yeahgr8

I wanted to start this thread to share my experience of this medication and experiences of other people i know that have taken it as it is easy to just say 'i'm not taking meds' and in my case wasted 7 years of my life sticking to this principle.

I was drinking everyday and was starting to plan how to end my life when i decided to try one very last time to get some help. After finding an English speaking Counseller in Spain I booked an appointment. She referred me to the psychiatrict and he prescribed me 3 drugs:

1. Seroxat (Paxil) as i had taken a text and was chronic on most areas, anxiety, depression etc.
2. Antabuse to provide a barrier to having that first drink
3. A med used to detox and for anxiety (highly addictive, I did not take this one)

Back to antabuse. I have been sober for just over 10 weeks now from drinking everyday. I still have my job and it has been commented on how much my work has changed and it is quite obvious that i was nearing the point where they were losing all patience with me and still live in a wonderful house in Spain.

Without the antabuse i would have found this time more difficult as it provides a reason, a good one, for me not to drink at that given time. The drug lasts up to 48 hours in your system so as soon as you have a craving there is a thought process which would be that I want a drink but i can't have a drink right now otherwise the effects of the drug would make me ill. It is possible to stop taking the drug and then go out and get drunk in 48 hours but the craving is for the moment and not something that i think about logically, so it works.

I take one tablet every morning which is easy for me as i was always an afternoon drinker. Maybe if you are used to having your first drink at 9am this would be more difficult, but that was never my pattern of drinking.

There are no known side effects to the drug and it is completely non-addictive, you can stop taking the drug at anytime and have no withdrawl syptoms whatsoever. These are all facts!

I am still taking my anti-depressents and have another appointment with my psychiatrist on the 15th to discuss how long to take them etc. I am also seeing my counseller once a week.

Now I can't say which part of the recovery is working, but i sure as hell am not going to start experimenting to find out. There is no way i would have been able to stop for 10 weeks+ by myself, i wasted a lot of years trying!

Antabuse is a useful tool in the battle against alcoholism and one which should be given some thought. You should go to a counseller, IMO, rather than a doctor who will refer you to a psychiatrist who will then make sure, as much as he/she can, that you are not going to take the drug and then try and down a half bottle of scotch which could potentially kill you!

I have posted this before but my friend was on antabuse, he downed a can of large beer and we found him on the floor sweating, covered in red blotches and he had pood himself. We called the ambulance and the paramedics, after finding out what he had done and the meds he was on, told him to drink lots of water and not to drink whilst on antabuse (they obviously did the usual tests whilst they were there too!). The point is that if you take a swig of alcohol it will cause a very unpleasant side effect which is the whole point of the deterrant, it will not kill you unless you are trying to do yourself harm and down a half bottle of spirits before the effects of the meds make you ill.

I was given anti-depressants 7 years ago which i did not take, and have talked about antabuse for the last few years. Now it was my time to waste and i don't regret it, all i am doing is pointing out to anyone that stumbles across this post on a search for antabuse is that it does work, it won't kill you and it could mean the difference between getting sober now or coming back, even worse off, and getting sober in a couple/several years.

Obviously the drug helps you stay sober and does not tackle the disease of alcoholism which you will need to address as well through AA, counselling, SR...whatever you find works for you. But as my psychiatrist told me...we can help you but only if you do not drink anymore, if you keep drinking we can't help you...quite clear i thought!

Point...I am taking antabuse and it does work!

Please see Disulfiram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more information

Good luck on your journey:-)

Pinkcuda

I will confirm your statement. Antabuse does work as long as you're disciplined enough to take it every day. Easy enough to do.
I was court ordered to take antabuse a couple times which I think is unconstitutional as hell. That's another issue.
I would experiment to see how much I could drink and get away with it. Sometimes it wasn't that much. The reaction is violent to say the least.
Keep taking it as scheduled if it's working where self will wouldn't.
Eventually it won't be necessary.

Toomutch

I have a couple of different stories of how antibuse affects people. When I took antibuse several years ago, by choice, it made me sick, I couldn't even go near products containing alcohol. I remember putting on hair spray and getting hive type things all over me - I was very sensitive to it.

My sister took antibuse and she was still able to drink on it, and to boot found ways to pass he UA's.

tobefree4me

I took antibuse as well and agree with pinkcuda. It will help keep one sober if they are disciplined enough to take it as prescribed. I wasn't disciplined enough and would wait for a few days or forget to take it and drink. I had side effects while taking it and not drinking, including not eating anything that is pickled (vinegar) etc. but broke out on my face anyway. Maybe I'm full of fermentation water! LOL but, I do think it can be VERY helpful for those with more willpower than me. Great information yeahgr8. Thanks for posting it.

