts out and starting on the rock-solid platform of "I Never Drink Now."
I suspect that your GP would be happy to prescribe either of these medications - have you set up an appointment to meet with them yet?
I'm really glad you're here looking for solutions. I promise if you are relentless in the search, you'll find yours.
O