Could life have been different?

Hearing that medications work to eliminate cravings for alcohol can bring an overpowering sense of renewed hope. At the same time, this new knowledge can also invoke feelings of loss for people that may have greatly benefited from this treatment option. Meet Joe who speaks openly about options to reduce or stop drinking.

Joe’s father was an alcoholic, which can make it more likely that Joe is genetically predisposed to alcohol use disorder. It may also be that growing up in alcoholic household contributed to his alcohol use.

“It's chaos. If you're someone who has an alcoholic parent, you know what I'm talking about. For me, the result was I turned to alcohol to deal with the fall out from that. I found myself doing this exact same things my dad did that absolutely disgusted me and I said I would never do. And yet, there I was doing them.”

While Joe was able to stop drinking by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, he believes that if his father had had access to medications, not only would his father’s story, but also Joe’s own story, could have been vastly different.

Joe feels fortunate that he didn’t hit rock bottom, and that he was able to quit drinking by attending AA meetings for about a year. However, he wants people to know that other options and complementary supports are available.

“Although I didn't need these medications to quit drinking I think someone like my father who was a long-standing, deeply entrenched alcoholic -- these drugs could have made a difference in his life. They would have made a huge difference in my life too.”

To hear more from Joe, please visit the episode ‘Hi, I’m Joe and I’m an Alcoholic’ on the Deep Fryer Podcast.