Why Some Doctors Fail to Recommend Naltrexone When It’s Needed

Many people taking naltrexone wish they had started the medication sooner and can’t believe their physician didn’t mention it earlier. It turns out some doctors fail to recognize unhealthy alcohol use and others don’t realize how effective naltrexone can be.

What You'll Learn:

• How not recognizing the existence of an alcohol use disorder leads to lack of treatment.

• Why it is that some physicians don’t think chronic drinking warrants treatment.

• Why doctors may be unfamiliar with naltrexone.

• How bypass towards other AUD treatments can play a role.

Many of the people we help have expressed that they are upset that their primary physician either didn’t recommend a naltrexone prescription at all or they didn’t do so sooner. Once they experience the benefits of naltrexone and how it dramatically changes their ability to control alcohol cravings and drinking, they wish they would have started using it years ago.

Feeling that way is valid, but it’s important to understand why some doctors fail to recommend naltrexone when it’s needed.

Some Doctors Don’t Recognize That an AUD Exists

As the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) discovered with in-depth analysis, often an alcohol use disorder (AUD) isn’t diagnosed by doctors. They don’t identify the signs of problematic alcohol use and therefore don’t recommend any type of treatment.

An AUD can go unnoticed for a number of reasons. It could be that the doctor isn’t trained in diagnosing alcohol use disorder. Or the patient may not provide accurate information. Or the physician is focused on another ailment.

There also needs to be improvements in early detection protocols. In the early stages, mild alcohol use disorder can be missed. The NIAAA and others are pushing to improve early detection techniques because the sooner alcohol use disorder is treated the better the outcome usually is.

Patients can improve the situation by being totally honest with their physicians. It’s tempting to downplay drinking habits and estimate alcohol use based on best case scenarios. But that leads to doctors failing to identify when an alcohol use disorder may exist. Without good information, your doctor can’t make the best recommendations.

Some Doctors Don’t Realize How Harmful Moderate Drinking Can Be If It’s Chronic

Although standards are changing, the medical guidelines still indicate that drinking a limited number of alcoholic beverages a week isn’t problematic for a person’s health. If a woman has one drink a day and a man has up to two drinks a day, that’s considered low risk moderate drinking.

However, it’s now recognized that chronic alcohol use can be damaging to a person’s health even if it qualifies a moderate amount of drinks. It’s the consistency that’s problematic because the damage adds up over time.

Modern research suggests that anything over two drinks a week could be detrimental to your health. So, if you have a drink or two only, but it’s every day, taking naltrexone can be beneficial for your health. As more physicians become familiar with the latest research, more of them are likely to discuss naltrexone with patients that don’t meet the threshold for heavy drinking. But what will truly make the biggest difference will be changes in the guidelines for what’s considered moderate drinking.

Some Physicians Aren’t Familiar With Naltrexone

Believe it or not, there are many physicians that are unaware that naltrexone exists. That may seem absurd, but when you consider the career of a doctor it makes more sense.

Many doctors are highly specialized. It’s easy to forget that their knowledge is limited to their field within medicine. If their work isn’t directly or indirectly related to addiction treatment, there’s a good chance you know more about naltrexone medication than they do.

Even primary physicians aren’t addiction experts. The medical field is vast. There’s no way for a primary physician to be familiar with every type of prescription that’s been approved by the FDA.

That’s why it’s so important for patients to be advocates for their own health. Today, information is readily available online. There are credible resources for exploring treatment options that you can talk to your physician about. You can provide them with the information you’ve found so that they can become familiar and provide their professional recommendation.

Some Physicians Think Other Treatments Should be Tried First

Doctors are people. They have personal opinions and life experiences that can lead to biases. While most doctors do their absolute best not to let their biases influence their recommendations, it still happens.

There’s a segment of people who still think people should be able to white knuckle through the process of reaching sobriety. Other doctors may default to the standard treatment protocols first and only suggest therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous for alcohol use disorder.

For some people, a broader spectrum of treatment options are needed. You don’t have to take a one-at-a-time approach. In fact, studies show that people are more successful at reaching and maintaining sobriety when they pair cognitive behavioral therapy with medication-assisted therapy.

Fortunately, you don’t have to schedule a visit with your primary care physician and hope that they realize a naltrexone prescription could be beneficial for your health. You can take control of the situation by taking our online Alcohol Use Assessment to talk with a knowledgeable clinician about whether naltrexone can help you curb cravings and drink less alcohol. If our experts determine it could help, they can provide a prescription and the naltrexone medication can be shipped directly to you.

With Choose Your Horizon there’s no middle men and the focus is on health factors that are related to alcohol use. We can also help you connect with a qualified therapist who can provide additional assistance that enhances the effects of naltrexone. It’s the type of specialized care and accessibility that many people need to get their drinking under control.