21 days sober on Antabuse
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 3
21 days sober on Antabuse
Hello all.
Been sober for 21 days now. First time making it this long since I did a little over 30 days 5 years ago.
Both times around I've gotten sober with the help of Antabuse which I'm learning is somewhat uncommon in treatment circles. If you're not familiar, it's a prescription medicine taken daily that causes an immediate and rather intensely unpleasant reaction if the user consumes alcohol. I researched a lot of methods of getting sober and a "dry out pill" wouldn't be my first choice except for the fact that rehab is not an option for me currently. I have a good job that I like and I just can't afford to take that kind of time off work to go to a proper rehab and very few people I work with are even aware that I drink heavily, much less have a severe drinking problem so I don't know that they'd take me seriously if I requested the time off anyway.
The drinking was much worse this time. First go at sobriety I'd been an everyday drinker about 10 years (26-36) but was having maybe 6 beers a night on average and a couple of bar nights on the weekends with heavier drinking. I went through massive withdrawals that time around. The whole nine yards with shaking, sickness for days, bad dreams, night terrors and all.
This go around, I'd been drinking much more heavily. An average of 12-14 beers a night with heavier binges and hard liquor on weekends for about 3 years (36-39) I quit cold turkey this time around and to my surprise, the initial withdrawals were not as bad as I'd expected. Still not pleasant, but I figured with the heavier drinking it'd be exponentially worse compared to the first time I quit.
I had a prescription for the Antabuse that I'd filled months ago after getting some bad results from my annual physical so I've been thinking about it, just couldn't get the courage up to actually stop. More specifically, I just couldn't seem to get enough sober hours under my belt to feel comfortable taking the pill. I've been feeling terrible for about 6 months and some blood work showed very bad numbers all the way around but especially the liver was looking bad. It was a wake up call, but I still couldn't manage to quit. I kept trying to cut back and telling myself, "just be one of those guys who drinks a few after work". And, well, I'm guessing if you're looking at this forum to begin with you know how that ends up. I always told myself as soon as I got proof it was affecting my health I'd quit. But I went another 3 months of heavy binging after that sitting on top of the pills and thinking about taking them. Anyway, I got held over for a double shift one night and realized I'd been 18 hours without a beer so I popped the first pill as soon as I got home and haven't drank since. Been taking the Antabuse every morning. I still get cravings to drink sometimes at night so I take it first thing in the morning before I get a chance to think about it.
It's working so far. I am still having the cravings, but not as bad as any other time I've quit drinking. I think knowing that a drink is not possible is helping control the desire, but I don't intend to take this pill forever. I know this isn't a viable strategy for long term sobriety so I'm hoping to develop some way of having the willpower to stay sober without taking a "dry out" pill every. I'm hoping somewhere around the 60 day mark to start transitioning from depending on the Antabuse to staying sober on my own will power.
Since there's not much on the internet I can find about using Antabuse to get sober, I'm willing to discuss what my experiences have been like to anyone else who's going that route or thinking about it.
Also, hoping to make some connections with other people and talk about strategies and what works and maybe just have somewhere to go and discuss the long term hardships of staying sober, especially interested in talking to other people about the longer term aspects of the physical part of staying sober. I have to admit that I'm also surprised how slowly my physical health is improving after quitting. Still sleeping 10-12 hours a a day and waking up feeling like crap. My best guess is that since I was drinking far heavier this go around I did more damage to my body and probably was quite a bit malnourished to boot. All the same, I'd be reassured if other people can talk about similar experiences or offer some advice on how to feel better and feel healthier as I go along. I've been taking a lot of dietary supplements. This week added in iron, magnesium and a B vitamin as well as trying to eat healthier overall. Trying to get back into exercising but with the overall fatigue that's been a challenge. Just seem to keep hitting roadblocks to feeling better and it's admittedly a bit discouraging sometimes.
Been sober for 21 days now. First time making it this long since I did a little over 30 days 5 years ago.
