Medication in Recovery: What’s available, how it works, and how to decide

Many people know that medication can get you through withdrawal safely. Far fewer know there are medicines for what comes after - the cravings, the pull of the same Friday night, the sense that your brain hasn't quite caught up with the decision you've made. These medicines have been around for decades and are well studied. Yet only around one in twenty people with alcohol use disorder is ever prescribed one.

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Medication isn't right or necessary for everyone, and it's never the whole answer - it works best alongside the support you're already getting. But it is a choice you should be able to make with the full picture in front of you. This hour is about giving you that picture.

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Join Colin Fearns, Prescribing Pharmacist with Clean Slate Clinic UK, and Dr Chris Davis, Addiction Medicine Specialist and GP, CMO and Co-founder of Clean Slate Clinic, for a plain-English walk through the medicines used in recovery: what each one does, who it tends to suit, what to expect, and what to do if you have a lapse while taking one.

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They'll also give an honest account of the newer options you may have read about - including semaglutide (Ozempic) - and of what medication can and can't do for stimulant and cannabis use, where the evidence is much thinner.

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This session is general education, not individual medical advice. Please don’t start, stop or change any medication without speaking to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

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Watch the recording to:

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✅ Understand the three different jobs medication can do in recovery: easing withdrawal safely, protecting your brain, and reducing cravings or helping you stay stopped.

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✅ Know the main medicines for cravings and staying stopped - naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram - how each works, who it tends to suit, and what it's usually like.

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✅ Hear what the evidence does and doesn't yet say about semaglutide (Ozempic)

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✅ Hear about medication for stimulant and cannabis use

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Speakers:

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Colin Fearns| Clean Slate Clinic

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Colin Fearns is a pharmacist, independent prescriber and accredited transformational life coach with over two decades of experience in addiction and mental health. Having worked across community, inpatient and prison settings, Colin brings a rare combination of clinical depth and coaching practice to his work - helping people recognise the hidden stories shaping their lives, and finding a way through them.

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Dr Chris Davis | Clean Slate Clinic

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Dr Chris Davis is a GP, Addiction Medicine Specialist, and the co-founder & Medical Director of Clean Slate Clinic. With over 10 years of experience, he’s passionate about breaking down stigma, speaking openly about the things people often hide, and making support feel human - not clinical.