RestedB1tchFace

Hi Everyone,

New poster here. I've been dealing with an alcohol problem for years now. It started in high school, it accelerated in college, and now I'm five years out still fighting it. I'm 28, btw.

Fortunately it hasn't cost me my job......which I really like. It hasn't cost me my car or my house either.......yet.

I've gone through a six month outpatient program with Hazelden which helped for a little while.....but the 12 step program never worked for me. And that's part of their system. It's another reason why AA meetings were nothing more than temporary band-aids. The higher power stuff never resonated with me.

So I'm currently working with a SMART recovery program, which is way more up my alley. I've also been taking a cocktail of medications. Sertraline: I've been taking for over a year for my anxiety. It's helped. Baclofin: for about one year. Definitely decreased my desire to drink. But my behavioral compulsion stomped on it a bit. Started taking naltrexone as well. It didn't help at all.

Enter......antabuse. I just started it. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it. I took 500 mg yesterday morning....and another 500 this morning. I still had the compulsion to go to the liquor store late this afternoon. I figured that a bad experience would be the thing to keep me from drinking. It didn't. Nine hours after taking the dose today, I was able to drink about half a liter (and probably could drink more) with nothing but a slight lightheaded feeling, and a not that bothersome itching feeling in my hands.

I assume that this is because I've only begun taking it? It hasn't been completely absorbed into my system? That can be the only assumption. Because it sounds like EVERYONE gets sick if they drink on this medication.

Let me know if you have any similar experiences. I am going to keep taking my pills.....but I still think that I need that sick experience for the antabuse to be truly effective.

Thanks everyone. And I hope your recovery is/has been better than mine.

ScottFromWI

Welcome to SR. I'd strongly suggest seeing the doctor that prescribed your Antabuse, we can't give medical advice here. What you suggest is atypical so please ask your doc.

Obladi

My experience - it took several days for the antabuse to kick in. Keep with it.

lastchance77

Give it 7 days. Don’t drink though, trust me

Gottalife

Same here. I took it for my first three months as part of going to any lengths. The other lengths I went to included some meetings and the first nine steps in that time. At the end of that, the antabuse was redundant. No longer required, never drank again. Many of the cocktail of medications you are trying were not available back then and neither was Smart.

I think the lack of options tended to focus my efforts. I gave the one method everything, and it worked. In fact I have never seen anyone fail who did what I did - all the program without reservation. Any reservations and it wont work, like anything else.

PeacefulWater12

I have heard from follow members of my home group that it takes a while to bed in.

Whilst Antabuse is a very handy tool, it is vital to work a program of your choice to change your thinking patterns. Or you will drink again.

One of my group drank on Antabuse, ended up in ER and nearly lost her life. I would caution great care.

I feel checking in with your doctor would be a very wise thing to do.

Forward12

Deliberately trying to make yourself violently ill and wind up in the hospital I highly doubt will do anything, not to mention is extremely dangerous.
You can use the medication as a deterrent not to drink, but you have to have the will and desire to be sober more than anything to truly find the path out of hell.

August252015

My experience was almost just like Mike's (Gottalife). And I echo what Forward said about the desire to make yourself sick is part of the addiction talking, not something anyone should do.

The first time I "took" Antabuse I played aorund with it, drank on it, skipped doses....it does take a bit to get "into" your system or leave it. Taking it as prescribed is critical.

There's a lot to unpack in your post. Medicines are just one tool to use in a recovery program. I won't elaborate here on my gratitude for AA and the life a recovery plan based on it; if you would like to PM and discuss things like the idea of an HP, happy to do it.

Bottom line, a program of action, whether that's SMART or AA or perhaps "just SR" like some people can attest to keeping them sober, is critical. Antabuse isn't meant to address cravings; even drugs like Campral that are remain just part of a recovery program not solutions.

Best to you for getting and staying sober.

RestedB1tchFace

Thank you for the feedback. I'm planning to continue the antabuse. Maybe making myself sick off of it was a stupid plan. I've just drank so heavily over the past few years.....that I'm not sure what to do. Drinking small amounts to see the effects of antabuse might be what I need.

MindfulMan

I definitely echo the “talk to your doctor” advice.

The HP jazz didn’t resonate with me either except in early sobriety. What did work was just taking alcohol completely off the table, declaring myself as a non drinker or user, and doing a cognitive based outpatient followed by individual psychodynamic therapy.

I am a strong proponent of just one sobriety treatment modality. It’s called whatever works for you. I tried everything that I could and held on to what worked.

If drugs are part of your sobriety toolkit, if it works, do it,

bradly22

I used to take 500mg tablets on a daily basis. The doctor did want me to take a double dose for the first week in order for it to build up in my system. After that first week, it may be a good idea to never drink again. I've heard some horror stories from what could happen after just a single drink.

The good news is that it saved my life. It kept me off the booze for nearly a year. I still have the medical alert bracelet as a reminder.

ScottFromWI

I’d recommend once again speaking with your doctor. Would you need to keep sticking your hand in a fire until you finally burn yourself to know that you shouldn’t stick your hand in a fire? Think about it.

GotTheBlues

Again, as Scott says, we can't give medical advice, but drinking on a medication specifically prescribed to make you violently ill if you drink doesn't sound like a good idea to me at all. Speak to your doctor if in doubt.

