Suggest Medications To Manage Alcohol Cravings

Posted on Mon, 12 Dec 2016

Question: my granddaughter is 24 yo and is tryinlg to stop drinking. Is there any medication to decrease cravings?

Answered by Dr. Chintan Solanki (33 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Medicines can help

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

For alcohol deaddiction two types of drugs are used.

One is to treat withdrawal symptoms in which drugs from benzodiazepine group are used. Chlordizepoxide, lorazepam or diazepam are used. One of these medicines can reduce craving by making person free from withdrawal when person is motivated.

Other group of drugs is called anti craving agents. Acamprosate and disulfiram belong to this group. They interact with alcohol if it is there in body and cause adverse reaction. It helps by improving motivation as they make the person ready to avoid alcohol due to fear of reaction. It is really helpful to prevent relapse after detoxification.

Dose and duration of treatment depend on duration and quantity of alcohol intake as well as motivation of the patient.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.

Regards,
Dr Chintan Solanki.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar