Acamprosate
Acamprosate is the active ingredient in Campral, a delayed-release 333mg tablet used to help people who have stopped drinking stay alcohol-free, sold here in a single strength.
What acamprosate is for
Acamprosate is the medicine inside Campral. It is for people who have already stopped drinking and want to stay stopped, and it is used in alcohol dependence to help maintain abstinence alongside a wider recovery plan. It plays no part in the shakes, sweating and agitation of the first days off alcohol; treatment starts once that stage is behind you. Campral is the brand and acamprosate the ingredient, so both names turn up in searches. Anyone who knows disulfiram should note the difference: acamprosate does not make you ill if you drink. It acts on brain signalling instead.
How acamprosate works
Heavy drinking over years leaves the brain adapted to alcohol's calming effect. When the drinking stops, glutamate, an excitatory signal, runs high, and that is thought to feed the restlessness and craving of early abstinence. Acamprosate turns glutamate activity down, slowly, over the first weeks. It works as a daily background medicine, it does not sedate, and one tablet will not carry you through a bad evening.
How Campral is taken
Two 333mg tablets three times a day is the usual adult dose. Space the doses across the day and keep to the same times, because steady levels are what the medicine relies on. Swallow the tablets whole with water; food is not a factor. Take them every day, including through a slip, rather than only on the difficult days. Keep the strips in their original packaging somewhere cool and dry, since the coating is what protects each tablet.
Side effects
Diarrhoea is the most common complaint. Nausea, wind, stomach pain and itching are also reported, and some people notice anxiety, low mood or disturbed sleep. Most of this settles with time. A rash with swelling, or difficulty breathing after a dose, needs urgent treatment.
Campral on PockDose
Acamprosate is sold here as Campral, 333mg delayed-release tablets, in one strength. Medicines for quitting alcohol and smoking are together under addiction and smoking.
Sources
- Acamprosate: MedlinePlus Drug Information — MedlinePlus / U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Package leaflet: Information for the patient Acamprosate 333 mg gastro-resistant tablets — Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC)
Can I order Acamprosate online in Hong Kong?
You can order Acamprosate online with delivery to Hong Kong. The range covers generic Campral, also sold as Acamprosate tablets, in 333mg tablets. Tracked courier delivery to Hong Kong takes 5 to 9 business days and comes with online tracking.
How much do Acamprosate products cost in Hong Kong?
Prices vary between pack sizes. The product page lists its current prices in HKD or in the currency you choose.
Do I need a prescription to order Acamprosate?
PockDose does not ask you to upload a prescription when you order acamprosate. See the ordering FAQ for details.
What are the brand names for acamprosate?
Campral is a brand name of acamprosate. Here, acamprosate can be bought online as generic Campral. These are generics, not the original brand.
What is the difference between acamprosate and naltrexone?
They are two different routes to the same goal. Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors, which blunts the reward and craving that come with drinking. Acamprosate settles glutamate, the excitatory signal that stays high after quitting. They have been studied side by side and are sometimes combined.
Why is Campral a delayed-release tablet?
The enteric coating keeps the tablet intact on its way through the stomach, so the acamprosate is released further down the gut where it is absorbed. That is why the tablets are swallowed whole with water — crushing, chewing or splitting them spoils the coating and the dose is not delivered as intended.
Can I take acamprosate if my kidneys are not working well?
Acamprosate is cleared from the body by the kidneys, so kidney function decides the dose. When clearance is moderately reduced, the usual change is one 333mg tablet three times a day instead of two. With severe kidney impairment the medicine is not used.
Does acamprosate interact with other medicines?
Very few interactions are known. Acamprosate is not broken down by the liver; it passes through the body and leaves in the urine largely unchanged, so it does not compete with the medicines that the liver handles.
How long do people usually take acamprosate?
Courses are measured in months, not weeks. The tablets go on a fixed daily schedule for as long as the course runs, and the aim is to keep steady cover through the period when a return to drinking is most likely.