Naltrexone for Gambling Addiction

There is a growing focus on prescribing naltrexone for gambling addiction. Naltrexone successfully treats alcohol and opioid use disorders, working on the same brain receptors that are activated when gambling.

Therefore, it can help control urges and cravings and help to reduce and possibly eliminate gambling behaviors.

Key Facts

• Learn the criteria for gambling addiction.
• Learn how medications can treat gambling addiction.
• Learn more about naltrexone, including safety and side effects.
• Learn how naltrexone can help with gambling addiction.

Understanding Gambling Disorder and Where Medication Fits

If your gambling behaviors are interfering with how you function at home, work, school or socially, you may have a gambling disorder.

Recognizing the signs and symptoms can help you determine if you are in need of professional help. 

Gambling Disorder vs. Problem Gambling

Gambling disorder and problem gambling are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), if you have four or more of the following, you have a gambling disorder:

• You are preoccupied with gambling, obsessively thinking about it and figuring out how to continue to gamble.
• You need to gamble with increasing amounts of money to feel the desired excitement. 
• You get restless or irritable when you cut back or go without gambling. 
• You have made multiple efforts to control, stop or cut back on gambling, but without success. 
• You use gambling as a way to alleviate distress or escape negative or painful emotions, like guilt, anxiety, or depression.
• After losing money, you continue gambling to get even or chase your losses.
• You lie to conceal the extent of your gambling behaviors from family, friends and others.
• You have jeopardized or lost significant relationships and opportunities at work or school due to gambling.
• You rely on financial assistance from others to help you with money problems due to gambling. 

Meeting fewer than four of the criteria for gambling disorder implies you may have problem behaviors that can lead to an addiction.

Even though you haven’t lost control to gambling, you may be experiencing some of the adverse consequences associated with too much gambling.

Why Medications Are Studied for Gambling

Gambling affects the brain’s reward system and opioid receptors in the same way as alcohol and opioids. When you win at gambling, it causes dopamine spikes in the brain, making you feel pleasure and reward. 

Even random gambling events, like near-misses, train the brain to anticipate reward. This can make cravings and urges much stronger.

For these reasons, medications can be a useful tool when treating gambling disorders. Naltrexone, for example, is an opioid antagonist that blocks the euphoric, pleasurable effects that opioid receptors release in the brain.

By blocking these effects, the cycle of anticipation, cravings, urges and impulsivity can be broken.

Naltrexone for Gambling Addiction Basics

Naltrexone is FDA-approved for alcohol and opioid use disorders. For compulsive behaviors, such as gambling disorders, it is used as an off-label prescription. It works best as one tool in a broader recovery plan, not as a stand-alone solution.

The two methods of administration for naltrexone include taking daily oral tablets or monthly extended-release injections.

Extended-release injections are given once every four weeks. This method ensures you have a consistent level of medication in your system until the next dose.

How Naltrexone May Reduce the Gambling “Rush” and Urges

Naltrexone works by blocking or dulling the brain’s reward system. When the payoff feels weaker, the brain learns that a stimulus, such as gambling, isn’t as rewarding as it used to be.

Over time, less reward results in fewer and weaker cravings. For this reason, naltrexone may help to decrease the urge to gamble and reduce cravings. 

Does Naltrexone Work for Gambling Addiction?

Few research studies have been done on naltrexone’s effectiveness in treating gambling. However, the evidence that does exist shows naltrexone can reduce cravings and, for some, stop gambling altogether.

Factors that may impact the effectiveness of naltrexone for gambling include:

• Genetics
• Biological issues
• Co-occurring conditions
• Lifestyle
• Diet
• Adherence to treatment
• Concurrent therapies

Naltrexone is not a cure for gambling addiction. It is a treatment used to support stabilization, so you can focus on changing your behaviors associated with gambling.

When combined with therapy and other treatments, it is an effective tool to support long-term recovery

Safety and Side Effects

Most people tolerate naltrexone well. Nausea, headache, dizziness and fatigue are some of the most common early side effects.

However, any liver symptoms, severe mood changes, serious injection-site reactions or opioid-related issues require prompt medical attention.

If you meet any of the following, avoid taking Naltrexone:

• Have current liver or kidney problems
• Use illegal drugs
• Take medicines with opioids, like some cough medicines
• Have bleeding disorders
• Pregnant, plan to be pregnant or are breastfeeding
• Have allergies to naltrexone or its added ingredients

Tell your doctor about any medications, prescriptions and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements you are taking before beginning naltrexone.

How Naltrexone Treatment Works

Naltrexone can be used daily or on an as-needed basis, but only under a prescriber’s supervision.

Finding the right dose and schedule will vary between individuals. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

To get the best results, pair naltrexone treatment with evidence-based therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), family therapy, support groups and relapse prevention.

These approaches are helpful because they provide you with the tools for developing healthy coping strategies, meeting others in recovery, and building support systems that keep you accountable for your finances, spending and access to gambling sources.

Naltrexone for Gambling Addiction FAQs

Find Treatment Near You

If you’re ready to get help for gambling addiction, you have options. Explore addiction recovery programs by location, treatment type, amenities, and more. You can narrow your treatment search by location, insurance, level of care and special programs.

Or, if you are not sure where to start and want to talk to someone, don’t hesitate to call 800-985-8516 ( Sponsored Helpline ) today. You can get answers and see whether your insurance will cover rehab.