Get medications to help you quit drinking
As part of a complete treatment program including therapy and counseling, medications can help people achieve lasting recovery from alcohol use disorder.
Affect’s medical staff can prescribe medications as appropriate as part of our online alcohol treatment program. They can be picked up at the pharmacy of your choosing.
Three medications are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat alcohol use disorder: acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone. There are also some other medications that can be used to help ease discomfort and may reduce cravings.
Get medications for alcohol treatment online
Your prescribers meet with you through the app and you pick up your prescriptions at the pharmacy of your choice
Acamprosate (brand name Campral®) is used to help prevent relapse in people who have successfully achieved abstinence from alcohol.
Acamprosate works by affecting levels of a chemical in the brain called gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA), which is thought to partially related to alcohol cravings.
Acamprosate is usually started shortly after people stop drinking and can be used long term.
Naltrexone is a highly effective medication for alcohol use disorder. It decreases enjoyment from drinking and reduces alcohol cravings to prevent relapse.
Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, which means it blocks opioid receptors in the body. The brain produces its own type of opioids, called ‘endogenous opioids’. Alcohol causes the brain to release these endogenous opioids, but naltrexone prevents the opioid receptors from being activated.
Naltrexone is usually started shortly after people stop drinking and can be used long term.
Vivitrol® is a brand name of an injectable form of naltrexone for extended-release, which is used to treat both alcohol and opioid dependence. As a virtual/online treatment provider, Affect does not use injectable medications like Vivitrol®.
Disulfiram (brand name Antabuse®) has long been used in traditional clinical treatment models, called “aversion therapy.” Affect’s medical staff may prescribe it in special cases, but it is not used much in our program.
Disulfiram deters people from drinking by causing unpleasant physical reactions if they drink alcohol. These can include:
- nausea
- chest pain
- vomiting
- dizziness
Affect’s highly successful approach to treatment achieves behavior change through rewards and positive encouragement. We seek to make our members comfortable while they reduce their use and stay with them through relapses.
Other medications
There are a number of other medications that can be used to help people with discomfort and may reduce cravings during treatment for alcohol use disorder. These include:
- Topiramate
- Carbamazepine
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