{"id":7137,"date":"2026-03-29T01:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=7137"},"modified":"2026-03-29T01:56:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:56:05","slug":"i-hid-my-10-bottles-of-wine-a-week-from-my-family-for-years-then-i-tried-the-3-pill-dubbed-ozempic-of-alcohol-that-ended-my-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=7137","title":{"rendered":"I hid my 10 bottles of wine a week from my family for years – then I tried the \u00a33 pill dubbed ‘Ozempic of alcohol’ that ended my addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On the surface, it wasn\u2019t obvious to anyone that Emma Griffiths was drinking more than ten bottles of wine a week.<\/p>\n

Her home in the New Forest, on the outskirts of Southampton, was immaculate. She got up at 5am most days to go to the gym and had a highly successful career managing a charity\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n

But without fail, the cork would be popped on a bottle of wine at around 5pm, an essential part \u2013 as Emma saw it \u2013 of winding down after a stressful day.<\/p>\n

Except it was never just one glass. Often it was two bottles. On some nights, a glass of wine in a bar with colleagues could turn into an all-night drinking session that saw her return home briefly to shower and change before heading straight back into work. During the pandemic, while working from home, \u2018wine o\u2019clock\u2019 started on the dot of midday.<\/p>\n

Hitting the menopause<\/a> four years ago only led her to lean more heavily on alcohol<\/a> as a crutch as she struggled to cope with debilitating brain fog and depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At its worst, mother-of-two Emma, now 55, admits she was drinking over 100 units of alcohol a week \u2013 more than seven times the NHS<\/a>\u2019s recommended limit of 14 for both men and women.<\/p>\n

And while she made several attempts to cut back \u2013 once using an NHS programme and on another occasion after a breast cancer scare \u2013 each time the drinking ramped back up again because she believed, wrongly, that she had finally got her habit under control.<\/p>\n

\u2018Honestly, I had started to feel slightly invincible,\u2019 Emma says. \u2018Generally, nobody knew I was drinking as much as I was. I hid it well. There was always a reason for me to think I deserved a drink \u2013 it was sunny, or I\u2019d had a bad day, or it was Sunday lunchtime in the pub, so why not? I have a busy life \u2013 I overstretch myself because I never say no \u2013 so it was my way to relax.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Emma <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Emma Griffiths no longer feels the lure of a glass of wine, even if her favourite bottle is near<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"The <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The 55-year-old drank over 100 units of alcohol weekly – seven times the recommended limit<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018I\u2019d tell myself it wasn\u2019t that bad as I wasn\u2019t downing spirits, and I\u2019d always be able to perform at work, no matter how much I\u2019d had to drink the night before. Perhaps if I hadn\u2019t been able to, it might have stopped me sooner.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every time I did stop or cut back, I\u2019d think it was under control and I could manage having a couple of drinks. I was always wrong.\u2019<\/p>\n

Today, however, Emma has achieved an astonishing transformation. She has been sober for nearly 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

She no longer feels the lure of a glass of wine, even though her favourite bottle has been lurking in her kitchen fridge.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think I\u2019m at the point now where I never want to drink again,\u2019 she says. \u2018And I can\u2019t see that changing. My last drink was on January 8.\u2019<\/p>\n

The reason for Emma\u2019s extraordinary turnaround is a \u00a33 pill, dubbed the \u2018Ozempic of alcohol\u2019.<\/p>\n

The tablet, naltrexone, eliminates cravings by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, making alcohol less pleasurable and curbing the desire to drink. It means the brain \u2018unlearns\u2019 the link between alcohol and the production of feel-good chemicals that spark the urge to reach for a glass in the first place.<\/p>\n

Studies show naltrexone has a near 80 per cent success rate at getting users to drastically reduce or eliminate drinking altogether.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Emma, <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Emma, who is a mother of two, says the pill worked almost immediately in calming her drinking<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In comparison, other rehabilitation methods \u2013 such as Alcoholics Anonymous\u2019s 12-step programme, which relies on changing thoughts and behaviours and accepting responsibility for past harms \u2013 has success rates of less than 15 per cent, according to the World Health Organisation.<\/p>\n

Yet, while naltrexone is available on the NHS, it is only usually prescribed to people to prevent relapse once they have already become sober \u2013 something experts say should change.<\/p>\n

