Can Taking Naltrexone Make You Stop Drinking Alcohol? (Sinclair Method)

Can a tiny little pill called naltrexone really be the cure for alcoholism? Well, there's a whole group of people out there who are die hard believers, and they'll tell you that it absolutely has worked. And of course, there's a lot of people out there who completely disagree. This method is called the Sinclair method. In this video, I'm going to tell you what it is, how it works, and at the end of the video, I'll weigh in on exactly what I think about this method. For those of you who are new to this channel, I'm Amber Hollingsworth, and this channel is all about helping you understand how to outsmart addiction so that you can live the life that you want to live. So if that sounds like something you're interested in, subscribe to this channel. I'll make sure you're always five steps ahead of addiction. Okay, let's start with what the Sinclair method is. Basically, it's a program to help people stop drinking by giving them a medication called naltrexone. Now, if you take this medicine in pill form, they call it naltrexone, or you can get this medication in a once a month injection, and they call that Vivitrol. But it's essentially the same medication. One's just pills and one's a once a month injection. And the really interesting thing about naltrexone is that it was initially used to treat opiate addiction. And in fact, it's still used to treat opiate addiction. I have a whole video on that. Feel free to check that one out if that's something that you're interested in as well. Basically, what naltrexone does is it blocks opioid receptor sites. Now, in the case of opiate addiction, it will block someone from being able to feel the effects of opiates, which are pain pills or heroin. And the reason that it can be useful for some people in the treatment of alcoholism is because alcohol actually impacts five of the seven neurotransmitters involved in addiction. And one of those neurotransmitters happens to be endorphins. And those endorphins are part of what makes drinking feel so great. So essentially, when you take naltrexone, it blocks these endorphins, which sort of reduces the awesomeness of alcohol. The best way I know how to explain it is think about like a couple of years ago when everyone was taking Chantix to stop smoking, so they would take this medicine, and it wasn't that they couldn't smoke at all. They could continue to smoke, but most people felt like it just wasn't nearly as fun anymore. They didn't get as much pleasure out of it. And a lot of people were able to reduce their smoking until they eventually were able to quit. That's pretty much the same concept that's at work here. Most often, the feedback I get about taking naltrexone for alcohol is it just makes drinking a little less fun, which definitely reduces some of the positive reinforcement of drinking alcohol. But you gotta remember it's only impacting one of those five neurotransmitters that are involved in addiction to alcohol naturally. Like with anything else, there are pros and cons to this approach, and I think it's pretty obvious what the pros would be. A lot of people are either scared to stop drinking cold turkey or really don't want to stop drinking altogether. Many people really just want to reduce the amount they drink. And so you can see why someone might want to try the Sinclair method if you want to cut back or if you're scared to just stop completely cold turkey. There are a lot of people out there who swear by this. There's one really good YouTube video that you can watch where the woman talks all about how the Sinclair method cured her of alcoholism. But the problem is, I don't really think that the whole story is on that video, because if you're truly doing the Sinclair method, it's not just you take the medicine and you stop drinking. It's also supposed to be supported by therapy and other support groups and a whole complete recovery program. So it's. It sounds a little better on the surface than it is. We all wish there was a magic pill that could just end the problem for good. So while I'm definitely not against the Sinclair method, I think it's a useful tool. I do think it is a big mistake to think that this pill is the cure for alcoholism. It's definitely something that can be used to support your recovery, but it is for sure not the whole answer, because you gotta remember there are four other neurotransmitters still at play. Dopamine, gaba, glutamate, serotonin. Those are some pretty powerful brain chemicals that are also being involved, and that is not being addressed by this chemical. And we haven't even gotten into the psychological stuff. Most people believe that there are probably some underlying reasons why someone is drinking in the first place. And that's a really complicated topic. I won't get into all that here. I do have other videos on my channel that will explain all that. I'll put a link right up here at the top, and you can click that if you want to learn more about that. But essentially, if you don't deal with the underlying reasons, whether those are biological, psychological, circumstantial, that are triggering the alcohol problem to begin with, chances that you're really going to get off alcohol and stay off long term, not so much. Now, in my own professional opinion, there is one major con to the Sinclair method. To be honest with you, I think the effectiveness of the Sinclair method is probably highly correlated to how severe of an alcohol use disorder that you really have. If you truly have a moderate alcohol use disorder, my guess is that you're going to find the Sinclair method to be more helpful. But if you have a severe alcohol use disorder, then you might find that this isn't your whole answer. If you're not sure whether you or your loved one has a moderate or severe alcohol use disorder, then make sure you check out my video where I explain to you how to diagnose alcoholism. And at the end of that video, it actually tells you how to rate the severity of the problem. And I'll also put a link in the description below so that you can download the check list of the official criteria for alcoholism. And that might help you sort of weigh out whether or not this might be a good option for you or your loved one. But there's still one big con that I need to go over with you. Almost anyone that has a drinking problem really wants there to be a simple solution. And I want there to be a simple solution, too. But unfortunately, it's my experience that there is no simple, easy solution for alcoholism. It's just more complicated than that. And the danger comes in when you tell people, this can help you. This can make you stop drinking. This can make you stop wanting to drink. This can make you slowly be able to back down. In many cases, people will spend many more months and many more years trying to make this method work. Because, hey, we would prefer for this method to work. I think we could all agree this would be the easier way to go. And unfortunately, in some circumstances, it's just not the case. So if you're thinking about trying this, it's really important to remember that the Sinclair method is really just one piece of the puzzle. And if you'll put the other pieces of that puzzle in place, chances that you can beat alcoholism are actually really strong. And just so you have one more resource to help you along your journey. If you or your loved one is in the early stages of recovery. I've also put a link in the description below for you to get access to our 30 day jumpstart recovery program. This is actually the same Jumpstart program that the clients that we see in our office get. It's completely free and it's online, and if you're interested in that, you can find that in the description below. And lastly, for those of you who are really and truly committed to beating alcoholism once and for all, I've created a playlist specifically for you, helping you understand all the ins and the outs of the psychology of alcoholism. So you'll definitely have all the tools you need for success. If you utilize all these resources that I'm giving you, you're going to be well on your way to recovery.