Could you benefit from ‘the Ozempic for alcohol?’ Doctors say it’s not just alcoholics seeing results – as a mother-of-two reveals how the little-known pills helped her when willpower simply wasn’t enough
It was soon after the birth of Jane’s second child that the ‘alcohol noise’ started.
Like plenty of her peers, she drank too much in her teens, and even more frequently in her twenties.
But it was only after she had her two children that her drinking – often to the point of blackout – became a daily preoccupation.
‘My then-husband and I weren’t planning on any more children, so there was no reason for me to not drink,’ Jane says.
‘All day, every day, all I would think about was whether I was going to drink that night – it was a daily battle.’
‘Every morning I’d wake up and tell myself I wasn’t going to drink that day, but by the time I got home from work and put my children to bed, I’d give in to temptation and pour myself the first drink.’
Jane started off drinking one bottle of wine every night, but that soon progressed to two bottles.
After having her two children, Jane was drinking a bottle of wine a night. This quickly escalated to two bottles, and then three
‘Then it escalated to three bottles on the weekends,’ she says.
‘My husband and I drank together, but if he was working nights, I’d drink on my own.’
Despite her alcohol intake, Jane was employed full-time and took care of her children.
‘I never drank at work, but I continually thought about going to the bottle shop on the way home.’
As her dependency progressed, Jane tried Alcoholics Anonymous, where she was offered support.
But really it was the ‘alcohol noise’ that she struggled to switch off – was she going to drink that night? If so, how much? Was there enough booze in the house, or would she need to make a stop at the bottle shop?
The brain space drinking took up was enormous.
Eventually, Jane’s doctor prescribed her a drug that today is being hailed as the ‘Ozempic for alcohol’ for its ability to dull ‘alcohol noise’ in the same way the weight loss drug dampens the appetite for food.
Naltrexone works by blocking the pleasurable effects of alcohol in the brain, explains Dr Hester Wilson of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Chair of Specific Interest Group in Addiction.
‘The drug targets the opioid receptors, which are responsible for feelings of reward and pleasure when drinking,’ Dr Wilson says.
Normally, when you drink alcohol, your brain releases endorphins (feel-good chemicals) which create a sense of pleasure and relaxation.
While many are having success with Ozempic dulling their ‘food noise’, Naltrexone – hailed as the Ozempic for alcohol – is effective at removing cravings for booze
‘Naltrexone blocks these endorphins from attaching to opioid receptors, so drinking alcohol feels less rewarding. Over time, this helps to reduce cravings and the urge to drink alcohol,’ Dr Wilson adds.
When Jane began taking Naltrexone, it wasn’t called ‘the Ozempic for alcohol’ because semaglutide hadn’t yet hit the market as a drug for medically assisted weight loss. Personally, she rejects the comparison.
For Jane, Naltrexone was the support she needed in order to give up alcohol in the beginning when willpower simply wasn’t enough.
But even starting to take the drug was a huge challenge.
‘My family was waiting for me to start the tablets, but I couldn’t stop drinking. The thought of never drinking again kept me drinking,’ she tells me.
Jane was told she needed to stop drinking for three days before beginning the drug – which she eventually managed to do.
On the fourth day, she woke and took her Naltrexone tablet straight away.
‘My cravings – which I woke with each day – disappeared. The daily battle I’d had in my head for as long as I could remember, thinking about alcohol, thinking every single day, all day, about whether I was going to drink or not, was gone. The tablets took away that physical desire.’
By blocking the ‘pleasure response’ to alcohol, Naltrexone helps people break the cycle of drinking and reassess their behaviour.
‘Ideally, people should take it and stop drinking for at least three months,’ says Dr Wilson.
Jane is now 19 months sober after using Naltrexone to beat her three-bottles-of-wine-a-night drinking habit
‘This “pause” helps to teach you how to live your life without alcohol. During that time, guidance from your GP, smart recovery, AA, drugs and alcohol support centres and counselling can help you look at the reasons you drink too much and learn how to deal with stress or anxiety or drinking habits.’
Jane found the first few months of sobriety difficult, despite the support of AA and Naltrexone.
‘I avoided social situations where I’d be offered alcohol,’ she says.
She stopped taking Naltrexone after seven months. She was going to AA regularly and felt confident in her sobriety – but after two months, she almost relapsed.
Jane made the decision to go back on the tablets, and again felt the immediate relief from her cravings.
Now, 19 months sober and seven months since she last took Naltrexone, Jane says she doesn’t have any issues with cravings and still attends AA meetings regularly.
‘Naltrexone helped me stop drinking because I had a problem with alcohol. Although, I’m always going to have an emergency stash of Naltrexone in my cupboard, for relapse prevention.’
For those who are looking to cut down on their drinking or believe their drinking habits may be teetering on unhealthy, Naltrexone can be a valuable helpline.
‘Most people I see want to be able to return to social drinking,’ says Dr Wilson.
‘For some, this is possible; for others, this inevitably is a slippery slope towards uncontrolled drinking and relapse to dependence. For everyone, I suggest some time alcohol-free to assist them to reassess the role of alcohol in their life. Naltrexone helps this.’
Dr Wilson says that she wishes more people knew about the so-called ‘Ozempic for alcohol’ because she believes it’s a great intervention and could be used much earlier on the spectrum on alcohol dependency.
If you’ve woken up with many hangovers, after promising yourself that you’d ‘only have the one’, or find that once you start drinking, you find it difficult, or even impossible to stop, you could be a good candidate for the drug.
As Jane discovered, it is possible to change your alcohol use and feel better.
‘It can take work, and you may feel you should be able to do this alone, but many people need support,’ says Dr Wilson.
‘Don’t be afraid to reach out [to health professionals]: we’re here, we want to help you make the changes you want in your drinking and be healthier and happier.’
