Psychiatrist prescribed antipsychotics for alcohol recovery is that normal?
Hi guys ,
I’m 26 and I finally decided to get help for alcohol. I’ve been binge drinking beers every night for around 3 years. And that was the darkest time of my life.
This morning I saw my psychiatrist who knows me from the chronic depression I had for years and he used to prescribe me antidepressants for it, but in 2023 I hit rock bottom and I give up on everything and just started drinking .
I told him about the alcohol problem and how hard I tried to quit it by myself and I couldn’t and I think based on my past meetings as well. He prescribed me:
Naltrexone (Nokrev 50 mg) — for alcohol cravings
Xanax (alprazolam)
Olanzapine (Ozaprin 5 mg)
Quetiapine (Gyrex 50 mg)
From what I understand, only naltrexone is specifically for alcohol, and the others are for my depression/anxiety/sleep. But I’m confused why he chose olanzapine and quetiapine because from what I read online they seem to be antipsychotic medications, and I don’t have psychosis.
Is this normal prescription? Can it really help?
Also I’m honestly worried mostly about the rapid weight gain that antipsychotic medications cause, I mean I already gained around 15 kg from all the beer and I was planning to actually lose gain now not gain extra?!
I mean, I searched the antipsychotic medication side effects and everyone is talking about how terribly fast they gain weight in short notice and I really don’t want to have that.
Did anyone else have a doctor prescribe something similar for alcohol recovery + depression/anxiety? Especially if you didn’t have psychosis? How did it go for you?
And I actually don’t want to take the other medication so will naltrexone alone help me quit alcohol for good?