[neekburm]

You might consider the Sinclair Method. https://cthreefoundation.org/the-sinclair-method

You take an opioid antagonist, like naltrexone, 1 hour prior to drinking. Since drinking produces endorphins, which are blocked by the antagonist, the brain stops associating drinking with pleasure, which results in a lower desire to drink.

The downside being that if you drink without the antagonist, your brain returns to its old patterns.

Anecdotally, my personal experience was after trying the method was that I no longer wanted to drink, and when I did, with or without the naltrexone, my problematic drinking behaviors mostly went away. I mostly abstain now.

[throwaway127831]

Upvoted. TSM worked wonders for me. I’m now past 9 months of total abstinence after using TSM for about 8 months leading up to quitting.

The idea of counter-acting the dopamine rush one gets from drinking makes a world of sense. Alcohol is a fundamentally addictive substance and naltrexone can help loosen its hold on your brain.

Abstaining now is fairly trivial. I pretty much never have the impulse to drink.

I think a lot of folks see Sinclair method as somehow cheating or “having your cake and eating it too”. While that may be an alluring idea, the reality is you wind up just not wanting to drink. I now associate drinking with how naltrexone makes me feel, which is not the most fun experience.