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Comment by lastofus | Hacker News Reader

Check out the Sinclair Method, which is basically taking Naltrexone before you drink. Also check out the book "The Cure for Alcoholism: The Medically Proven Way to Eliminate Alcohol Addiction" by Eskapa.

I used this method, along with keeping a log of drinks consumed, to eventually quite drinking over the course of a year. I went from having anywhere from 3-8 drinks a night, every night, to eventually stopping completely. In turn I've been sober 6 years now.

I found keeping the drink log useful both for charting my progress, and also just forcing me to be honest with myself about what I did and did not drink. It's too easy to skew ones memory in favor of having less of a problem if you feel like it.

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The Sinclair Method also changed my life. It seemed like I had tried every single thing possible, AA, hypnosis, strange chinese herbs. The Sinclair Method seemed too good to be true, but I can't believe how well it worked. I am not completely indifferent to alcohol. It seems strange to think that this same head of mine used to crave it so.

100% also recommend the Sinclair Method. It weirds me out that it's not more widely known and is not being prescribed by doctors.

I had to stop taking naltrexone after ~6 months because it was giving me insomnia / I started noticing an irregular heartbeat during the night (don't think this was naltrexone related though). But the effects persisted for a long time. It was like a complete reset with respect to my response to alcohol.

Unfortunately after a year or two of drinking again without it, I was back to binge drinking again. Very similar pattern to OP.

In the end I made the decision that it's not worth the hassle - had my last few parties with family and friends over Xmas & new year and then quit altogether from Jan 1st this year. Difficult at first but non-alcoholic beers have been amazing to trick my brain into thinking I'm having a drink with everyone else when out and about and, honestly, recently I haven't been missing it at all.

Good luck OP!

Thank you. I don't know how to save comments, hence the spammy comment so that I can come back to it later.

Click on the comment time <x hours ago> then click "favorite."

I run the risk of becoming a single topic commenter but The Sinclair Method has had such a profound impact on my life that I cannot resist. It turned me from getting fired from FAANG for blacking out at work events and getting into trouble to completely sober in one year. If anything, I am too sober now, I had intended to continue to drink socially using Naltrexone but at this point I don't have the urge to drink just one beer even while knowing all that I need to do is take the pill and it is ok to do.

Highly recommend reddit.com/r/Alcoholism_Medication has a next step for anyone interested in learning more. Not only is the community extremely supportive, the sidebar links out to great resources including a free/legal PDF of the aforementioned Espaka book. That book was my starting point, highly recommended, it is a quick read and lays down the foundation for The Sinclair Method in the first few chapters (it is an incredibly simple system and that is why it works).

This. After taking Naltrexone a few times I lost the urge to drink and stopped drinking completely. Works great, though I had weird side effects whenever I took it (I had the unexplicable need to stretch my muscles, all of them, for a few hours after waking up. Much like what people do when they are bored or sleepy - not sure what's the right word for it.) But yeah, it does work, one just needs to want to stop drinking and the meds do the rest - that simple. I am not sure if the book is needed, get the prescription, take it 1hr before drinking every time you want to drink, and watch your dependence vanish.

> I found keeping the drink log useful both for charting my progress

I found keeping a drink log helpful just for cutting down. I measured each drink with a measuring cup, and recorded the time and quantity. To my surprise, the act of maintaining a log naturally and painlessly reduced my consumption by 50% (a greater reduction was more of a struggle).

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