Naltrexone and Campral - anyone tried them?
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Naltrexone and Campral - anyone tried them?
My psychiatrist prescribed them for me today. She thought that since I am in regular psychotherapy and pursuing abstinence in AA, I would be a good candidate since I'm having a very hard time staying stopped due to cravings, plus have been abusing oxy.
I would be interested to hear of any one's experience with either or the combination.
I would be interested to hear of any one's experience with either or the combination.
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She said that in her experience, they are very effective with minimal side effects. She said I should try it for 8 weeks and then we'll re-evaluate. Apparently one reduces cravings for opiates and alcohol, and the other prevents alcohol from having an effect on the receptors in the brain so if you do drink, nothing happens. You don't get drunk or feel any effects from the alcoho. And they work particularly effectively if you take them together.
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I picked up the scripts today and the pharmacist gave me copious reading material to go with them, with all the warning, side effects etc. I'm guessing that will be more reliable than searching the internet lol.
I would just really like to hear abuot anyone else's experience with taking it.
I would just really like to hear abuot anyone else's experience with taking it.
In love with life.
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While I was in rehab for 30 days they prescribed me Campral. We got transported from our living facility to the outpatient center every day, and on route we passed a beach bar 
Every single day (back and forth) I craved and wished I was sitting there drinking a cold corona with lime, and if I had not been in rehab that's probably where I would have ended up. On the weekends they took us to the beach, and I would see people with their coolers full of beer. Same thoughts. As soon as I was put in front of the demon, I wanted it. The rest of the time I didn't really crave it 
I haven't tried the combo you've been prescribed but anything is worth a shot, right. I suggest trying it for the full 8 weeks. In my case, I may not have been on it long enough to fully work. Good luck!
Every single day (back and forth) I craved and wished I was sitting there drinking a cold corona with lime, and if I had not been in rehab that's probably where I would have ended up. On the weekends they took us to the beach, and I would see people with their coolers full of beer. Same thoughts. As soon as I was put in front of the demon, I wanted it. The rest of the time I didn't really crave it I haven't tried the combo you've been prescribed but anything is worth a shot, right. I suggest trying it for the full 8 weeks. In my case, I may not have been on it long enough to fully work. Good luck!
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Well these drugs have definitely knocked the cravings on the head. So of course, up come the feelings. One of the reasons I drank and used was becasue I don't have much warmth or comfort in my life. I have mild Aspergers and find people hard work to understand and connect with, so relationships don't bring me much reward. I have had one boyfriend in the last 10 years and he turned out to be an active alcoholic and I relapsed drinking with him.
I go to work, I come home, I watch tv. I've done charity work out the wazoo but again, not rewarding because I find people so hard to be with and to understand and I always say the wrong thing.
My family don't like me and I don't like them - I grew up in an abusive, unloving, critical home.
I drank and drugged to knock the hard edges off, to make things a bit softer and warmer. Of course, that just ended up being a total nightmare.
I lack the capacity to make more than the most superficial connections with people, I make people uncomfortable because I really don't get social interactions and always seem to say the wrong thing. So how do I get the warmth, connection and tenderness that I crave, when I can't 'do' people. 'Friends' drop me all the time and I know it's because of something I've said - I get upset emails and text messages and it's not because I've been drinking or using. I'm just being my normal self and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and don't understand on the odd occasion when people try to explain it to me. So if I can't drink and use in a way that I can manage (and god knows I can't), I'll just get to wander through life out in the cold being unable to connect in any meaningful way with nothing to medicate the pain of that.
And yeah yeah yeah call your AA friends and you know what, I do. And it's rare I get a call back. I could call ten people before I get an acknowledgement. I KNOW it's because there are things that other people, women particularly, instinctively know or were socialised to know, and I don't know or wasn't taught/had it role modeled so I don't fit in and no one quite knows what to do with me or how to connect with me either.
I was very much left on my own as a child, rejected for being different and not 'conforming'. I really think my parents disliked me, maybe even hated me. I don't ever remember being comforted, only overly controlled, punished and criticised and told no one would ever like me and I'd never had any friends because I was too 'different'. No wonder I picked up.
I've tried Aspie support groups but usually I'm the only girl and I feel hit on by the guys, or I'm not as an extreme case as the others so I don't really fit in.
Boy is my shrink going to get an earful when I have my appointment next week.
