katman13

I've searched literally everywhere for some way to revert the brain after kindling takes place and have yet to find anything. I read though about a drug called acamprosate that is used as a way to restore the brain to its state prior to alcohol dependence. In theory, would this be able to be applied to a kindled brain that has undergone numerous withdrawals?

Long story short, I have never drank daily. I drank on weekends and even then my drinking slowed down a lot in the last couple years. I am 23 now and was only drunk for the first time at 17. After a few painful withdrawals after a few weekend binges, however, I now get terrible withdrawal symptoms if I have even one drink. Would being prescribed a drug like acamprosate relieve me from these biochemical changes that have taken place? I am two months sober and coping fairly well, however, part of me still wants to know if I could ever enjoy even one drink again in my life without nearly dying 24 hours later.

DontRemember

This is not an insult towards your intelligence...BUT.. you'll never 'out smart' this thing. It's a pointless endeavor that I have tried many times to no avail. Either accept and work towards getting my mind wrapped around never drinking again or continue drinking, were my only options.


Edit: Just look at how much effort/research you're putting into trying to be able to "have a couple".. 'normal' drinkers don't do that...ya know?

Anna

I have no idea if there is a drug that resets your brain after drinking, but I've never heard of such a thing.

The only sure way to avoid withdrawals is to never drink again, ever.

Meraviglioso

*I am not a doctor, nor a scientist.

That said, having been prescribed and taken Campral before, and doing thorough research on it, this is what I can tell you.

Campral is an anti-craving drug prescribed to people who wish to quit drinking. Ideally it should be started at least 3 days after your last drink when you are clean from alcohol. It works to minimise - or if you are lucky, stop- cravings. It also works to repair damaged pathways in the brain. Which pathways and in what way I don't know, you would have to ask your doctor. But all the literature describes this brain healing aspect of the drug.

Having taken it I can say that it definitely helped me with cravings. It did not make them go away completely but they were les frequent and much less intense.

I have no idea if it healed my brain in any way. I have had the same experience both on AND off the medication, which is the longer I have stayed sober the better I have felt mentally and the sharper my focus and memory.

I have returned to drinking after being on Campral for an extended period of time and I can say with certainty that my withdrawals were just as hellish. I personally do no believe that you can achieve what you are looking for with the medication. However, again, I am not a doctor and I suppose a medical professional would be better able to answer that.

I am sober again now and plan on staying that way as I do not wish to ever go through withdrawal again, amongst a whole host of other reasons to stay quit.

bunchie

Hi ,
I saw your post and it interests me because of your young age. I was a heavy binge drinker for years, every weekend and holiday preety much for 38 years. I had periods of abstinence every year , usually went on wagon every year between New Year's and Saint Patrick's Day which is a huge drinking day in my city. I never ever thought about withdrawals when I was your age , I called them hangovers and all I did was excercise to get rid of the feeling. The hangovers became worse as I got older ,at the beginning it was one day , and they became 3 day hangovers each day successively better but still not completely lucid like I now feel. I believe someone such as yourself being so young would be able to turn your brain back to normal because there is new research which is around due to neuroscience which was underdeveloped years ago. You would have to talk to a doctor about certain medications which help with cravings , but I believe your best choice is abstinence for a long period then get counseling and find out what is causing your binging , I have learned that alcohol is a symptom of an underlying psychological problem, and we need to learn the cause in order for a solution.

Horn95

I am in Campral, and it has helped with my cravings. My doctor told me, and my research beats out, it is known to repair neurotransmitter receptors damaged from prolonged alcohol abuse. I have only been taking it a short time again, so I do not know how it will help, if at all, with restoring my damage.

It will not, however, spare you from Kindling.

katman13

I just wanted to thank you as this is one of the most sincere replies I have gotten regarding this matter. Many are quick to just reiterate that I'm screwed for life and need to come to terms with that. Thank you so much for understanding that I'm young, and find it especially difficult to come to terms with the fact that I may have already had near-seizures due to something that I have only done for 6ish years, and for the rest of my life I will need to be conscious of even picking up one drink again to avoid this. I hope you're right that with proper counseling and abstinence, some of my brain can heal. It's hard enough knowing I will need to isolate myself from drinkers throughout my 20s, but it's even harder being scared that a drink when I'm 46 will still send my heart pounding and my blood pressure up 24 hours later.

katman13

Thank you for sharing this. I was under the impression that Campral also worked to restore the brain to its state prior to dependence. Maybe this is more, however, related to memory and processes then rather than GABA activity.

Question though. When you returned to drinking following Campral, were the withdrawals hellish and present right away? ie. did you have one or two drinks then feel near-death the next day? Or was it more of returning to heavy drinking then withdrawals during the next detox? Once again thank you again for sharing

D122y

Kat,

For me...now educated...there is nothing being missed from drinking.

It is exactly the opposite. Drinking makes me miss out on real life.

All emotions, sleep, experiences....altered by booze in the past. Now they are as real as they can be.

