MattyBoy

Okay so I'm sure there have already been tons of threads about this stuff so ill try keep it short. Basically I've been prescribed ntabuse as my GP said it would act as an effective deterrent to drinking and will help me break my 60 days/14 days on cycle... I asked her about side effects and interactions with food etc and she just said its only bad if you drink on it. I also asked her if it was something I could take occasionally as in only in days where I know I will be in a situation where I might be tempted. She didn't offer me a direct answer...

So, just a question for anyone who's taken antabuse...Where there any side effects and/or weird interactions with food or other drinks (I know fruit juices contain tiny amounts of natural alcohol and my favourite brand of ginger beer is fermented and contains up to 0.1% alcohol, so would it interact with these?) and do you think it would be something I could just take if needed or do I have to use it in a daily basis for it to work? As I said, I have asked my GP these questions but she didn't really give an answer and after researching it, it also seems to be hard on ur liver and preserving my liver health is one of the main reasons I got sober! Thanks for any advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Nevertheless

I took it for a while. Of course,I had to "test it" to make sure it worked. Just 1 beer.
I thought I was going to die (I probably almost did).
I had no interactions with food or anything.
I think you have to take it everyday.
I started drinking again about a month after I quit taking it. It didn't "kick in" but I had that taste you only get from drinking on antabuse.
It will keep you sober if you take it,but it's wicked stuff if you drink on it.
I think when it really puts the strain on your liver is when you drink on it. As long as your doctor is prescribing it,you should be fine as long as you don't drink.
I wouldn't take it long term,even if it was prescribed. But to break the habit I think it's a good tool to have.

Fred

Deluxe

I took it for 3 months. No side effects whatsoever.

Unless you drink on it. Oh good lord don't drink on it. I did and it was indescribable. Straight to the ER......

MattyBoy

Okay, thanks for the response Fred. Breaking the cycle is what I'm focusing on ATM so it would be probably be useful in the short term. I don't think il be using it as a long term treatment though.

doggonecarl

What's your plan for long-term treatment/recovery?

I just read a couple posts yesterday where both folks were taking Antabuse, then stopped taking it and drank for what I could only image was a decision to relapse. So you need to find a way to deal with the obsession to drink...long term.

exponential

I have taken Antabuse off and on. No side effects other than a little bit of upset stomach. I typically took it once or twice a week, with the knowledge that it would stay in my system for a week or two.

At first I didn't like the idea of taking Antabuse -- I thought, I have to really own this sobriety thing, and I shouldn't be held hostage by the prospect of getting violently ill. But in time, especially after multiple failures to maintain sobriety, I saw some benefits, such as:

• If you take an Antabuse pill, you know you will not drink today, and probably not for the next week, which can be reassuring.
• When you come to one of those forks in the road, where you are going to either stay on course or give into the temptation to have 'just one', the knowledge that you have taken Antabuse can nudge you in the right direction. It may help banish the relapse impulse before it even gets going.
• On a subtler level, when Antabuse is stopping you from drinking, it can help you get more insight into what your triggers for relapse are, and learn to overcome them. You need this for long-term success.
• The fact that you are taking Antabuse can give some reassurance to your significant other or whomever, that you are not going to be drinking. This is especially important if you are going to be off on your own doing something potentially dangerous like driving.

MattyBoy

You're right Carl, getting over the long term obsession to drink will be the main obstacle to maintaining sobriety after all. At the moment at 41 days in, I'm at a stage where I feel utterly repulsed by alcohol - the thought of the taste of it makes me gag and the idea of what it would do to my internal organs makes me cringe. Thing is I primarily got sober because the dr in hospital where I was detoxing told me my liver could be cirrhotic in 1-2 years if I carried on drinking and I'm only 20! However, having just got blood tests back that indicating my liver was functioning very healthily I'm a bit confused and I can see myself getting tempted to have another drink knowing my organs are in ship shape condition.. Crazy I know but I suppose the obsession that we'll drink again normally o e day is part of what makes us alcoholics.

For the long term, I have started attending AA meetings and have accepted that I can't drink again normally unlike the last times I relapsed. Also what puts me in good stead for the long term is I've actually told my family and friends the extent of the problem whereas I hadn't on previous occasions I relapsed and so had no one to talk me out of it when I felt like caving.

Anyway, off to enjoy the rest of another happy, sober day! Love and peace

suzi_Q

Hi MattyBoy
I am taking antabuse and have been for over a month. I take 100 mg a day, (half the dose) and the idea of being sick on it scares the **** out of me - it takes the choice of drinking or not away from me, and I can spend my energy on watching out for triggers and concentrating on why they are triggers. I am practicing urge surfing, and am finding that helps with cravings. Also the fact that it builds up in your system is a good thing, as it makes drinking again a very planned thing - and I don't want to plan to drink again.
That's it for me, no more hangovers, hiding alcohol etc. I am putting the money i am saving from not buying alcohol in a piggy bank - up to $400... Figured at the end of the year, I will have enough for a nice trip away
I would atleast give antabuse a try, keep going to counselling or AA, and see what happens. Good luck

Gottalife

Mattyboy, I used very much the same approach you have chosen. AA, with an antabuse back up for the first few weeks. There came a point where my work on the AA program began to bear fruit and the antabuse was no longer required. But I think in the early days, anything you can do to avoid the fatal first drink is worth doing.

deeker

I was told any alcohol whatsoever could interact negatively.

I was one of those dumb peeps who had to find out how sick do you get after drinking on it.lol

Definitley the worst sickness I have ever felt in my life, worse than any hangover. Heart pounding out of my chest.

Definitely feels like you are dying, face turns so beat red, eyes blood shot. Shortness of breath, feels like your heart is going to stop and there's not much you can do but ride it out. And that was a week after my last antabuse pill.

I mean this was the scariest feeling I ever had I was at death's door. never again.

I did detox this time and did 230 AA/NA meetings in 90 days and got my self a foundation in recovery.

Drinking was only a symptom of my problem anyways, had to go deeper to find out why and the 12 steps are helping me do that.

josi

I've tried antabuse and it's great if you keep taking it but it's so easy to stop taking it and a week or so later start drinking again. I didn't have any reactions to it but I've heard that some lotions containing alcohol will cause an adverse reaction. I'm new here and I've read quite a few posts since I joined and I haven't heard anyone talk about the vivitrol shot. I know there's not alot of providers in my area that give the vivitrol shot but thankfully there's one near me. It's a once a month shot that typically lasts around 30 days- sometimes a few days less and sometimes a few days more. You can drink while on it but it blocks the affects of alcohol so it really doesn't pay to drink. As long as I scheduled my appointments every thirty days and not cancel (which has been a problem for me) it works way better then antabuse. It's helped me to stay sober for a month at a time where nothing else worked. Right now I'm trying to stay sober without it because I know I'll have to sooner or later but it's very effective especially when you first stop drinking. (It also works for staying off of opiates).

deeker

That's wild, never heard of that before.

EndGameNYC

With vivitrol treatment, the patient is not discouraged from drinking. The idea is that the more one drinks without also enjoying the effects of alcohol, the less one craves drinking. Alcohol is the stimulus, and the pleasurable effects represent the response. Over time, the response is extinguished and, theoretically, the drinking either tapers of dramatically or stops completely.

The oral form is Naltrexone. There's a great deal of anecdotal evidence that supports this treatment.