Topic: Drinking too much, reducing, stopping

[patentlymn]

I posted this over at covert conservatives first.
I came across this. Interesting for people who want to reduce drinking or ramp down to nothing or control binge drinking.
There are two parts to stopping drinking if that is the goal.
1. Ramp down with booze or stopping cold with Librium or other meds from doctor, often as inpatient in US for liability reasons.
2. Reducing the cravings.

This only deals with #2. Stopping cold turkey can kill people. Monitor BP among other things. This deals with the Sinclair method. It first worked on alcoholic rats.
If the rats were weaned off booze for months they were still addicts and would binge months later if given the chance.
The rats were fed NAL (Naltrexone) then allowed to press the booze lever. They did but less and less over time. They lost interest in booze.
For people, take one pill one hour before drinking or chance of drinking.
Here is the 15 min TED talk version from Claudia Christian.
Entertaining. Humorous.

https://youtu.be/6EghiY_s2ts
How I overcame alcoholism | Claudia Christian | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool
3,095,233 views
May 31, 2016

She was Commander Ivanova on Babylon 5. I did not know that.


There is a documentary for rent or sale on Amazon or youtube.
""One little pill."
https://youtu.be/53JObexh0w0

Here is the trailer.
https://youtu.be/wA5mguHtG3E

Here is a free interview.
https://youtu.be/uZMv-dEahjg

One reddit on this is https://www.reddit.com/r/Alcoholism_Medication/
There are also subreddits on alcoholism, dryalchoholics, stopdrinking, etc.

I think regular doctors write scripts for Naltrexone now. In case they do not some telemedicine doctors do.
There is a website with a lot of providers. I read that a coupon from goodrx or wherever can drive the price way down.
The telemedicine docs can vary with some charging $95 for first visit for 30 day script then $45 for every monthly visit after that. Not sure.

https://cthreefoundation.org/telemedicine
C3 was founded by Claudia Christian

There is a concern among doctors about withdrawal. Many will not help with reducing drinking if they fear death from withdrawal. Quitting cold turkey can do that.
I was watching a video where they said hospitals used to taper off drinking using vodka and orange juice. They cut back on alcohol until a nurse noticed the shakes then gave more alcohol. Early I heard that the VA used cans of beer for the same thing. Tiny singles bottles serve the same function. I think modern docs use drugs like librium and xanax to replace the tapered off booze. Often in patient only? I do not know for sure.

[paulh]

Like Kermit said- don't drink any more, don't drink any less. Pasta nite 2-3 glasses of wine, rest of week 4-5 beers/day. When I think about at 77 it's been a long road since 1962 when it began. Really cut back alot since then

[Libertas]

Yeah...rowdy school/neighborhood raised...Navy hitch I was like "this is no big deal"...it has "ramped down" over the decades...not much different than Paul's daily intake (for brew, wine, spirits)...though pasta night might see a bottle go, but given the glasses I use 3 might do that...and steak night likes being paired up with bourbon...

As for binge, not much anymore...though, in recent decades the 4th at the lake is our big blowout each year...so check with me on Tuesday!

 

And as far as age/health go...once ya hit a mark you're OK with, whatchya do is up to the person...I put no restrictions food-wise or anything on my father since he passed 80...and now he's 90...I figure by then ya earned a little misbehavior and overdoing it not a concern so have at it...

[patentlymn]

Like Kermit said- don't drink any more, don't drink any less. Pasta nite 2-3 glasses of wine, rest of week 4-5 beers/day. When I think about at 77 it's been a long road since 1962 when it began. Really cut back alot since then

I thought Kermit at CC was joking. I thought he meant "I don't don't drink any more" i.e.I stopped drinking. With the hook set he wrote "Don't drink any less" meaning I do not drink any less than usual either.

I never drink before 8 or 9 PM.  I read about drinkers starting at 8 AM and shudder. I hever had any desire before 8 or 9 PM.
It has increased over time and slowly became a problem IMO. I found this Sinclair method using Naltrexone which I never heard of. So, if you know of anyone trying to cut back and having trouble this may help. Cutting back too fast can kill people so that should be kept in mind and tapering off with booze or the proper sedatives is a good idea.

[ToddF]

I've been a very light sleeper, easily disturbed, all my life.  3-4 when watching TV at night guarantees me at least 6 hours sleep.

