Alcure vs. Sunnyside – Which One Is Better?Photo from Unsplash

 

Do You Need to Control Your Alcohol Use?

Alcohol has been part of humankind’s fabric for centuries, and for a good reason. It tastes good. It makes us feel good (at least when we start drinking). It’s a driving force in the economy of many cities and countries worldwide. Yet too much of a good thing turns into a bad thing. Alcohol is a drug, and overuse can lead to addiction, health challenges, and even death. Today, millions of Americans struggle with excess drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcohol use disorder (AUD), which has brought a need for strategies for control.

Services like Alcure and Sunnyside offer support and services to help reduce or even stop alcohol use altogether. There’s no doubt that these platforms continue to save countless lives, but which one is better? Here’s a deep dive into Alcure vs. Sunnyside for excess drinking or AUD, so you can determine which one is best for you.

 

What Are the Benefits of On-demand and Virtual Treatment for Alcohol Abuse?

Alcohol treatment programs can involve having someone attend weekly in-person meetings, group sessions, or speak with counselors. There are also inpatient and outpatient centers that seek to help the patient detox and rehabilitate before returning to society.

The addiction community has realized that alcohol use disorder happens on a spectrum ranging from mild, moderate, to severe. Some people simply need guidance or to be mindful of their drinking habits. Others require more intervention in the form of medical assistance to get their drinking under control but do not necessarily need to be admitted to an addiction clinic.

Coupled with the fast-paced, technological world we live in, there is now a demand for treatment that leverages technology while understanding the nuance of alcohol use. Both Alcure and Sunnyside seek to provide the support that mirrors these changes. Using the technology already available, participants get help when and how they need it. They can also receive high-quality assistance at a fraction of the cost of addiction centers or other conventional treatment options.

What is Alcure?

Alcure is an at-home program to help people reduce their alcohol use or quit altogether using the Sinclair Method (TSM).

At its core, the Sinclair Method (TSM) helps you restore control over the impulse to drink by attacking that impulse at the physiological level. It takes into account the nuances of brain chemistry driving excess drinking. TSM, initially conceived by Dr. John D. Sinclair, calls for using naltrexone, a safe, FDA approved medication, as-needed, meaning the medication is taken 1-2 hours before drinking and is avoided at all other times. That contrasts with taking naltrexone daily, regardless of a client’s unique drinking pattern.

Naltrexone disrupts the neurochemicals that signal the brain to drink more. By using naltrexone at the moment rather than disrupting these neurochemicals constantly, the client targets the disruption much more effectively and will begin to experience extinction of alcohol use disorder. Over time, and when the naltrexone is used as instructed, the cravings or strong desire for alcohol decrease since the brain and body no longer associate alcohol with those signaling neurochemicals, as they’ve been blocked with each previous drinking session.

Alcure is a telehealth platform and is entirely online and virtualized. It assigns a medical provider to you that will conduct an initial video chat assessment, and then guide you through the Sinclair Method process and assist in making adjustments to the medication dosing protocol, and assist with any other related medical issues that may arise during the process.

Clients have unlimited video chat and email access to their assigned provider and develop a positive, personalized rapport with their provider, while at the same time receiving coaching and guidance on the method from Alcure’s video tutorials and courses. Alcure developed a unique platform that weaves into the Sinclair Method wellness living strategies, so that clients can gradually reduce their drinking and develop new, healthy behaviors at the same time that replace the old behaviors associated with drinking.

By going through the entire Alcure program, clients level up and redesign their lifestyle as they journey away from their cluster of drinking behaviors and habits. Alcure also offers 1:1 virtual coaching at the client’s request. By combining naltrexone with self-guided video tutorials and courses, and on-demand 1:1 coaching, all in a virtualized environment accessible entirely from home, Alcure covers all bases and you are more likely to keep alcohol use well under control and keep relapse away.

What Should You Expect When You Try Alcure?

Once you click the link to get started, Alcure provides a questionnaire to better understand the potential client’s drinking pattern along with some basic health information. The next step involves a video chat assessment with a licensed medical professional. Alcure boasts a core team of medical providers that specialize in Sinclair Method treatment and as part of the program your Alcure medical provider will e-prescribe naltrexone to your local pharmacy at the lowest price available, which is typically less than $25.00 for a 30-day supply. Refills are also dispensed as often as needed.

Once onboarded to the platform, Alcure also offers as part of its Essential Sinclair Method Toolkit its core set of video tutorials and modules that guide the client through the Sinclair Method naltrexone dosing protocol. Clients also have unlimited email and video chat with their Alcure provider while on the platform to optimize the method unique to each client’s particular situation. Alcure starts at $97 per month, with a recommended 4-month minimum. However, the individual can cancel at any time.

