Its called pharmacological extinction. The idea is pretty simple. Alcohol gets us high by causing the release of endorphins, which are then processed by the opioid receptors in our brains. A drug, naltrexone is used to block these opioid receptors. Drinking alcohol still produces endorphins, but our brains don't receive them, and our brains gradually stop craving alcohol because the stimulus no longer produces the reward. The cure rate is phenomenal -- 90% in studies, about 70% in the field.
I'm going to try to retrain my brain. If this little pill makes me not "enjoy" getting that buzz by blocking those receptors when I drink - I will be ecstatic! Most of the blogs I have read include people who still have a drink every once in awhile but really just don't feel like drinking most of the time. OMG! Could it be true?
I am a little skeptical but I have been reading about it, watching videos, researching the clinical trials and science behind it and I really can't find anything negative. It has been around since the 1950s? and is FDA approved. There are plenty of blogs and message boards out there about it and it seems to work for most people as long as you take it one hour before drinking and give it a couple months so that your brain doesn't associate alcohol with pleasure anymore.
This the the board I have been reading:
http://www.thesinclairmethod.net/community/search.php?search_id=active_topics&sid=87d50e82540c90d4f3cdb342e082b158
Here are a couple of website explaining it:
http://www.hamsnetwork.org/naltrexone/
http://www.cthreefoundation.org/statement-by-john-david-sinclair-phd.html#.VaFCvflVhBc
And a video
https://youtu.be/sqwgTixmPUU
I will be waiting to here how this works. I tell myself I just need to back down a bit. Get back to enjoying the good taste of wine and stop guzzling it down.
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