lovesymphony

I'm going to see if I can get antabuse this week. Anyone else taken that or other medication for alcoholism and what has been your experience?

And did it cost much? I'm always broke with no insurance.

I've only gotten two cravings to drink these last few weeks so I'm very happy to see how sober time really helps them diminish. Eight months ago I was getting them many times a day, starting in the morning.
Well I don't want anymore urges AT ALL, or risks of a slip, or worrying about it anymore . I'm so tired of dealing with alcoholism. When I think back these past two years at my miserable struggle and depths of hell I reached, I regret I didn't get medication long ago.

PS. My last post was quite negative about my mom. I had PMS and was just dwelling on all her faults. She's a neat person with a lot of positive attributes and not nearly as bad as I made her sound. Anyone will sound awful if you point out just their flaws lol.

PurpleKnight

I haven't personally used it but there are a few around that have!!

todd6138

its expensive as crap even though its been around a while. No real cost effective anti craving drug out there. I've asked for them all

sugarbear1

naltrexone, camperal, and sometimes wellbutrin help with cravings.

antabuse works if you keep taking it

EverySngleNight

I took naltrexone for the 1st 6 mos. I think it helped a little with cravings. But, I think I could've done it without it too.

scintillady

I'm on antabuse. It's been 43 days and it's been a godsend. Best thing I ever did, but there's no way I could afford it if I didn't have insurance. I pay a $10.00 copay, but the retail price of it is $232.50 a month, and that is the generic, diulfiram. I was amazed, because it's such an old drug, and usually the longer the drug has been on the market, the lower the price. Maybe because not very many people still take it. It's not for cravings. I still get craving while on it, but I know without a doubt that no matter how bad the cravings get, I cannot drink unless I want to possibly risk my life, and that's definitely not worth it. If you do take it, make sure you inform yourself about all of the side effects that can happen if you drink while taking it. (I have had no side effects, since I have not had any alcohol while taking it, so it could be a placebo for all I know) Make sure that you are taking it voluntarily and that you commit to stop taking it 14 days ahead of time if you do decide you are going to drink. This is the best thing about it, in my opinion. It takes all the spur of the moment urges away, and by the time you commit to planning 14 days ahead of time, the urge will probably be gone. I took naltrexone for awhile. It's supposed to reduce cravings but I didn't find that it worked very well, and the fact that you can still drink while taking it made it a waste of money in my case. It was more of a mental than physical craving I had anyway, and a pill didn't reduce that at all.

Taking5

IF you take it, be very careful. Alcohol in mouthwash, hair tonic or hair spray, or common foods like vanilla can set it off and you'll be sick as hell in minutes.

NightsWatch

I tried camperal and I'm on wellbutrin, and they don't help with cravings at all. At least for me.

I considered antabuse before I got sick (flus and colds) at the end of last year, which served the same function because drinking alcohol while sick made me feel even more sick and crappy, so I stopped drinking during that period (2 months). Being forced to be away from alcohol for 2 months has done a lot to move me along in recovery. I assume antabuse would help in the same way; when you physically find alcohol disgusting, it helps you not drink it again. Ideally, you also start associating alcohol with feeling gross, so that helps with the cravings a bit.

I do want to say that I don't know if it's realistic to get rid of the cravings 100% forever. You hear about people who stay off alcohol for years, and one day they pick it up again and spiral downwards pretty quick and hard. I think this is something we have to be aware of that can happen to us because our brains are forever changed by what we did to it. We can teach it to make healthier decisions, but the neural pathways that associate alcohol with pleasure is already set. I read something recently that said our brains can't unlearn something, and you can only lay new habits on top of old ones. That's why once you learn how to ride a bike, you'll be able to do it again, no matter how many years have passed. So the bright side of this is that if we've had any success at all in our lives overcoming bad habits, whatever they were (not related to alcohol), or you've persisted through adversity, then you know you have the capability to do it again.

jutam

works for me. stops the "will I or wont I" argument in my head. It does make me tired though.

Brian316

Ive been taking it court ordered for about 6 weeks. A little tired mild short headaches once in a while. Otherwise fine although I personally wouldn't take it if i didnt have to. I had already committed to live sober several months before i started taking it. It will only produce life threatening physical symptoms for you if you try to drink on it i am told. I recommend a recovery program to help your thinking so you dont have to spend money on drugs to remove the drink from your life.

lovesymphony

Hmmm I'm becoming more hesitant about this. I didn't like some if the possible side effects I read about, that could come just from the drug alone. It's also gonna be hard checking the ingredients on everything all the time.
I don't think a medication that reduces cravings would help me much either since my addiction seems more mental than physical. I think I'll research more before pouncing on it. Thanks for the input, all.

RecklessEric

I've taken Antabuse.
And it has stopped me drinking.
I'm back on it as and from today.
If I take it, I cannot drink.
Seems sensible.

scintillady

I'm lucky I have had NO side effects from the antabuse. Like I said, for all I know I could be taking a placebo. Since I'm not going to drink to find out, I probably will never know. Kind of expensive placebo, if it is one, though! It does nothing for the mental cravings, but the longer I am on it I expect that they will get less frequent. I don't have to check ingredients all the time, either. I've had no trouble with vinegar based sauces, and they make a lot of alcohol free mouthwashes, which is pretty much one of the only thing that I use. Some of the astringents and face washes do too, but I haven't noticed much of a problem. It has been a godsend to me.

