Alcohol Addiction

What are the treatments?

Medically, three medications are approved for alcohol use disorder in Canada:  naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.  Some other medications can be used as well but are not formally approved by Health Canada for this purpose.

Social treatments include 12-step approaches such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Refuge Recovery and Celebrate Recovery, as well as non-AA based community support programs like Women for Sobriety or Secular Sobriety or SMART recovery.

Counselling can also be very helpful for many people to help recognize your triggers for drinking, and how to avoid them or deal with them when they come up. Supportive targeted addictions counselling is available through Mental Health and Addictions Services. 

Medical treatments for Alcohol

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that decreases alcohol craving and leads to  less heavy drinking days by reducing euphoria. Side effects are  generally mild and short lived and include headaches, stomach upset, and  dizziness. You should not use this if you are using or dependent on chronic opioids.

Acamprosate  is an amino acid derivative that increases GABA neurotransmission and  has complex effects on glutamate transmission in the brain. It decreases  the  frequency and quantity of drinking. You need to be abstinent for a  few days first for it to really work. The side effects are mild and  short lived and include feeling itchy and stomach upset.  You should not  use this if you have renal disease. 

Disulfiram  is probably best known by its old trade name "Antabuse".  This  medication can only be accessed through a compounding pharmacy as it is  not sold as a pill anymore. It works by turning off an enzyme that  breaks down alcohol products. It results in build up of acetaldehyde if  you drink alcohol. The acetaldehyde makes you very sick if you drink. It  also has many side effects, such as drowsiness, and rarely liver  toxicity and nerve damage. It really works best for for very motivated  individuals with a strong support system providing their medication  daily under supervision.

Withdrawal Management

If  you are dependent on alcohol to the point where you experience  withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, hallucinations, or seizures, you will need to have some medical assistance with "detoxification". This may need to be done in a medical facility depending on your other medical issues, or it can be done at home if you have enough supports. 

In Saskatoon: 

• Detoxification, Child and Youth Addiction  Services, Addiction Services - Inpatient, Addiction Services
  2003 Arlington Avenue, Saskatoon, SK  S7J 2H6        306-655-4526 

•  Addiction Services - Outpatient, Addiction Services, Detoxification
  Mobile Integrated Health Program (Withdrawal Management)
  430 Melville St, Saskatoon, SK S7J 4M2   306-975-8803 Monday-Sunday: 11 a.m. -   

               11 p.m. Website 

•  Detoxification, Addiction Services Social & Brief Detox
  201 Avenue O South, Saskatoon, SK S7M 2R6   306-655-4195

How do I know what treatment is right for me?

This will depend on a lot of things - including how each medication makes you feel, how you pay for your medication, and what other health issues you have. 

This is an excellent video from David Suzuki and the CBC on alcohol use disorder and its treatments and experience. http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes//wasted