cheryl h.

i just found this board and posted a question over at newcomers. i started on antabuse yesterday and was wondering if anyone has used this medication or what others experiences have been.

i had 8 years clean and sober, that was 6 years ago and the longest i have stayed clean/sober since then is 6 months. i have hep. C and had a bad bout of pancreatitis last dec/jan...

if i continue to drink i will undoubtedly die. so i decided to go to my family doc and ask him to put me on antabuse. if not for the pharmacist i would not have know that shampoo and conditioner has alcohol in it, along with a slew of other items...

any help would be appreciated!

cheryl h.

Music

Hi cheryl,
I've never used antabuse but I know people who have. They say it works well, but they had to be very careful to check anything that might have alcohol in it.
You might encounter some folks who don't believe in using stuff like that but I say whatever works, works. Do what you have to do for now and maybe later when you get your sober legs you won't need it.
Keep checking in here.

CarolD

look at the lable of anything you use. Interally and externally.

I did take it off and on for awhile and it took away the choice. Not the cravings tho.


Eventually when on the maintance dose...I drank a split of champage.
I became violently ill.
so...naturally...I gave up the Antabuse.

BTW...once in your system...it has an afterlife. You must wait 5/7 days for it to leave your body before you drink or you will get Zapped.

cheryl h.

carol, thank you for your reply. i understand that it is not going to help with the cravings, i am just so damned happy to have a "safety net" or sorts. i have paid alot of attention to what i put in and on my body and so far so good.

i feel a tremendous amount of relief just knowing that i physically will become ill if i drink.

was there any particular things you ate or drank or put on your hair etc. that made you ill? other than the champagne? lol!!

and were there any products that you remember using that were safe??

thanks for your time,

cheryl

CarolD

Only the champage cheryl

It was New Ywars Eve...I had taken the Antabuse at 7 am.
At midnight I toasted in the year with friends.
I did not think it would react with so much force.

sorry... my Antabuse days were over 20 years ago and I do not recall specific items. I do remember I quit using perfume...and that was a big time loss.

I still buy Wal-Marts non alcoholic cough syrup.
but now I smell good doing it!!

I have 2 friends who recently finished their Hep C series.
Hang in there..its a difficult ride emotionally.

Teamfour

I took antabuse for 60 days. Make sure you really know what is in shampoos, mouthwashes, etc. I had a body massage while taking it and the oil the therapist used had alcohol in it. Talk about a headache!

Make sure someone else administers the doses for you. You can't always rely on yourself to take it. In my case, taking antabuse and having my wife give it to me was more for her piece of mind than mine.

Good luck!

JFA_10/92

You might want to check on the effects antabuse has on yur liver. I think it is pretty severe and you dont need that if you have Hep C.

Good Luck and hang in there.

cheryl h.

thank you for your concern, i had the same concerns and researched it heavily. they did a study on patients with hep. C who took antabuse and were alcoholics. they decided that the toxicity of taking antabuse was less than the potential toxicity of drinking even one drink a day with hep. C. since i continued to drink, way more than one drink a day, it is actually better for my liver (and me) that i take the antabuse and don't drink. i printed out my findings and took it with me to my MD and we discussed it. i am really happy that i decided to take the antabuse... i am still getting used to what i eat and what i put on my bod but other than that i feel great, and sober!

cheryl h.

Captain Pugwash

You sound well-motivated in your use of Disulfiram and I think that's vital.
Years ago I agreed (reluctantly) to take it but my motivation was merely to be able to say to family and my doctor "look you can see I'm serious about wanting to stop drinking-" It cut me some slack for a while -my family relaxed for a while and my doctor continued to prescribe my benzodiazepines.
It didn't last long-I was soon able to know exactly how long after my last tab it was safe to drink and before long the antabuse began going down the sink and not my throat.
I have spoken to other alcoholics who drank whilst using it and have even heard of people continuing to drink even with an implant.
I will be 9 year's sober in September and will say that taking antabuse had at least one excellent result-I did begin to look very carefully at the labels of everything and I still do-I still refuse all things like Christmas cake,Birthday cake and all cough mixtures and won't take anything unless I am completely sure it contains no alcohol (I am a pain in the arse in restaurants)-I am still eagle-eyed to avoid anything which may contain alcohol.It is amazing how many seemingly innocuous things contain it.

cheryl h.

i appreciate your response. yes, it was my decision to take the antabuse, my family had nothing to do with it and i take it b/c i want to shut my damned head up!

i had 8 years clean in NA and six years ago decided that alcohol had never been a problem for me so i could drink, even though the program said i would not be able to successfully... well, alcohol whipped my rear end and i now have a healthy respect for it!! i have 18 days sober now thanks to the antabuse and i will continue to take it, forever probably!

peace,

cheryl

stjames100

Congrats Cheryl for such a positive attitude.....I use antabuse and while scorned at AA, recovery is the best that you can do at the time!
I agree with the posting that says antabuse lingers in your system for 7 days, my GP didn't believe me when I told him this....but it really does.
When I have been strong and convinced myself I dont need to take it......only to be followed by a knowledge that because I'm not taking it, 'its OK to take a drink'.....believe me the effects can be VERY unpleasant.
What I have only just found out tho' is that antabuse can lessen the effects of anti-deppressant drugs and also Pyscosis.
In my view 'the saftey net' well out weighs the 'cons' and well done for taking a step for yourself to aid recovery.

BrownEyes

I myself have used it. For me it was a fear thing. But being a drunk, I drank on it. It made me pass out. One minute in the chair next on the floor. Not due to the alcohol. Not a good situation if no one is around. It did not take away the craving. So for me I would not take it again. I guess it depends on the person. I think there is too much risk in it. Hope this helps.

Imgettingbetter

Hi Cheryl,
I've been taking antabuse for over a year now and like you, I love not having to make that decision every day about whether I can drink or not. It's already decided - NO ALCOHOL FOR ME! I started it while at the same time taking naltrexone for the cravings. It worked well too. Of course, I was seeing a relapse prevention counselor and getting group therapy as well, so if any of these options are available to you, it will definately help you to be successful. I tried drinking on antabuse about 15 years ago and had symptoms just like I was having a heart attack. Shows you how screwed up we alcoholics can be sometimes. More recently, I have used mouthwash with minimal effects, but since I don't swallow, it's not been a problem. It will depend on how your own body reacts, but as has been said many times in this thread, check the labels. My relapse prevention counselor said it takes 2 weeks to get it completely out of your system, but I'm not exploring that cave, so it doesn't matter to me. I'll continue to take it until I'm COMPLETELY confortable with not taking it. Even then, I'll keep it on hand to take during anniversaries and holidays like New Years! Good luck to ya hon!