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AS a cardiologist, was familiar with hospitals, but not being detained in a psychiatric ward. Being committed to a New York hospital after yet another drinking binge was one of the many low points in his seven-year struggle with alcoholism. The End of My Addiction is the fascinating tale of how he found his own cure through a bout of pharmacological trial and error.

Standard drug treatments for alcoholism and endless AA meetings hadn’t helped Ameisen. He lost his job and his girlfriend, and in his forties had to move back home with his mother in France. Then he heard of a medicine called , long-used safely as a muscle relaxant, which animal research and a few anecdotal reports from cocaine users suggested reduced drug cravings. While in France, he began self-prescribing and found that at the standard dose his cravings for alcohol lessened. Desperate for a complete cure, he upped his dose beyond the medical recommendation and found his cravings eliminated. He has been sober for five years.

One person’s experience isn’t, of course, proof of a cure. For that you would need large randomised trials, though the results of one small 12-week trial were promising ().

But this engaging account does give interesting insights into the toll this disease can take and shows how, at least in this case, it was possible to fight back. It also explores the science behind baclofen’s possible mechanism of action, and why it may be useful against other addictions.