HealthInfo Canterbury
Treatment & medications for alcohol or drug addiction or abuse
Quitting or cutting back on alcohol or drugs is very hard once you're addicted. Most people who are heavily addicted will need help from professionals to cut down or quit.
Professionals can help you understand why you use alcohol or drugs. They can also help you develop better ways to manage problems.
Professionals can help you to get back into the workforce. They can also help you repair damage to your relationships with family and friends.
Once you've stopped using alcohol or drugs, you're likely to need ongoing support to stop going back to them.
Treating alcohol and drug addiction
Most alcohol and drug treatment providers are in the community. They provide different types of support depending on your needs. Their services can include:
- one-to-one talking therapy
- support groups
- intensive workshops or group sessions where you learn how to change thoughts and behaviour
- after-care once you're sober
- residential or day programmes if you need a higher level of support
- support if you're withdrawing, either at home or in a residential facility.
Addiction treatment is free but you may have to wait to access some services.
Support services
General practice team
If you need to find a general practice team, you can search on this map.
You can visit your GP for support and for a referral.
Alcohol & Other Drug (AOD) Central Coordination Service
You can contact the Alcohol & Other Drug (AOD) Central Coordination Service yourself. You can also call the AOD Central Coordination Service if you're worried about a family member's or friend's drinking or drug taking.
To contact the service, call (03) 338‑4437 or email.
The service can provide brief intervention, self-help information, support and education. It has links to all AOD treatment providers in Christchurch and will help you make contact with the treatment provider who can best meet your needs.
He Waka Tapu
This kaupapa service provides a range of services and support for Māori and their whānau. It particularly focuses on alcohol and drug treatment and support using a kaupapa Māori model. It can provide individual support to allow a person to completely stop their drug or alcohol use. Phone (03) 373-8150 or 0800-439-252.
Medications
Medication for alcohol or drug addiction or abuse isn't always needed.
For some addictions, the best method is to stop suddenly (go cold turkey). For other addictions, the best method is to gradually decrease the dose of the drug over weeks or months. This slow reduction usually avoids the worst withdrawal effects. But it involves very close support from a doctor.
If you're very heavily addicted, you might need medication to help get through the initial stages of withdrawal. You might also need medication if you get very bad withdrawal symptoms.
Common medications to help treat alcohol and drug addiction are:
For withdrawal
- Benzodiazepines. These are minor tranquillisers. You're usually prescribed these in the short term (days or weeks) to help with alcohol withdrawal. They reduce the cravings and physical symptoms of withdrawal.
You usually take these in decreasing doses and are monitored closely by your GP or detox nurse. You shouldn't take them for more than two weeks otherwise they lose their effectiveness. You shouldn't drive or operate heavy machinery if you're taking benzodiazepines.
- You might need anti-nausea medications if you're withdrawing from some drugs. These include cannabis and synthetic drugs. You might also need medications like hyoscine butylbromide (buscopan) or loperamide to help with stomach cramps or diarrhoea.
- Pain relief like paracetamol can help with muscle aches or headaches.
- Mild sedatives might help with agitation, sleeplessness or irritability.
Opioid substitution treatment (OST)
- Many people with very heavy opioid addictions might not be able to stop opioids entirely. This is especially likely if they're injecting opioids.
For these people, it's better to switch to a less harmful form of opioid. This means they can live a more normal life and begin to fix some of their problems. The less harmful opioids are suboxone and methadone. They're only available legally from doctors who prescribe for the OST programme.
Doctors supervise OST very carefully, and often reduce it gradually over time.
For alcohol abuse
- Disulfiram (Antabuse). You can take this if you've decided you don't want to drink, but struggle to resist the cravings. It's only effective if you keep taking it. If you drink alcohol while taking this medication, you'll feel very unwell and won't get the pleasant effects of alcohol. This medication works better if you're having addiction therapy at the same time.
- Naltrexone. This medication reduces your desire for alcohol. To be prescribed this, you must be enrolled and attending an alcohol treatment programme.
- Vitamins and minerals. When people drink alcohol heavily, they often lose their appetite for food. If this happens, they often don't get enough nutrients in their diet. A lack of these nutrients can cause severe damage to their organs. If you're a heavy drinker, you're likely to need supplements like thiamine, folic acid, B vitamins and multivitamins.
You can find out more about the particular medicines you're taking in Medications for mental health issues.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Alcohol.org.nz – Making a change
Information about how to cut down on your drinking.
- The Level
- Managing withdrawal
Ways to get through withdrawal from drug use.
- Treatment options
Options for getting help to change your drug use.
- Managing withdrawal
- Matua Raḵi (National Addiction Workforce Development) – Managing your own withdrawal
A practical guide designed to help people plan and manage a withdrawal from alcohol or drugs.
- NHS – Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
An explanation of what cognitive behavioural therapy is, when it's used and how it works. It includes a video. Addiction treatment providers may offer this type of therapy.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed June 2020.
SourcesReview key: HIADG-47857
