Targeting Stress-Induced Alcohol Relapse Risk with Doxazosin XL

 

Stress is known to play an important role in alcohol use and may increase a person’s desire to drink alcohol. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess if the medication Doxazosin XL can reduce an individual’s stress response and stress-related alcohol craving and drinking.

Eligible participants must be 21 to 40 years old and drink alcohol. As this is a research study, participants may either receive the study drug or a placebo pill. Participants will be asked to complete a baseline screen prior to initiating the study. The study duration will be 2 weeks and involve weekly visits to the research clinic. At each visit, participants will participate in a stress test that involves submerging their dominant arm in an ice-water bath for up to 2 minutes. Additionally, participants will complete a number of alcohol and stress-related questionnaires and provide biological samples which include saliva sample (measuring the stress biomarker cortisol), breath alcohol, breath carbon monoxide (a measure of recent cigarette smoking), and urine samples to assess illicit drug use.