Taking5

yeahgr8,

How many MG are you taking a day, just curious.

yeahgr8

Yeha good question, i am supposed to take 500mg antabuse a day which is 2 pills but have only been taking 250mg since xmas. I hate being sick so the thought of that makes sure i don't drink whilst i am taking them! I am 6ft 2 and 100kg so thats why they said i would need to take 2 a day!

Anti-depressent 20mg a day, one pill every morning. No side effects at all so guess I am lucky, but there are some real horror stories about paxil withdrawl but considering i was seriously planning to end things it's all gold!

Taking5

A few more questions:

What about foods cooked in alcohol would this set off the reaction and make you very sick?

Same question on foods with trace amounts of alcohol such as orange juice or apple cider?

Or a non alcoholic beer which has trace amounts of alcohol?

Or using - not drinking - mouthwash (my brand is 21% alcohol)?

Any issues for you on any of the above?

yeahgr8

What about foods cooked in alcohol would this set off the reaction and make you very sick? Haven't tried this one actually? Being an alchie i would not be happy having a white wine or red wine based sauce so unless it was given to me without my knowledge, i can't imagine the situation where this would happen as i am a fussy eater. Good point!

Same question on foods with trace amounts of alcohol such as orange juice or apple cider?
Nah all good on this front! Im not sure about vinegar though as i don't like it anyway!

Or a non alcoholic beer which has trace amounts of alcohol?
Dunno. Wouldn't even cross my mind to do this, went through this a couple of years ago when i promised myself to drink this kind of beer, i lasted 2 bottles before i got a good old fashioned pint.

Or using - not drinking - mouthwash (my brand is 21% alcohol)?
My mouthwash is fine, I use it twice a day, off the shelf standard stuff like yours.

Oh yes i use loads of aftershave a day too.

Apparently you can get a microchip put into the top of your upper back which lasts 6 months, saves taking the pills, i guess one day i won't need the meds...who knows...i couldn't give two hoots if i have to take them for the rest of my life...it's all gold compared to how i was 11 weeks ago!

Anodyne

I used to want antabuse. Until I asked every clinic in town and none of them were allowed by their insurance providers to write scripts for it.

A lot of alcholics have depression to one degree or another. I had it before I got hooked on the sauce, and I know that, on occasion, it gets much much worse when I have drank. I have spent more than a few nights in mental PC at the county jail because I wanted to off myself when really wasted, and if you somehow get to that point, and have antabuse on hand...if you were not taking it regularly, which often is a precursor to relapse, and then in a drunken self-rage, you take one while very trashed, there is absolutely nothing they can do for you, you are going to die.

yeahgr8

Thats a good point and I totally agree, i had to go to the psychiatrist and have a couple of sessions with him before they gave it to me to make sure i was ok to take it. It was quite funny i was in Gibraltar at xmas and i was frightened of running out of antabuse and anti depressants, i went to the local docs and he said i am happy to give you a prescription for anti depressants, as many as you want, but i cannot give you a prescription for antabuse unless i have a note from your docs, to cover his ass like you said!

It has helped me and is helping me a lot and you roll the dice and take your chances i think, i was at rock bottom and i couldn't stop by myself i had nothing to lose and still don't.

As for offing myself i would be just as likely to take an od of antabuse as i would to get one of the sharp knives from the kichen drawer and run it across my throat, sounds extreme but you will have to take my work that is true! If you going to do it do it peroperly is my view on that one, for me...this is not a tutorial on how to kill yourself;-)

I just wanted some thread that if you searched for antabuse and found some ****** up opinion on how meds are bad that the person searching does not go off, write it off for them and waste a few more years of their lives trying to resolve issues themselves when really that is quite impossible in my opinion, whether it be counselling and meds or AA:-)

At the end of this week it will be 11 weeks sober for me which is a miracle!

Taking5

Well my Dr flat out would not prescribe antabuse for me. No psychological screening, just "no". He said if I drink on it I could die, which is true.

I may check this out with another Dr. I have been in AA 4 years but I have had 5 relapses. One relapse was 4 days and another was a single day, but then again one of them was 8 months! The longest I have been sober is 14 months.

I think antabuse might make an effective "insurance policy" for me against future relapses.

yeahgr8

You are doing so well anyway and i bet you do not want any relapses! I am still very early in my sobriety and i tried so long to stop, almost everyday i would wake up and promise myself not to drink and by 4pm i would be drinking, i need it as a barrier to take away the option!

I have had so few cravings it is crazy and people post about the struggle of that night and the store being open to get booze etc and that is what i was like before i started on the meds and counselling. I don't know which part has given me the freedom to be able to start again but i'm convinced that the antabuse helps!

