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"New Drug for Alcoholism Was Useful"The difficulty can be finding a doctor that is prepared to prescribe a new drug for alcoholism. I was very lucky, in the last few years of my drinking career I found a doctor who continued to support me for as long as I kept attempting to stop. My experience with doctors generally however is that they are not always so willing to look at new methods or drugs where problem drinking is the primary issue.
 I used it when I stopped in January of 2001 (incidentally this was the last time I drank alcohol) and I have to say that several weeks into my new sobriety I did experience less craving than I had at the same stage of recovery on previous attempts. Now to put my experience of Campral into context I should point out that I was exploring a whole new world with Neuro-Linguistic Programming and goal setting at the time. I know this therapy was giving me a new, more positive, perspective than previous occasions so I may have found it easier to stay away from the drink anyway, but even so, I still think I benefited from using it as part of my treatment. You may be interested to know that Trials in Europe showed that 50 per cent of those using acamprosate stayed clean for three months (the period when we alcoholics are most likely to relapse), compared with 39 per cent of those taking a placebo. The percentage of patients who took acamprosate and stayed clean fell to 35 per cent after six months, and 33 per cent after a year compared with 23 per cent and 21 per cent with a placebo. As far as I'm concerned I would say that I did find this drug helpful but, and this is a big BUT, only as part of a treatment plan that helps you heal your past, accept your present and positively build a framework for a much brighter future. This brighter future is of course also for those around you whose lives have been negatively effected by your drinking.
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