Alcure also has two add-on, self-guided video modules to better understand and control alcohol use as an extension of its Essential Sinclair Method Toolkit. In Alcure’s Module Two set of videos, the “upregulation” phase of using naltrexone, where the brain’s endorphin receptors reset into a temporary hyper-sensitive state as naltrexone is eliminated from the body, is explored and clients are taught how to harness the boost in endorphin activity during upregulation to jumpstart healthier lifestyle habits.

In Alcure’s Module Three set of videos, they take head-on secondary causes of excess drinking by exploring the seven domains of life where many people face challenges inducing stress, and then introduce wellness living strategies to teach clients how to optimize approaches within each domain to reduce or eliminate their challenges. Combined, Alcure’s program offers a complete solution to cut back or quit drinking and take on a new, healthier lifestyle.

Alcure also maintains long term relationships with clients even when they conclude the Sinclair Method by offering a maintenance stage use of its platform, where clients can reconnect with their provider for one-time, occasional visits to receive naltrexone refills and have check-ins over their success, and any new issues on the horizon. At the maintenance stage, the client will have already changed their relationship with alcohol to healthy intake levels requiring only occasional naltrexone use coinciding with occasional drinking.

What Is Sunnyside?

Like Alcure, Sunnyside is a subscription-based service for people facing challenges in their relationship with alcohol. Sunnyside combines habit-based tracking with strategies based on psychology to help participants practice mindful drinking.

Sunnyside does not seek to discourage you from drinking. Instead, it wants you to be more intentional with every drink you take. This approach should help you consume less and build healthy habits without feeling pressured to quit.

Sunnyside uses text messages and emails to provide updates and track your alcohol use to a suggested baseline. Like other habit-adjustment systems, it gives multiple reminders so you can keep your goals on top of your mind. They also provide professional support upon request.

 

What Should You Expect Using Sunnyside?

Sunnyside’s content and message are all about balance. However, the goal of the service is to help you cut back on drinking. Upon signup, you go through a detailed online quiz that covers factors like current drinking habits, health, goals, and several others. This information gives the service a usable baseline. From there, you are provided with a recommended number of drinks and days you should not drink weekly. You’ll then decide if you want to subscribe to the service. Sunnyside starts at $79 for the year or $9 per month. Of course, you can cancel at any time.

The entire interaction happens over text and email. Sunnyside will first help you set an intention for the week, sending the suggested number of drinks and “dry days” each week. Then at the start of the day, you receive a text reminder of the day’s target. Another message will come in at the end of the day to confirm what you drank.

You reply with a number or alcohol-related emoji. Then, every week, Sunnyside sends a summary of your progress. The summary includes the number of calories avoided or money saved by drinking less. This info can motivate the user to keep going and establish mindful drinking as a lifestyle.

Sunnyside also provides helpful information to understand the psychology behind drinking and has coaches to answer questions via text. This service states it does not treat alcohol use disorder, though many people experiencing excess drinking issues are properly diagnosed as having some level of alcohol use disorder, whether it be mild, moderate or severe.

Which One Is Better? The Answer May Surprise You.

Both Alcure and Sunnyside aim to help clients develop a better relationship with alcohol and level up their lifestyle. Sunnyside, though, falls into the category of the more traditional solution for combatting excess drinking, which is to draw upon personal willpower alone.

In contrast, Alcure employs the targeted use of a safe, FDA approved medication to substantially help the process of mindful drinking along. Alcure recognizes that willpower-based methods, no matter how they are structured, labeled or framed, do nothing to control excess drinking at the physiological level. Alcure recognizes that excess drinking is rooted in alterations in brain chemistry brought about from alcohol use itself, and accordingly addresses that issue head-on with naltrexone, providing a superb advantage over willpower-only methods.

If you are experiencing an excess drinking issue, there’s value in using both Alcure and Sunnyside.

With the Sinclair Method, Alcure can help limit drinking by blocking the reinforcing effects of alcohol caused by the neurochemicals released each time we sip alcohol. That’s where the targeted dosing of naltrexone comes into play. While Alcure provides all the tools you need to reduce drinking and change your lifestyle for the better, habit-adjustment apps like Sunnyside can provide a fantastic compliment to your journey of learning mindful drinking and strengthening healthier behaviors. At Alcure, we embrace all evidence-based and science backed strategies to control drinking and help clients improve their relationship with alcohol, and Sunnyside packages a nice suite of useful content and interactive features into one inexpensive app that can work side-by-side with Alcure’s robust drink reduction program.

There are several benefits to getting alcohol use under control. You are healthier, have better relationships, gain more confidence, and save money. With services like Alcure and Sunnyside, you can get help easily and virtually, without the hassle of in-person meetings or medical encounters. Both are discreet and avoid putting any pressure on participants to quit. Instead, the focus is mindful drinking and drink reduction, while at the same time improving alternative, healthy behaviors.

Sign up for Alcure here, then add Sunnyside to supplement your journey to establishing a healthier relationship with alcohol.

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