KAD

I took Antabuse for a month, then went off it, thinking I didn't need it anymore. Went on a miserable bender for about a month or so and am now back on it. It doesn't deal with cravings but if you make yourself take it everyday and don't want to end up sick as a dog or in the hospital, it will act as a great deterrent. I do have insurance so I have no idea what it costs without coverage. I took Naltrexone for a few days once but couldn't deal with the side effects and stopped it.

scintillady

$232.50 per month if you have no insurance.

RecklessEric

What???
Here ireIand, it's about 50 euro pm.

walkbeformakrun

It is ironic that you posted this recently. I just posted a thread looking for feedback from Antabuse users. "Strength in a bottle" I called it.

I do feel it gives me great power over the impulse to drink. I've heard it is only 48 hours till it wears off but still, 48 hours is a long time to go, on an impulse. I think if I was willing to wait 48 hours to satisfy my urge to drink it would be more than an impulse decision.

I also recognize that I am not really powerful but rather weak. If not for Antabuse I'd have slid back to drinking heavy within 24 hours of quitting. Hats off to all of you who can do this without help from this drug.

I don't have any side effects that I recognize. I read that once you get it built up in your system, you can cut the dose in half or more. So now I take half a dose every other day. I don't like taking anything I don't have to though and hope that some day I can stop taking this and still be alcohol free.

When I was trying to use it to moderate, rather than quit, I was on it and off it a lot. I used to take it for a few days, then plan to go off and try to drink moderately for a few days then back on. I did get some unpleasant feelings some times. Drank sooner that I should have and got hot, really flushed, and although I felt a bit drunk, there was no pleasant buzz or stress relief. I have no desire to do that again.

In the end I realized a few things. One is that I don't want to drink moderately, ever. If I'm going to drink I'm going to drink a lot. Moderate drinking is a wast of money to me. I also realized that when I was on and off drinking, the off times were way more miserable than I feel now. The whole time off I'd be thinking, how long till I can drink again? Now, committed to that being never, I am not nearly so miserable. I still want a drink to mask the pain or make things "fun" but knowing that is not an option, for at least 48 hours, lets me get through that with a minimum of angst.

I feel powerful and happy to have this power. Even though it comes from a pill. I do have insurance but even if not, you have to offset the cost of the pills against the cost of your habit. Mine was close to $8 a day. Some days more. So that is close to the cost of the pills at full strength. Ask your doctor but I don't think you need full strength every day after you get it built up in your system. I'm sure I don't anyway. Could be everyone is different.

Rippstein

My friend has been on Antabuse for about the past 5 months, he swears by it and he's doing well with cravings. I was on Campral a couple years back and it did absolutely nothing for me. I am on Naltrexone now and I swear by it, fortunately I have insurance that covers it or I wouldn't be able to afford it.

scintillady

At first I took 2 a day, (500mg) just to get it built up in my system, and then 250 mg a day. I'm at 49 days sober now, which is 40 or more days longer than I'd be without the antabuse, based on my prior experiences. I'm ready now to take one 250 mg pill every other day, and that should be sufficient, since I don't want to put anything more chemically in my body than necessary. I'm going on the assumption that it will take a full 14 days to clear out of my system if I should decide to drink, and that is a long time to wait, as you said, for an impulse to pass. I have never even thought of trying to drink while on it. I chose to take it, and I feel that the aggravation I went through to find a doctor to prescribe it would be a real waste if I was going to try to sabotage myself on it. I realize it is a crutch, but for now I need all the help I can get, so I'm going to avail myself of everything available to me. I feel that the time I spend alcohol free is the time I am giving my body to heal, and I commit to being alcohol free at least until the second week in September. I know I am going to make a few people upset at me for admitting this, but I have a planned week off from sobriety the second week of September. The plan is to quit taking the antabuse 14 days beforehand, go away to my nice little backwoods retreat on the lake with my dog and thoroughly enjoy myself for a week, then 48 hours after my last drink I will go right back on the antabuse for an extended period of time. I don't plan to get drunk, I plan to have a couple of glasses of wine in the afternoon and evening when I am reading by the lake or by the firepit with my dog curled up next to me. This is what I miss the most about when I used to have the wine. I have struggled with not being able to do that for the last 49 days, because it is something I enjoy so much. Believe it or not, imagining this planned "sobriety vacation" has made me crave the wine a lot less since I decided to do this. I can put up with not being able to enjoy my wine on a weekend like I used to if I know it won't be forever. I'm one of those people who knew that I was really damaging my health by drinking every day, but not ready to say NEVER again. I may change my mind after seeing how this experiment goes, I'll post and let everyone know. Unlike the previous poster, I hope to be able to enjoy a planned vacation and drink moderately during that one week. If I'm going to drink I don't necessarily want to drink a LOT. Anyway, the point of this long, rambling post, is that I have found that antabuse has been a godsend, both physically and mentally, for me, and I'd urge anyone who's on the fence about it to give it a try.

livingptsd

I used it for a year and worked well, did over 500 days sober, at start I had some chicken sauce which unknown to me had trace of white wine in it, boy I was s I'll within minutes, I'm back on it now after a month relapse and know it will give me the strength to stop again, I have never felt as Ill as after that sauce! I get it on mud in UK so thankfully aren't limited by finances!