I go to work, I come home, I watch tv. I've done charity work out the wazoo but again, not rewarding because I find people so hard to be with and to understand and I always say the wrong thing.
My family don't like me and I don't like them - I grew up in an abusive, unloving, critical home.
I drank and drugged to knock the hard edges off, to make things a bit softer and warmer. Of course, that just ended up being a total nightmare.
I lack the capacity to make more than the most superficial connections with people, I make people uncomfortable because I really don't get social interactions and always seem to say the wrong thing. So how do I get the warmth, connection and tenderness that I crave, when I can't 'do' people. 'Friends' drop me all the time and I know it's because of something I've said - I get upset emails and text messages and it's not because I've been drinking or using. I'm just being my normal self and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and don't understand on the odd occasion when people try to explain it to me. So if I can't drink and use in a way that I can manage (and god knows I can't), I'll just get to wander through life out in the cold being unable to connect in any meaningful way with nothing to medicate the pain of that.
And yeah yeah yeah call your AA friends and you know what, I do. And it's rare I get a call back. I could call ten people before I get an acknowledgement. I KNOW it's because there are things that other people, women particularly, instinctively know or were socialised to know, and I don't know or wasn't taught/had it role modeled so I don't fit in and no one quite knows what to do with me or how to connect with me either.
I was very much left on my own as a child, rejected for being different and not 'conforming'. I really think my parents disliked me, maybe even hated me. I don't ever remember being comforted, only overly controlled, punished and criticised and told no one would ever like me and I'd never had any friends because I was too 'different'. No wonder I picked up.
I've tried Aspie support groups but usually I'm the only girl and I feel hit on by the guys, or I'm not as an extreme case as the others so I don't really fit in.
Boy is my shrink going to get an earful when I have my appointment next week.
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I recall asking in an online relationship discussion forum about how to address a problem I was having with my boyfriend. I copped a load of abuse about how I should be talking to HIM and not to THEM, but I was trying to find out what words I should use and what tone I should take in order to get the message across clearly. It was obvious that everyone else knew some secret to communication that escapes me. People even came up with helpful **** like "the secret to communication is to communicate". You have no ******* idea how unhelpful that is to someone like me.
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Even if someone does call me or answer my call, I'm immediately overwhelmed by the impending social interaction and can't get off the phone fast enough because I don't know what to say once I've ascertained how they are and what's happening for them. Also, a lot of times people only call me when they want something. I've had to learn to cut those people off and just not reply, or tell them I'll get back to them and not. I never hear from until next time they want something. Thank god for the internet otherwise I'd never talk to anyone. At least I can pull back when I feel overwhelmed and I can re-read until I think I've understood what people mean. I'm often accused of being selfish or insensitive when I think I'm being understanding and showing empathy, or I think we're having a two way conversation when in actuality I should be just making listening noises. It's easier to know when it's your turn to talk on the internet because the post you're responding to is a complete communication.
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Hi TL
I don't have Aspergers but I have friends who do - including an ex partner - and they don't drink....which suggests to me there are ways to learn to live with Aspergers, accept yourself for who you are, find your spot in the world - and not give into maladaptive coping practices or self destructive addictions.
I don't know if you can find any parallels in this...but I spent years justifying my drinking because I had cerebral palsy - I convinced myself drinking helped me cope with my loneliness,. my sense of being an outsider, my low self esteem at being different, my frustrations and anger... but it didn't really.
Drinking never helped me deal with anything - it just drive me deeper into isolation.
Getting sober, on the other hand, gave me the chance to discover who I was - to become comfortable with that - and to find others who appreciated the real me
Like I said, I'm not an Aspergers expert but I am familiar with it from a second hand perspective - I think you'll find those same things I did too TL - if you give yourself, and recovery, a chance
D
I don't have Aspergers but I have friends who do - including an ex partner - and they don't drink....which suggests to me there are ways to learn to live with Aspergers, accept yourself for who you are, find your spot in the world - and not give into maladaptive coping practices or self destructive addictions.
I don't know if you can find any parallels in this...but I spent years justifying my drinking because I had cerebral palsy - I convinced myself drinking helped me cope with my loneliness,. my sense of being an outsider, my low self esteem at being different, my frustrations and anger... but it didn't really.
Drinking never helped me deal with anything - it just drive me deeper into isolation.
