jacknscoob

Has anyone had any dodgy side effects?
Thanks
J

CarolD

No......I did not use anything for craveings.

I was attending AA daily....following a healthy
eeating plan + vitamins.

By the end of 2 weeks my cravings had
lessened ...in duration and intensity.
At the end of 2 months they had vanished.

I'm not suggesting you do or don't use Campral
that is a medical issue.
I am saying it's possible to recover without Campral.

rhnorment

I've taken Campral, Naltrexone, and Chantix. My addiction specialist actually had me on all three at the same time. Here is my takeaway.....

The three meds work very differently. Campral reduces the anxiety of not drinking, but does not reduce the craving. Naltrexone reduces the craving, but can cause an increase in anxiety. Chantix reduces the craving for Nicotine, and has also been proven to reduce the craving for alcohol (this is a recent discovery).

Chantix made me feel so bad that I quit after one week.

Campral never really did anything for me. I could not feel a difference.

Naltrexone worked the best for me. It comes in a pill form that you take 1 hour before you would normally start drinking. It also comes as a monthly injection (called Vivitrol) for patients that don't have the "will" to take the pill every day. I will say this about Naltrexone -- if you take the pill, your desire to drink goes way down, at least it did for me. I still take it every day.

Clinical studies have shown that taking Campral + Naltrexone provides the highest odds for long-term sobriety.

I'm not an MD, so please do your research. But I do have a lot of experience taking these medicines.

Hope this helps.

/RHN

flutter

I didn't take anything.. I didn't want to switch from being dependent on one thing, to being dependent on another.

rhnorment

None of the meds I referenced above are addictive. No doc would condone that after a successful detox.

rhnorment

BTW, jacknscoob, I realize I did not answer your direct question about Campral's side effects.

The most common side effects are gastrointestinal related. Nausea, diarrhea, gas, constipation, etc., but they subsided for me within a week.

Also note that you won't notice any positive side effect from Campral during the first week, per the pharmacology report.

/RHN

flutter

I'm sure we could toss around "addictive" by definition.. but addictive or not, people can become dependent on mostly anything.

Jack, probably best to see a doc and go over ALL side effects before making any big leaps on this.

jacknscoob

Thanks again for all your posts, taking the time and advice, it all helps.

J

least

Campral helped me with cravings. It's also supposed to restore the brain's natural chemistry. I only took it for a few months in very early recovery and had no problems in stopping it.