I have found NAC to be a kind oof wonder supplement.
I am sure my medical notes say that I’m an alcoholic, but i beg to differ, as by the link it suggests that
" Criteria put forth by the American Psychiatric Association (2000) for diagnosing drug addiction require at least three of the following symptoms associated with drug use:
1)tolerance;
2)withdrawal;
3)a loss of control over drug intake;
4)unsuccessful attempts to reduce intake;
5)a significant amount of time spent acquiring, using,
6)or recovering from the substance;
7)reduced interest in social or work activities;
8)and continued use despite awareness of adverse physical and psychological consequences"
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/40326/InTech-N_acetylcysteine_as_a_treatment_for_addiction.pdf
I didn’t exactly meet these criteria, but I was drinking regularly 30 units a week, which equates to 10 cans of beer and a bottle of wine with 2 clean days for quite awhile.
I decided to give up beer 3 weeks ago and see if i met of the above criteria. I swapped the beer for tea and an increase in NAC to 1200mg a day from 600mg.
It has been easy to do, and i did it because I didn’t want to be one of those people whose life revolved around alcohol. I still drink one bottle of wine a week, which is 10 units and I look forward to it as though it were a special time, rather than it being a norm. I have no problem stopping and limiting how much i drink when I do.
To be honest, alcohol isn’t my drug of choice, weed is, and even though I haven’t smoked cannabis for 16 years I still miss that drug like crazy, that is until i started taking NAC. My craving for it has lessened dramatically.
NAC also helps me when I meditate as a bonus, helping me to relax.
NAC is said to lessen cocaine addiction, and decrease nicotine intake by 25% voluntarily in some other reports.
“Marijuana dependence
N-acetylcysteine supplementation in young, dependant-marijuana smokers has been shown to help reduce use, plus lower “cravings for a hit”10. Marijuana “cravings” were measured using four constructs: emotionality (the anticipation of using marijuana to negate bad mood or withdrawal), compulsivity (inability to resist using marijuana), purposefulness (planning and intending to use marijuana), and expectancy (anticipating positive results from using marijuana).”
“Nicotine Addiction
N-acetylcysteine may help people struggling with nicotine addiction. As well as regulating glutamate to lower cravings, NAC may also provide a beneficial antioxidant role. Initial research suggests that NAC may help to decrease the number of cigarettes an individual smokes; however more comprehensive studies are necessary9. Another small-scale study has found that NAC may help to minimise DNA damage as a result of cigarette smoke11.”
From the link:http://aminoacidstudies.org/n-acetylcysteine-nac/#Marijuana_dependence
NAC is supposed to help with sz as well and with the addiction benefits I highly recommend it.
Has it helpd you with addiction at all?
