Your cost may depend on your treatment plan, your insurance coverage, and the pharmacy you use. It’ll also depend on how much you have to pay for an office visit with your drug addiction doctor to receive naltrexone. If you are thinking about LDN and alcohol use, or trying to figure out what to avoid when taking naltrexone, the best thing you can do is stay patient. But if you stick with it, naltrexone alcohol therapy can really help many people get their life back on track. Both alcohol and naltrexone alcohol use can hurt your liver over time.
Guidance for Individuals Taking Naltrexone
This way, you can avoid making poor decisions that may impact your recovery, prevent accidents and injuries, and reduce the risk of liver damage. Naltrexone is an FDA-approved medication for treating opioid use disorder (OUD). It is typically prescribed to help prevent relapse by blocking the effects of opioids. In addition to being used in OUD treatment, it is also used to help individuals with alcohol use disorder.
Other uses for this medicine
If you have questions about drug interactions that may affect you, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Naltrexone is FDA-approved to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD) in adults. This condition is also https://az1368.com/2025/08/26/does-alcohol-help-a-cold-benefits-risks-and/ known as alcohol dependence or alcoholism. With dependence, your body needs a drug to feel as it typically would. To learn about other mild side effects, talk with your doctor or pharmacist, or view the drug’s prescribing information. This medicine may cause a serious allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.
Ongoing Individual and Group Therapy
The long-term effectiveness of naltrexone in treating alcoholism is a crucial aspect of its overall value as a treatment option. Studies examining sustained sobriety after naltrexone treatment have shown mixed results, with factors such as treatment duration and adherence playing significant roles. People with liver disease or those currently using opioid medications should not take naltrexone. It’s crucial for patients to discuss their full medical history with their doctor before starting this medication.
- Calls to any general helpline listed on this site may be answered or returned by a paid advertiser that is a licensed treatment provider.
- Aside from Vivitrol, another brand name of Naltrexone is Revia.
- Your condition will be monitored carefully while you are receiving this medication.
- And because generics have the same active ingredients as brand-name drugs, they don’t need to be studied again.
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Over time, this interruption can lead to pharmacological extinction, where the desire to drink gradually diminishes. Mixing naltrexone and alcohol generally isn’t dangerous, but it can negatively impact your recovery. Still, it’s not uncommon for those who take this medication for opioid dependence treatment to wonder if they can drink alcohol while on it; after all, it is also used to treat alcohol dependence. The severity of alcohol addiction can vary significantly between individuals.
Can You Drink Alcohol While on Naltrexone?
Special addiction treatment programs for addicts help for a personalized approach to a patient’s needs and support more coherent treatment courses. Patients will start the treatment with detox, followed by a series of therapy sessions (CBT, DBT, Motivational Enhancement, etc.). Naltrexone’s ability to influence alcohol consumption is linked to its impact on the brain’s reward system, specifically by reducing the pleasurable effects of alcohol. Instead, it blocks the effects of endorphins and other endogenous opioids on opioid receptors. This action is what helps reduce the pleasurable effects of alcohol and decrease cravings. Naltrexone is a medication used to treat alcohol use disorder.
(See the “Prior authorization“ section for more information.)You can also ask your doctor about the cost of naltrexone if you have Medicare. Our team knows how low dose naltrexone works and how alcohol can affect your journey. However, some people notice a little change in mood or pain levels. It usually happens when they were also managing issues related to LDN and alcohol use.
Naltrexone is not the only medication used to treat Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Each drug works differently in the body to address alcohol dependence. These changes in the subjective experience of alcohol can significantly contribute to reducing overall alcohol consumption and supporting recovery efforts. Naltrexone will not make you feel sick like Antabuse (disulfiram) does when you drink alcohol with it. However, the thought is that by breaking the learned connection in your brain between drinking and pleasure, it can help you to stop drinking. Naltrexone has shown promise in preventing relapse among recovering alcoholics.
The downside to Suboxone, though, is that it must be taken orally on a daily basis. The pill form of naltrexone (ReVia, Depade) can be taken at 50 mg once per day. The injectable extended-release form of the drug (Vivitrol) is administered at 380 mg intramuscular once a month. Call your doctor if you have any unusual naltrexone side effects problems while taking this medication.
