Questions about medication for drinking, answered plainly

No. Reducing and stopping are both legitimate medical goals here, and many people start with drinking less. What the plan needs is an honest count of drinks per week and heavy drinking days, because the goal gets judged against that count. If the data keeps arguing for stopping, that conversation happens with your numbers on the table, and the goal can change.

That is a normal place to start, and no decision is required before your first appointment. The Comprehensive Initial Appointment starts with an honest count and your history, and the goal is set from that, with you. Plenty of people arrive unsure and leave with a plan they chose.

It can be. For a heavy daily drinker, the body has adapted to alcohol, and stopping suddenly can bring seizures or a delirium that is a medical emergency. That risk is screened at your Comprehensive Initial Appointment before anything is prescribed. If the screen shows significant risk, a medically supervised withdrawal comes first, and this practice picks your plan up on the other side. Do not stop suddenly on your own; call (800) 303-3221 first and make the stop a planned one.

By count and by score. Your AUDIT-C screening score is taken at your Comprehensive Initial Appointment and re-scored at Follow-up Appointments, alongside drinks per week and heavy drinking days, counted plainly. A simple between-visit record of what you drank shows the pattern memory smooths over. The trend is reviewed without moral arithmetic: a lapse is data about where the plan is thin, not a verdict on you.

The practice is in network with Aetna, Cigna and Evernorth, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Oscar, Oxford, Carelon, and Providence, and with Medicare in Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah. Your coverage and your exact cost are verified before your Comprehensive Initial Appointment, and copays typically run $0 to $40. Without insurance, the Comprehensive Initial Appointment is $350 for 60 minutes and Follow-up Appointments are $250 for 30 minutes.

A full hour. Your prescriber goes through how much you drink and for how long, what your mornings look like, and what happened on past attempts to cut down or stop. Withdrawal risk is screened before anything is prescribed, labs are ordered where they matter, and every medicine you already take is reviewed against alcohol. You leave knowing your goal, your count, and the first step of the plan.

No. None of the medicines used for drinking here is a controlled substance, none is habit-forming, and none will make you feel medicated. They lower craving, take the reward out of a drink, or steady the system while new patterns form. The sedative family used in hospital withdrawal settings is not started here for drinking, because it can form a dependence of its own and mixing it with alcohol is dangerous.

Then that comes first, and you will be told plainly. If your withdrawal risk is significant, the right first step is a medically supervised withdrawal in a hospital or a dedicated program. You are referred without a lecture, and once that step is complete, this practice picks the medication plan up on the other side.

Yes, with your written consent. Your prescriber coordinates with your therapist and your primary care physician so the drinking plan and the rest of your care pull the same direction. If you came here looking for talk therapy itself, Solutions Psychiatry offers it at psych.us; this site is the medication management practice.

17 and older. This practice treats adults and older teens, ages 17 and up, and every patient is located in a covered state at the time of the visit.

Care is licensed in 34 states plus DC: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Massachusetts, Illinois, and Guam are in progress. You must be located in a covered state at the time of your visit.

The Comprehensive Initial Appointment is 60 minutes and costs $350 without insurance. Follow-up Appointments are 30 minutes and cost $250. With insurance, copays typically run $0 to $40, and your coverage and your exact cost are verified before your Comprehensive Initial Appointment.

A three-question screening score used worldwide to grade drinking risk: how often you drink, how much on a typical drinking day, and how often six or more drinks land on one occasion. Here it is taken at your Comprehensive Initial Appointment and re-scored at Follow-up Appointments, so progress is a number, not an impression.

Then the plan gets adjusted, not abandoned. A lapse is data about where the plan is thin: a situation it did not cover, a craving window the medicine did not reach. You report it honestly, the count is reviewed together, and the plan is strengthened where it failed. There is no penalty for honesty here.