Prometa Drug Treatments
are they effective for addiction?

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Ask A Healer Holistic Wellbeing Series

Prometa for Drug Addictions...
Does it work for meth addiction?

by Ask a Healer

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Update 2012: I found reference to a report on medscape . com but was unable to reference that article without registering with the website. However, the title of that article suggests that prometa may be no more affective than a placebo, at least for meth addiction. Here's the search result on google for "is prometa still used?"

"PROMETA Protocol: Not Effective for Meth Dependence? Still, they write that "under the conditions of this study," the PROMETA protocol was no more effective for treating their participants' meth use or craving than placebo."

Update, 2011: I did find a website questioning the safety of prometa for drug addiction treatment. The California Society of Addiction Medicine, or CSAM, reporting on a study which found Prometa to be ineffective as a drug treatment for methamphetamine addiction. In the study, Prometa was found to be no more effective than a placebo against meth withdrawal and detox symptoms. The 2011 article wasn't the first time CSAM has cast doubt on the off-label use of flumazenil, gabapentin and hydroxyxine. They voiced concern in 2006 because it appeared there was not sufficient efficacy or safety information to warrant the approval of marketing these drugs as Prometa, for drug addiction therapy.

Quite a while back, I happened to catch an interview Scott Peleg did with Terren Pfizer, about the new prescription drug treatment called Prometa that his publically traded company, Hythiam Corp, was promoting as a treatment for meth addiction? I perk up my ears whenever I hear that anything at all might help meth addicts because I know, from people in my community who have gotten addicted, just how very hard it is to stop meth once you start. Because meth hypes a person's whole system up to the point that they may not eat or sleep for days, the come down is terrible. Thank God we didn't have meth when I was a teenager. Other dangerous drugs were not near as available for my generation as meth is for this one. A young person might encounter it anywhere. They may think they'll try it, like they might try smoking pot or having alcohol, thinking they can walk away from it as easy as some dof rom those.

However, meth is often instantly addictive for most people who try it, very powerfully addictive. I watched someone I love lose about 10 pounds in 5 days and have seen good people go from vibrant and happy to totally devastated in a matter of months, from methamphetamine addiction.

Part of the reason meth is so dangerous is that it tends to get lumped in with other recreational drugs like pot, which many can take or leave. The vast majority of users cannot just "take or leave" meth. One time and most people are hooked, and hooked hard. It isn't at all like experimenting with alcohol or cigarettes or pot. It hooks almost instantly.

Prometa isn't one drug but actually a combination of three drugs that are already FDA approved for other things, but not used for drug addiction. The drugs are flumazenil, babapentin and hydroxyxine hydrochloride. Pfizer believes that the three combined, and used as an addiction treatment in the form of injected infusions and pills, can stop the relentless craving an addict has for meth.

I always wonder about this because drugs decimate the body and the immune system and cause an over-acid ph that can also hurt the body. Since a lot of prescription drugs may be hard on liver or kidneys, and a drug addict may already have weak livers or kidneys, I wonder how safe it is to inject all three of these drugs together?

Safety simply wasn't covered and since Pfizer is not seeking FDA approval for Prometa, it may never be covered unless there's a problem down the road.

Pfizer is making a LOT of money with Prometa so what are his motives, truly? And it offends me to my core that these treatments can cost as much as $15,000.00 a month. What drug addict has money like that? I wanted to hear what Scott had to say on Prometa, which is a Greek work that means "positive change" and I had some definite concerns after watching the broadcast.

Mental Health Disclaimer: None of the information posted in the Wellness Library, whether by me or guest writers, is represented as any type of replacement for any needed mental health or medical evaluation, testing or treatment a person may need.