Medication for Alcoholism: Can Pills Help You Stop Drinking?

If you’ve tried to cut down or stop drinking alcohol without success, it may be time to try again with a medical assist. In the United States, three medicines are approved to lower alcohol cravings. And there soon might be a new option: studies show GLP-1 drugs, used to treat diabetes and obesity, also might reduce the urge to drink heavily.

All three medications currently in use require prescriptions and medical monitoring, and they are most effective in conjunction with behavioral counseling. Your first step toward treatment is to talk to your primary care provider frankly about your drinking concerns.

What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?

If you are unable to stop or control drinking even when aware of its negative consequences, you have a chronic medical condition.

The official diagnostic term alcohol use disorder was coined in 2013, in part, to recognize alcoholism as a brain disease and not a matter of willpower or personal failing. As a result, more people are seeking medical help for excessive drinking just as they would for another brain or physical ailment, and more primary healthcare providers now screen patients for the problem and offer treatment options.

Symptoms used to diagnosis AUD include strong cravings, a persistent desire to cut down and continued use despite negative consequences for your physical and mental health or for your social or interpersonal relationships. You may fail repeatedly to fulfill major obligations, may drink in risky or dangerous situations and repeatedly drink more than intended.

No one knows exactly why some people become alcohol dependent while others do not, but you are in good company: Nearly 1 in 10 Americans over age 12 suffer from alcoholism, according to government statistics.

FDA-Approved Medications for Alcoholism: How They Work

Alcoholism was described as a disease in the late 1700s, but no treatment was available until the 1930s, when Alcoholics Anonymous was founded as a support group for those trying to quit drinking. For decades, AA’s 12-step program was the only recourse.

While AA remains a major source of treatment, with an estimated 2 million members worldwide, today’s patients also have medical options. Three medicines are mainly used to treat alcoholism, although they do not provide a cure and are most effective in conjunction with a treatment program, usually a form of talk therapy:

• Disulfiram interferes with the body’s metabolism of alcohol, leading to nausea, vomiting, palpitations and headache if consumed. This aversive reaction minimizes the desire to drink. However, because reactions can be severe and there is an associated risk of liver toxicity, disulfiram is now rarely prescribed.

• Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors, preventing alcohol from triggering the release of endorphins and dopamine, brain chemicals that create feelings of happiness and pleasure. You can take naltrexone while still drinking, but alcohol consumption is reduced over time when the mental reward disappears. Naltrexone is available as a daily pill or as an extended-release monthly injection. The most common side effects are nausea, headaches and dizziness, and those usually diminish as the body adjusts to the drug.

• Acamprosate, the newest of the three, is a once-daily tablet believed to rebalance the brain’s neural pathways that have been altered by chronic drinking (although the mechanism is not fully understood). It is typically used to prevent individuals who have stopped drinking from returning to alcohol use. Side effects, if any, are usually gastrointestinal.

Your primary healthcare provider can help you determine which of these medicines would best help you quit drinking or reduce your alcohol consumption.

You Can Quit or Cut Back on Alcohol

Recent studies have made clear that even moderate consumption of alcohol raises health and cancer risks. Perhaps as a result, just 54% of the U.S. adult population drink — the lowest percentage ever.

If you would like to join the growing sober movement or just restore control over your alcohol consumption, you now have a full menu of evidence-based choices to help. In addition to behavioral health treatment and support groups, these FDA-approved medications can make quitting or cutting back easier.

This content is not AI generated.