Antabuse worked for me to the limited extent that it took drinking off the table during the first six months. It was very liberating to drive past the beer store on the way home and simply not be able to drink. It gave me breathing space to gain some perspective. And time and perspective, I think, are the biggest factors in any recovery program.

I echo the idea that Antabuse is not a solution by itself. When I stopped taking it, it became a struggle to stay sober again. A few false starts and now I am confident enough to be sober without it. It really does show you that you simply don't need to drink.

I congratulate you on tackling this problem at a relatively young age. Don't do what so many of us here have done and put it off. If you tell yourself, "I'll quit later," you may never.

As a final point: you may find that your SSRI works much, much better with some sober time (both for anxiety and depression). That was my experience, in any case.

KissMyTiara

I have taken antabuse. I took it for a month at 500mg before I "tested the waters". It does take awhile to get into your system. I will tell you I thought I was going to die. I have never been so sick in my life. And you CAN actually die.

MariahGayle

You can not only get sick from drinking while you take Antabuse.....tjere Are far worse side effects from drinking while on Antabuse....please read up on that or ask your Doctor.

Stayingsassy

I took antabuse for years off and on, and never at any point during my antabuse use had I actually Quit Drinking.

I played games with it, tried to moderate my use with it, and the times I waited the two weeks for it to clear, I deeply resented it, because it kept me from the one thing I loved.

You have to quit. You have to break up with it for good like a bad lover you want out of your life. If you're still hooking up, even months later, you are still in it.

I'm no longer in love with alcohol, it abused and beat me up one too many times.

This addiction is too powerful to throw some drugs at it and hope they stick.

My theory is we have to brainwash ourselves. AA and smart recovery and lifering and sober recovery are all different forms of it. We have to give ourselves the same message every day, day in and day out, and when thoughts of loving the alcohol creep in you bash the thoughts quickly before they snowball. because alcohol addiction takes over your brain, it controls your thoughts and your wishes (all neural paths will always lead to alcohol) early sobriety is a lot of work, there is one big new belief system that has to be put in place. To save your life, you have to learn a completely different way of thinking. all your thinking must support sobriety. If you think about it, all your former thinking led to drinking. Those neural pathways have to change. That is an enormous amount of focus and commitment.

Antabuse accomplishes none of this. If you want to save your life, make a commitment to change for good.

uncle holmes

I remember back in my relapse days I used antabuse to help me stay sober for periods of time. One time I hadn't drank for 3 years and used antabuse as one of my main deterrents not to drink.

But I became miserable in sobriety. I quit going to AA meetings and quit working any program. And I fell into a dry drunk. Within months I was calling up different treatment centers asking how long do you have to quit taking antabuse before you can drink. Some said 10 days. Some said 7 days. Some said 5 days.

By that time I had quit taking antabuse but I had forgotten how long I quit taken it!!! I was so miserable in sobriety and on such a dry drunk I was willing to roll the dice!!! I went to the party store, bought a quart of beer, drove back to my apartment, poured the beer in a glass, and said, "Here goes."!!!

To my relief I wasn't getting sick and was enjoying the buzz that the alcohol gave me!!! I then screamed, "Ah!!! Three years of hell is finally gone!!!" I ended up getting drunk and went on several binges over the years.

After going in my third treatment center, part of my recovery program plan was to start on antabuse again. But this time I made sure that I was going to go back to AA, work the steps, and practice the relapse prevention plan that I had learned in that treatment center.

Miraculously, I stayed sober and received my one year token at an AA meeting!!! But this time it was different!!! I was sober but not on a dry drunk!!! I appreciated sobriety and considered it a gift!!! I quit taking antabuse after getting that one year token. But the desire to drink was no longer there!!!

I now have 26 years of continuous sobriety!!!

Moral of the story: Some people think antabuse is a crutch. I think antabuse can be a productive tool to help stop drinking. Even if it helps give you periods of sobriety, it's still better than not having any sobriety at all if you're an alcoholic!!!

But from my experience it must also be accompanied by a strong recovery plan to avoid relapse!!!

Dropsie

You have some great advice here.

I too am proud of you that you are nipping ths in the bud so early.

Wish I had.

JeffreyAK

I tried antabuse at one point, and I had a similar attitude - "I need to test the limits and see if this stuff really works" - so I drank on it. It didn't make me hurl or send me to the ER, it made my head pound for a few minutes but I was able to continue drinking. At that point I quit taking it because I decided I "didn't need it", which in hindsight just meant I didn't want to be bothered by something that came between me and my drinking.

I think antabuse has a place as a part of an overall approach to quitting, but many people view it as a magic pill, and it's really not. It won't do anything for a compulsion to go to the liquor store, all it will do is punish you if you drink alcohol. And if you really want to drink anyways, you'll find a way and you might eventually wind up in the ER, so at best it's an extra layer of protection for someone who has already decided to quit drinking.

biminiblue

...and we are good at punishing ourselves. I think there is lot of self-sabatoge in alcoholism. A lot of woe-is-me and a lot of, "I can't," thinking - about everything in life.

We are most happy (or at least comfortable) when we are miserable. It's our security blankie.

It's a really really bad thought-habit.

I hope you find your way, RBF.