There’s a new medication out to help alcoholics in their recovery. Campral® is designed to reduce cravings during the post-acute withdrawal phase of treatment (immediately following detoxification through the next 90 days).
A glutamate receptor modulator, Campral is believed to act on the biochemical systems that are involved in alcohol dependence. Campral interacts with neurotransmitter systems and is hypothesized to restore the normal balance.
So why am I so excited about this? Not because I see that many alcoholics; but I do see a lot of men with compulsive sexual behavior. I’m interested in seeing if Campral has a similar effect for them. Conventional thinking about sexual addiction suggests it will.
The difficult part of treatment for many sexual addicts is the first 90 days of “sobriety”. I know there are some psychiatrists in town already prescribing Campral for sexual addiction… no studies (that I’m aware of) but anecdotal “evidence” suggests it is helpful.
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I am very interested to see the results with the use of this drug. I have been a sexual addict for almost my entire life and I have been through the therapy route and the twelve steps. THe longest I was able to go without sex was a month and when I lapsed, I lapsed big time. Additionally, the therapy is good if you can find a good therapist and you have the money for the sessions but what is all your money is going into your fix. This behavior is more related to physiological make up of the person and the brain response to stimuli.
Vincent:
I’m sorry to hear you’ve struggled so hard. Keep working on it: addiction (of any kind) is a relapse prone process and it’s important to keep fighting.
My view on medication is that it is best used in conjunction with therapy. The medication allows the brain to function properly SO THAT we can take advantage of therapy and support groups. As I wrote above, Campral may help in the first 90 days: enough time for the other forms of treatment to kick in.
BTW, you didn’t mention religion or spirituality. How have you approached God in your addiction?
When I was going through the twelve steps, I tried real hard to make a spiritual connection and this is hard since I’m not a believer in God. To make things worst, I tend to think spirituality is a man made coping mechanism. However, during this time I prayed and talked regularly to God but I just never felt like I made a connection. I know spirituality goes beyond just thinking there is a God but it does require that you think that life has a higher purpose or that our lives have a higher purpose. Quite frankly, I haven’t seen any evidence to show me that that is the case. To me the only higher purpose is that we live our lives to have a peaceful and just society that takes care of the Earth and leaves something for the next generation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating a life only motivated by short term interest or gratification but I don’t think the only way to live a rich full life is through spiritual means.
I’m sorry for the long explanation.
Thanks,
Vincent
“(Living) our lives to have a peaceful and just society that takes care of the Earth and leaves something for the next generation” sounds like the beginning of a spiritual belief to me.
Hang in there.