Emma got a private prescription via The Sinclair Method in November, a clinic that advocates an approach which involves continuing to drink, but taking a pill an hour before the first drink of the day. This is combined with psychological and lifestyle support with a counsellor. Many of The Sinclair Method\u2019s clients are high-functioning professionals, such as Emma, and some have described it as \u2018miraculous\u2019.<\/p>\n

Emma says the drug worked \u2018almost immediately\u2019 and that she only drank half her first glass of wine by the second day.<\/p>\n

Within a couple of weeks, she was drinking 25 units a week and by January was down to just two \u2013 a glass of wine with Sunday lunch.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was weird \u2013 this feeling of not wanting it,\u2019 she recalls. \u2018I\u2019ve always known I could quit alcohol if I wanted to, but the issue was that I could never do it without feeling deprived.<\/p>\n

\u2018I always wanted to drink, and it was always really, really hard resisting it.<\/p>\n

\u2018But today, when people say \u201cWell done\u201d, I don\u2019t think I deserve it because I really didn\u2019t have to do much.<\/p>\n

\u2018I do feel slightly like a fraud because I haven\u2019t had to go through any pain or stress. I just don\u2019t feel like drinking any more.\u2019<\/p>\n

Emma is part of a growing number of midlife women who have a problem with alcohol.<\/p>\n

While younger adults are drinking less than previous generations, the proportion of women aged 45 to 64 who consume \u2018hazardous\u2019 amounts \u2013 regularly drinking more than 14 units a week \u2013 has remained steady.<\/p>\n

And the number of women aged 55 to 64 in this at-risk category has seen the sharpest rise \u2013 14 per cent, or around 1.2 million women, now drink at this level compared to nearly 8 per cent in 2000, according to NHS data. This has been linked to menopause, midlife stress and changes such as children leaving home, divorce and reduced social networks.<\/p>\n

Harvey Bhandal, managing director of The Sinclair Method, said the number of women using the service was \u2018growing steadily\u2019, partly because \u2018it doesn\u2019t require them to disappear\u2019 on a retreat to get sober, which often isn\u2019t compatible with their lives \u2013 particularly if they have caring responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Experts say there is a case for making naltrexone more widely available on the NHS to help people reduce their alcohol intake, and that more GPs should be trained in prescribing it.<\/p>\n

Addiction psychiatrist Dr Peter McCann, medical director of residential rehabilitation centre Castle Craig, said: \u2018The harms from alcohol are only increasing, and there are many people who are put off by the all-or-nothing approach. We need to see more GPs able to prescribe medication such as this.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a theoretical worry that giving out lots of naltrexone will reinforce drinking culture, or make it more normalised by giving you a pill to take which will stop you drinking as much.<\/p>\n

\u2018But it would engage more people in treatment, and I think we need to be creative and throw as much as we can at the problem.\u2019<\/p>\n

And as people like Emma know, cutting down or going sober might start off easy, but making it long term is significantly harder.<\/p>\n

Around ten years ago, she had enrolled on NHS programme One Recovery, which involved keeping an alcohol diary to reduce her intake by 10 per cent every week, and regular meetings with a support worker. This got her drinking down to below the recommended limits, but her habits simply resumed once it ended. She also quit alcohol for a year and a half after finding a lump in her breast and being investigated for breast cancer, which runs in her family.<\/p>\n

\u2018I said to myself that if it was breast cancer, I wanted my body to be the strongest it could be. I stayed sober even though I got the all-clear. But I never stopped thinking about alcohol, and it just crept back in.\u2019<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, in which she worked from home, was, she says, \u2018a total nightmare\u2019. \u2018Around 11am I\u2019d start looking at the clock, and by two minutes to noon I\u2019d have poured a glass of wine so it would be ready for midday,\u2019 she recalls.<\/p>\n

Then the menopause hit. Emma avoided the physical symptoms but struggled with brain fog and negative thoughts. She found herself \u2018staring at the wall for hours\u2019 and gave up work because she couldn\u2019t function.<\/p>\n

Hormone replacement therapy was not effective and, again, alcohol became a crutch \u2013 along with antidepressants.<\/p>\n

