With the holidays nearly upon us, we are coming into the most stressful time of the year for many people.

Over-drinking goes hand-in-hand with stress and attempts at stress reduction. But with alcohol the stress gets worse and ratchets up the stress in other family members, who usually make sure you know about it.

Why not try something different this holiday season? If lots of parties stress you out, don’t go to so many of them. If family members stress you out, why not go away for the holiday, or decline family invitations, or strictly limit the time spent with these people.

I know, you couldn’t do that, they’re family!

But really, who says you can’t? You are an adult and it’s time to start thinking about spending your finite time on this earth in ways that make you happy and relaxed, rather than pleasing everybody else.

At the end of the day, this is your life, the only one you have. Drinking your way through the holidays and your life, because you “have to” is no way to live.

So think about it. Isn’t it time to live, really live, rather than just exist? Drinking too much isn’t living; it is just being a spectator in your one and only life.

It still isn’t too late to fix things for this year, and all of the years ahead. Give us a call and come to sunny Southern California for the holidays and a healing vacation.

 

 

Naltrexone

Naltrexone isn’t a magic bullet but it does help over 70% of our clients alter their drinking behaviors undistracted by alcohol cravings.

Other nice aspects of Naltrexone include the fact that it doesn’t interact with other medications (except opioid pain meds), it’s cheap, not an aversive (like Antabuse), and effective (unlike Campral).

So why doesn’t your doctor prescribe it?

Mostly because he or she doesn’t know about it and is loathe to confess to this ignorance. Even when they have heard about it they tend to be misinformed and instead listen to drug reps who push Campral which is an ineffectual but high profit medication compared to the no-profit generic Naltrexone.

Even if your doctor is one of the rare informed physicians, they may be reluctant to prescribe unless you are in some sort of “program”. That’s a problem since most AA/12 Step based programs are against medical support that actually helps you. Remember, traditional treatment programs have a vested interest in you failing and continuing to be recycled through the industries’ revolving doors.

Alternatives?

It does come down to the same very few choices. We work with you along side the physician we work with. Come to see us and you will get appropriate med support along with approaches that actually work (for a review of what actually works see our article in the August 14 Newsletter).

Want a bit more information? E-mail us and we’ll be happy to send you our handout on Naltrexone.

Or give us a call and let’s talk about what will really work for you and how you can get started!

 

 

Links to Success:

Our Expanded Program Description

“How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?”

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

The Bucket of Crabs or Why AA and Al-Anon are Bad For Your Health.