[Pablo de Fleurs]

It's Friday, Saturday & Sunday evenings for us. I like Shiraz, Malbec or Cabernet (with an occasional Sam Adams, Evil Genius or Dogfish Head -- but more into wine than beer, except @ a cookout). The Mrs prefers Pino Grigio. A glass & 1/2, maybe 2. And if I'm visiting your house for dinner & have to drive home . . .  iced water with lime. Nothing before 8:00PM & often accompanied by a movie -- currently watching (& rewatching) Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet'.

[Weisshaupt]

My consumption usually varies with who is President, the time of year and if I have any contact with family ( as much as I would like to say being estranged from my parents is no big deal - it still bothers me)

When I am deciding to drink it is not unusual for me to finish a half bottle of whiskey. I try to keep it to a fifth normally.  Sometimes I switch to beer or something else ( beer will actually get me more drunk and hungover  than Whiskey.  My body has a huge tolerance for whiskey -  seldom get a hangover , seldom get silly drunk) Certainly ensures I sleep better than I would otherwise.

But some days I just don't have any - I am just too tired already from working and/or too lazy to go get some. Other days I'll start in the early afternoon-- but I usually avoid that as my gumption to go out and accomplish something after work will be zero.

Am I addicted? Not sure.  When Trump was President and I decided to diet, I had no  trouble just stopping cold turkey -  but I had a reason and I was making progress on a goal... I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms.

This year I may be suffering from "long covid" or something else  and the alcohol helps me feel better. Started that ivermectin treatment and see if it works.  I  tried to start my diet back up and my body just falls into Ketosis and says - okay  I need 300 calories a day ,  You just try and make  me loose weight.. haven't felt good enough to really work out.  My muscles are always sore like I worked them hard two days before.. and I am unusually fatigued.  Still walking 3 miles a day and spending at least an hour weeding in the garden.. current project is finishing a permanent very secure chicken coop... to be followed by a new and imporved hoop coop and then I really need to get the larger hoop house ready for the plastic we bought 2 years ago and haven't installed.

[patentlymn]

My amounts varied but I always drank something at 8 or 9 PM. IMO it was a problem but I knew that ramping down was hard and stopping cold could cause me problems. So I tried the naltrexone and ramping down was easy. As I understand the theory, in order to rewire the brain you have to keep drinking some with taking the NAL an hour or more before drinking. You can stop for days if you want. BTW i never had the shakes or any real bad withdrawal. I can count on one hand the number of times I drank before 1 PM or maybe even 5 PM.

Re long covid. i recently heard some doc say that fluvaxamine might cure that as it crosses the blood brain barrier.

I have no idea if the link below is of any use.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Longhaulers/

[Libertas]

Like Todd, after turning 30 I became a light sleeper (1 of the things I blame Mother for...she saw how I ate etc and would always say "wait till you turn 30" and I turn 30 and sleep betrays me, and eyesight, and weight[metabolism] ...who knew Mother was so powerful?) and a nightcap an hour or two before bed helps.

This 4th weekend was typical, nephews rowdy pals show up, girl with hundreds of jello-shots, cold keg, coolers galore with whatever, wine, liquor...

My intake was above average but at no point did I cross the line...everybody was still in focus and only one of everybody...and once again I tried to set the sky on fire with a bunch of fireworks and managed to do it without hurting myself or others...

 

[IronDioPriest]

I tried really hard to be an alcoholic back in my metal-head days. Went through a phase for about a year/year and a half, when I drank Jim Beam straight out of the bottle every single day. I avoided the worst of the worst consequences, but I was drunk every day. I got to a point when I just thought to myself that what I was doing was the behavior of a loser, and I just stopped. I don’t believe I was ever really addicted. Same with some other drugs. It was as if I felt the need to experiment - flirt with becoming an addict because that’s what many of my peers were doing. But as soon as I had enough, I just had enough, and quit. Got lucky I guess, that I don’t have the addictive gene/personality, whatever it is.

For many years, I’ve enjoyed occasional drinking. Literally, “on occasion”. Wine at holidays, or out to dinner with friends. Beers on a hot day. Margaritas in the Mexican restaurant. Shot of whatever bottle is getting passed around at fish camp. But I go weeks or months without touching a drop. I could easily live without it, and most often I do.