But it was another side effect of the menopause that pushed her to investigate naltrexone.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was vanity, really,\u2019 she says. \u2018I\u2019d put on 2st during the menopause, as many women do. Nothing would shift it. I go to the gym five times a week, am largely pescatarian and I use intermittent fasting [only eating within a short time window] but couldn\u2019t lose a pound. I realised alcohol contained a lot of calories.\u2019<\/p>\n

Using the drug and The Sinclair Method appealed because it \u2018sounded easy\u2019, she says, as well as being scientifically grounded.<\/p>\n

\u2018The first thing they say is you can still drink if you want to \u2013 it\u2019s just that you might reach a point where you don\u2019t want to. But nobody is telling you that you can\u2019t drink.\u2019<\/p>\n

Emma\u2019s coach advised her to do something else around the time she would normally have a drink \u2013 one tip was looking up something funny on YouTube so her brain still got a dopamine hit, just not from alcohol.<\/p>\n

She was also told the pill only does 60 per cent of the work \u2013 the other 40 per cent is your own mindset changing.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think that\u2019s true,\u2019 Emma says. \u2018The act of taking a tablet an hour before you drink removes the spontaneity of it. You have to think about why you want to have that drink, and plan for it. It\u2019s more mindful.\u2019<\/p>\n

Having got down to two units a week by the January, she made the decision to stop drinking altogether when she was diagnosed with prediabetes \u2013 elevated blood sugar which is on the cusp of type 2 diabetes \u2013 and was told she had signs of fatty liver disease. Since then, Emma\u2019s health has transformed. She has lost 10lb, her skin and hair are healthier, she is sleeping better and her gum health has improved. Plus, her blood sugar is lower and her latest liver tests came back clear.<\/p>\n

\u2018I can honestly say I haven\u2019t had a drink for two and a half months and I haven\u2019t wanted one, either. When I\u2019d normally reach for wine, I\u2019ll spend more time in the gym, go for a walk or do some cross-stitch.<\/p>\n

\u2018It has changed my life \u2013 I\u2019d recommend it to anyone.\u2019<\/p>\n

It’s been around for 30 years. Why aren’t more people told about it?<\/h2>\n

What’s the definition of an alcoholic? Someone who drinks more than their doctor (writes Barney Calman)<\/span>.<\/p>\n

I thought of that joke while reading Emma\u2019s story of overcoming a quite profound alcohol addiction thanks to naltrexone \u2013 and wondering why more people aren\u2019t told about the drug.<\/p>\n

GPs are drilled to ask patients about their alcohol intake as part of a general consultation. Yet they rarely offer treatment at all \u2013 and if they do, it\u2019s usually talking therapy, which has a patchy success rate.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, as the joke implies, it\u2019s because doctors \u2013 like their patients and just about everyone else \u2013 tend to drink, and so it is less likely to be seen as a problem requiring serious medical intervention.<\/p>\n

That was certainly the suggestion when I spoke to a number of experts in pharmacology and addiction about Emma\u2019s story, who are equally mystified as to why it is not more widely used.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all the more odd when you realise naltrexone isn\u2019t new \u2013 it has been around since the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n

There is good scientific evidence that the Sinclair Method \u2013 taking a naltrexone tablet at times when alcohol cravings are more likely to strike \u2013 can help people dramatically cut down or even quit booze altogether.<\/p>\n

But despite this, it is not recommended by the NHS watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, as a first-line treatment for alcohol dependence.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the only drug option. Other established, proven treatments include nalmefene, which works in a similar way to naltrexone to reduce cravings, and acamprosate, which helps dampen withdrawal symptoms.<\/p>\n

And yet these are often seen as a last resort. Why aren\u2019t they offered more widely \u2013 as, for example, smoking cessation medication is?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true, smoking does kill more people \u2013 around 80,000 a year. But alcohol, which is behind more than 10,000 deaths annually, comes a close second in terms of preventable deaths.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is, people need to know there are treatments available. Some will say it\u2019s cheating \u2013 as with weight-loss jabs. That you should overcome these \u2018weaknesses\u2019 with sheer grit and determination.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s a drug \u2013 whether naltrexone or Mounjaro \u2013 that does much of the heavy lifting and helps people live healthier lives, then why not use it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the surface, it wasn\u2019t obvious to anyone that Emma Griffiths was drinking more than ten bottles of wine a week. Her home in the New Forest, on the outskirts of Southampton, was immaculate. She got up at 5am most days to go to the gym and had a highly successful career managing a charity\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}