How do I get naltrexone prescribed for alcohol in the UK?

In the UK, naltrexone for drinking less is a prescription-only medicine. There are two ways to get it: through the NHS, usually via your GP and a local alcohol service, or through a private medical assessment. At LoveMyLife that assessment is an online form reviewed by a doctor, with the medicine dispensed by us and sent to you, or collected from our clinic at Westfield London.

Most people asking this are thinking of the Sinclair Method, which uses naltrexone taken about an hour before drinking to gradually weaken the pull of alcohol. You keep drinking while the medicine does its work, so there is no need to stop first. The rest of this article covers both routes, what a proper assessment involves, and who should not take naltrexone.

Naltrexone is licensed in the UK and any doctor can prescribe it. In practice, NHS prescribing for alcohol usually happens through specialist alcohol services rather than GP surgeries. NICE guidance supports oral naltrexone for relapse prevention after assisted withdrawal, which is a different model from the Sinclair Method, where you carry on drinking while taking the tablet.

That difference matters. If you ask your NHS GP for naltrexone to use while you keep drinking, many will be unfamiliar with the approach, or unable to prescribe outside local protocols. Some people do get it this way, and if cost matters more than speed it is worth asking. Your GP can also refer you to your local alcohol service, which is free.

A private prescription follows a proper assessment, wherever you go: your drinking pattern, your medical history, every medicine you take (opioid painkillers are the key check), and your liver.

At LoveMyLife you pick how much doctor contact you want, and the medicine is billed separately at the same price whichever route you choose:

• Online, no appointment. You fill in an assessment, a doctor reviews it, and if naltrexone is right for you it is £95 for that first prescription, then £49 a repeat.

• See a doctor. A consultation by phone, video or in person, £120, for when you would rather talk it through.

• The full programme. £499 for a doctor consultation, a coach alongside you for six months, and twelve months of repeats.

Naltrexone is from £89 for a pack of 28, dispensed and delivered to your door. A liver check goes with it: a recent result from any provider, an at-home kit, a free NHS test through your GP, or blood taken at our Westfield clinic, then a recheck one to three months in and occasionally after that.

Naltrexone blocks opioids. The most important rule is simple: you cannot take it with opioid painkillers such as codeine, tramadol, morphine or oxycodone, and you must not take it if you are dependent on opioids. Doing so can bring on sudden withdrawal, and it also stops opioid painkillers working in an emergency. Nalmefene works the same way, so it is no way round this.

It also needs care if you have significant liver disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have severe physical dependence on alcohol with a history of withdrawal such as seizures or shaking on stopping. None of these is necessarily a permanent no, but they are exactly what the assessment is for. If naltrexone is not right for you, the doctor will say so and explain the alternatives.

If the assessment shows naltrexone is suitable, most people have their prescription confirmed within 24 hours of submitting the form, and the medicine follows by tracked delivery or collection from our Westfield London clinic. You take your first tablet before your next drink, and the gradual work of the Sinclair Method begins from there.

The online assessment is quick. A doctor reviews it and, if naltrexone is right for you, prescribes it, dispensed and delivered to your door.

Begin your assessment →