I need to get my fat ass down AA this year too as i believe that it is a really good route to go and I want to do it:-) i just needed those weeks if you see what i mean, a little bit of time sober from drinking everyday, to get back just a tiny bit of self esteem back to be able to walk into an AA meeting and/or keep coming back to a site like this!

If i could bottle the result i would not be selling it, i would even pay for the postage and packing:-)

Thib

I great thread, I wish someone had told me about Antabuse 10 yrs ago.
Dgillz - If you're really interested in Antabuse, a second opinion would be a good idea. I've asked, and recieved, to have an Antabuse prescription twice with no problems. Once in college from a stundent health Dr. and finally again about a couple of weeks ago from my regular Dr. After my brief stint of sobriety in college, I quit taking the pills and kept drinking for 8 years now. I'm now on day 8, still have a long way to go, and Antabuse has really helped.
The only side-effect I've experienced is that I seem to smell particularly upleseant when I sweat. The drug is really nothing more than sulphur, which may explain the smell or maybe it just reacts wierd to my body chemistry. In any case, my wife will just have to put up with it for a while because the only thing that seems to keep me sane right now is going to the gym and scaring up some endorphans.

Thib

I should say that my intent was not to portray Anatabuse as a cure for alcoholism. It is a helpful tool, but I've used it many times over the years and I've yet to make 30 days. A typical scenario for me would be to take my pills for a few days and then not take it one morning for one reason or another. The next morning I realize that I haven't had a pill in 48 hours. I might not plan to drink that day but inevitably I'll have a beer that night, just to see if I can. The next day I drink a six-pack. I'll get a little splotchy, a little uncomfortable, but not sick. A day or two later the drug is out of my system and I'm getting hammered every night thinking, I'll take a pill tommorrow.
Antabuse is not a miracle drug, and it isn't for everybody. I've never been suicidal, and I've never drank on a day that I took my pill. A doctor's consultation is a must.

nocoincidence56

Do whatever you have to do. Use what is at your disposal. The longer you are free from drinking, the greater your chances of finding the freedom from craving and obsession. Do whatever, hang upside down and count your toes, JUST DON'T DRINK!!!

alicecollage

Thanks for all of the info on antabuse. I really want to take it and my doctor flat out would not prescribe it for me either. I'm trying to order it off the internet so if anyone has done so successfully I'd appreciate the advice.

hopingtohope

yes, I've taken Antabuse before and drank on it as well....or "forgot" to take it for a couple of days. I even resorted to asking a friend at work to watch me take it, which worked for a couple weeks until I started cheeking them cause I wanted to drink. It didn't totally ruin our friendship, but she has no trust in me at all now, rightfully. She told me I am a good liar, not something I am proud of.

I am trying to get sober again now, was working on day 4 and ended up drinking. I have a prescription for Antabuse, but hadn't gotten it filled cause I went out of town for the holiday weekend. I am going to fill it now, and hopefully can be honest with myself and just take the stuff.

dawgrit

Watch out for that mouthwash I relapsed after swallowing some, consumed a lot of it since. It's an intoxicating alcohol with added poison. As far as Antabuse, I'm on it for five months now. What a great little mirracle helper it has been for me. If one goes on it, watch for side effects. And get an enzyme test from doctor after a few months. It works differently for diffferent people and it builds up and works stronger as time (taking it) goes by. Some people react to trace amounts i.e., cooked in foods and toiletry products. Some do not. I tested my hair product on the soft part of my arm and was fine so I use it. Somebody gave me a marsala sauce. I recooked it and watched it boil. I was fine. I was also fine with apple cider vinegar. Thats as far as I would test. And what was fine for me may not be for others and may not be for me in time. DO NOT USE MOUTHWASH WITH ALCOHOL IN IT!!!! One weak moment and a swallow, and I ended up running to the oral care Isle instead of the liquor store before I knew what happened.

Dee74

Welcome to SR Dawgrit.

D

wpainterw

All I can do or should do is to speak of my own experience with antabuse. When I used it it kept me from drinking but eventually I would stop taking it and say to myself "I'm O.K. now. Maybe I can now have a little glass of wine. Just one of course." And I'd do that and sooner or later it was back on the old slippery slope. So with me, antabuse was strictly a stopgap measure. In a sense it harmed me by giving me an unjustified sense of having dealt with the problem when all I was doing was treating it symptomatically. Eventually things caught up with me when I stopped taking it. I guess that one might term it a chemically induced dry drunk. But, provided you don't drink when taking it and provided that you don't kid yourself to believe that getting sober is easy without the hard work of some kind of program, hopefully assisted by other alcoholics (I also had to learn that I could not rely exclusively on 1-1 counselling) then who am I to say that you shouldn't take antabuse if your physician recommends it. All I can say is that my physician recommended it but that I had to learn that antabuse alone would not keep me sober for the long run.

W.