I am no longer fooled by the media and advertising. Pure living is for me forever.

Thanks.

Dee74

I think these are questions best directed at your Dr. Katman.

We can share our experience but no med is suitable for everyone.

We don't know your medical history or current status healthwise and even if we did, we can't give you medical advice here by our rules .

I know the idea of taking a pill and repairing our brains quickly is an attractive idea, but in my experience repair took time, and abstinence.

It's also attractive in the sense that it leads us to hope we can maybe drink without serious health consequences, and I see that hope in your post.

I think if any of us could do that, we wouldn't be here on SR.

My recovery started when I fully accepted that if I drink again, I'll lose control.
I've proved that many times.

For me to continue living the life I want, I cannot drink...period.

D

entropy1964

Ok, so it has been my experience that once one truly becomes addicted to alcohol, returning to 'normal' drinking is pretty much impossible. I would say that severe withdrawals (which are definitely not hangovers) is a sign of addiction. A big sign.

If you are asking 'will my brain heal after prolonged abstinence?'.....in other words, memory improves, sleep improves, anxiety and depression lessen, irritability lessons? Yes. If you are asking 'will I be reset to pre-addiction conditions and be able to drink normally (stop at one drink, not have the phenomena of craving, not create negative consequences as a result of drinking)?' The overwhelming evidence would suggest, no.

I am not scientist or a dr. I'm just another addict. But I have literally never ever seen an alcohol addict/alcoholic return to normal drinking. Eventually, sometimes quite quickly, the addict ends up right where they left off. Just read here for a while.

You will have to decide for yourself.

bunchie

Katman ,
You need to talk to a doctor your seizures are very serious my friend had them for awhile, it turned out to be stress that was causing them, but if I was you I would remain abstinent and see a doctor and be completely truthful about what you were doing when you had the seizures, if you are completely honest with your doctor they can help you. I would also try AA or seek counseling this will help you find out why you are binging so hard. I wish you all the best , Yiu are so young to be dealing with this. God bless you. Bunchie

katman13

This is definitely what I have feared, thank you for reminding me why I have decided to stay away from the drinks as of late. However, I can't say I've ever really had cravings before. Generally the withdrawal will just be really bad, and so I will exercise, try to practice deep breathing, and keep busy in order to calm it down. In addition, I struggled with controlling the amount I drank in the past, however, now could stop myself before I got too drunk pretty quickly. I'm not trying to downplay my addiction, as it clearly is imminent, I just am a little confused as to why I don't possess some of the other common symptoms.

DontRemember

Hey,buddy.. I never knew what cravings were,until I tried to quit drinking like 22'ish months ago. I just thought that was 'a normal thing to do'.. I'm around 19mo now and have started a 'training/diet routine'..IT SUCKS!I don't care for sweets and my daughter showed up yesterday with fresh doughnuts..had been a while since I 'felt' that "I don't do that currently.".. It was a harsh reminder of my working to getting past the nonsense of the mental 'grip' an addiction gives off.

Meraviglioso

I'm happy to share my experience and truth, but again, this is where it gets really tricky to help on a message board as someone who is not your doctor and does not know everything about your body.

I didn't return to drinking one or two drinks, I always have immediately returned to excessive drinking. I suppose there have been very rare occasions where I only had a few (while still on Campral) and the next day was a "basic" hangover. To take that further, *I* can drink one or two drinks and *only* suffer a "basic" hangover. I go into devastating withdrawals when I drink excessively. And again, I nearly always drink excessively if I start to drink. It sounds like you, due to your own chemical make up, suffer severe withdrawals if you have even a little bit. To me this is a good reason to stop altogether.

I totally get that it is hard to accept and miserable to think about. But when the acceptance finally comes it really is much easier to take. You can have a life outside alcohol and there is a whole world of possibility and fun that awaits you. Once you really accept that you cannot drink (due to this problem or due to alcoholism, whatever you want to call it) you will find that you can go out and enjoy yourself just as much as before. It does take work. I'm not saying it is easy. But it is entirely possible and, in my opinion, worth it.

August252015

Saying this kindly....not all of us had the same signs and symptoms of addiction, nor "all" of them. Like most people, I ignored or downplayed ones such as blackouts for a long time....ultimately only you can decide if you are in alcoholic, then decide what you will do about it. It is also really REaLLY important to understand that alcoholism is a progressive disease. Once the ball is rolling, so to speak, the train keeps going until you get off, if you are lucky. Everyone has a different physical capacity to sustain heavy drinking. You might just be one of the fortunate ones whose body is telling you NOW that you need to quit!

I'm glad you are beginning to question your drinking and I hope that you take it seriously. Perhaps a group geared to younger people would be helpful, to hear what others are thinking and experiencing. AA and other programs typically have these.

We can all give you words of experience and caution, and I can share recovery stories of folks I know who quit at 21 or 25 and are now my age (42) with maybe 20 years sober! I don't know any who regret that decision or truly think it would have been "ok" or better if they'd gambled on quitting at a later age that might not have come.