Getting sober, on the other hand, gave me the chance to discover who I was - to become comfortable with that - and to find others who appreciated the real me
Like I said, I'm not an Aspergers expert but I am familiar with it from a second hand perspective - I think you'll find those same things I did too TL - if you give yourself, and recovery, a chance
D
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Sometimes I feel like that, like I have Aspergers. Other times, I feel very socially acute. I was, sometimes am very angry at being alone a lot. But lately, everything has been full of joy.
Have you tried AA? One of the things I have come to see through confronting drinking is that I was drunk --all sorts of ways--. Drunk on self-doubt, on insecurity, on envy and ambition. The drinking was only the tip of the ice berg. Through step four, confronting myself, it was as if I was able to remove these boundaries toward a more clear experience of life wherein, as strange as it sounds, the world seems like a warmer, more forgiviing place.
AA is also a good practice in terms of listening. The people in their can be as difficult as anywhere. It's a good place to go, to really try to listen, to be quiet or to speak. I am confident that it can help me in other social situations.
I feel for your sense of loneliness and confusion in regards to what people want. It is confusing.
Have you tried AA? One of the things I have come to see through confronting drinking is that I was drunk --all sorts of ways--. Drunk on self-doubt, on insecurity, on envy and ambition. The drinking was only the tip of the ice berg. Through step four, confronting myself, it was as if I was able to remove these boundaries toward a more clear experience of life wherein, as strange as it sounds, the world seems like a warmer, more forgiviing place.
AA is also a good practice in terms of listening. The people in their can be as difficult as anywhere. It's a good place to go, to really try to listen, to be quiet or to speak. I am confident that it can help me in other social situations.
I feel for your sense of loneliness and confusion in regards to what people want. It is confusing.
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Originally Posted by davaidavai 
........I have come to see through confronting drinking is that I was drunk --all sorts of ways--. Drunk on self-doubt, on insecurity, on envy and ambition. The drinking was only the tip of the ice berg. Through step four, confronting myself, it was as if I was able to remove these boundaries toward a more clear experience of life wherein, as strange as it sounds, the world seems like a warmer, more forgiving place.
AA is also a good practice in terms of listening. The people in their can be as difficult as anywhere. It's a good place to go, to really try to listen, to be quiet or to speak. I am confident that it can help me in other social situations.
AA is also a good practice in terms of listening. The people in their can be as difficult as anywhere. It's a good place to go, to really try to listen, to be quiet or to speak. I am confident that it can help me in other social situations.
My false ego and false pride were almost disappointed when applying the tools a "common drunk" would apply (AA's steps) revolutionized my life as well. Isn't that funny, once I realized I was sick I wanted to be THE SICKEST one out there?
And Tiger.......I have not ONE shred of doubt you can experience dramatic improvements in ALL the areas you mentioned. The may not come for free and overnight.........you're probably going to have to work for them. Might even have to work you ass off for them! I've yet to see ONE person not get life-changing improvements in their life when they committed to sobriety, to being willing to change, and to seeking the truth.
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Originally Posted by DayTrader
I realized I was sick I wanted to be THE SICKEST one out there?
All the best.
Bob R
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AA helped me a lot. with a lot of other things. I'm not trying to be the sickest one out there. I have a diagnosis of Aspergers/Autism and AA isn't going to fix that any more than it's going to fix a broken leg.
Like I said, I wish I hadn't posted all that now. I knew someone would come along and tell me it's all in my head because I'm an alcoholic and AA will fix it.
Like I said, I wish I hadn't posted all that now. I knew someone would come along and tell me it's all in my head because I'm an alcoholic and AA will fix it.
Sally1009
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Don't feel sorry for your posts, TL. You see, you have had some very kind replies. And your posts helped me - I haven't got Asbergers, but I can relate to your sense of isolation, and how you find it hard to get on with people. I too often say the wrong thing, or find it hard to know how to interpret things. I often misunderstand people when they are simply joking, for example, and make the mistake of thinking they are being unkind.
No, AA won't fix your Asbergers, but it might help you feel less socially isolated, and of course it WILL help with the drinking.
Good luck with the meds,
Love,
Sally
No, AA won't fix your Asbergers, but it might help you feel less socially isolated, and of course it WILL help with the drinking.
Good luck with the meds,
Love,
Sally
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