Both times around I've gotten sober with the help of Antabuse which I'm learning is somewhat uncommon in treatment circles. If you're not familiar, it's a prescription medicine taken daily that causes an immediate and rather intensely unpleasant reaction if the user consumes alcohol. I researched a lot of methods of getting sober and a "dry out pill" wouldn't be my first choice except for the fact that rehab is not an option for me currently. I have a good job that I like and I just can't afford to take that kind of time off work to go to a proper rehab and very few people I work with are even aware that I drink heavily, much less have a severe drinking problem so I don't know that they'd take me seriously if I requested the time off anyway.
The drinking was much worse this time. First go at sobriety I'd been an everyday drinker about 10 years (26-36) but was having maybe 6 beers a night on average and a couple of bar nights on the weekends with heavier drinking. I went through massive withdrawals that time around. The whole nine yards with shaking, sickness for days, bad dreams, night terrors and all.
This go around, I'd been drinking much more heavily. An average of 12-14 beers a night with heavier binges and hard liquor on weekends for about 3 years (36-39) I quit cold turkey this time around and to my surprise, the initial withdrawals were not as bad as I'd expected. Still not pleasant, but I figured with the heavier drinking it'd be exponentially worse compared to the first time I quit.
I had a prescription for the Antabuse that I'd filled months ago after getting some bad results from my annual physical so I've been thinking about it, just couldn't get the courage up to actually stop. More specifically, I just couldn't seem to get enough sober hours under my belt to feel comfortable taking the pill. I've been feeling terrible for about 6 months and some blood work showed very bad numbers all the way around but especially the liver was looking bad. It was a wake up call, but I still couldn't manage to quit. I kept trying to cut back and telling myself, "just be one of those guys who drinks a few after work". And, well, I'm guessing if you're looking at this forum to begin with you know how that ends up. I always told myself as soon as I got proof it was affecting my health I'd quit. But I went another 3 months of heavy binging after that sitting on top of the pills and thinking about taking them. Anyway, I got held over for a double shift one night and realized I'd been 18 hours without a beer so I popped the first pill as soon as I got home and haven't drank since. Been taking the Antabuse every morning. I still get cravings to drink sometimes at night so I take it first thing in the morning before I get a chance to think about it.
It's working so far. I am still having the cravings, but not as bad as any other time I've quit drinking. I think knowing that a drink is not possible is helping control the desire, but I don't intend to take this pill forever. I know this isn't a viable strategy for long term sobriety so I'm hoping to develop some way of having the willpower to stay sober without taking a "dry out" pill every. I'm hoping somewhere around the 60 day mark to start transitioning from depending on the Antabuse to staying sober on my own will power.
Since there's not much on the internet I can find about using Antabuse to get sober, I'm willing to discuss what my experiences have been like to anyone else who's going that route or thinking about it.
Also, hoping to make some connections with other people and talk about strategies and what works and maybe just have somewhere to go and discuss the long term hardships of staying sober, especially interested in talking to other people about the longer term aspects of the physical part of staying sober. I have to admit that I'm also surprised how slowly my physical health is improving after quitting. Still sleeping 10-12 hours a a day and waking up feeling like crap. My best guess is that since I was drinking far heavier this go around I did more damage to my body and probably was quite a bit malnourished to boot. All the same, I'd be reassured if other people can talk about similar experiences or offer some advice on how to feel better and feel healthier as I go along. I've been taking a lot of dietary supplements. This week added in iron, magnesium and a B vitamin as well as trying to eat healthier overall. Trying to get back into exercising but with the overall fatigue that's been a challenge. Just seem to keep hitting roadblocks to feeling better and it's admittedly a bit discouraging sometimes.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 142
Hi Dylan, I'm a newbie on a here but 38 days clean and just came off ~3 weeks of antabuse use. I have a terrible, painful skin flare up as a side effect which apparently is very rare ! (Just my luck).
One thing, your hard work has got you to 21 days sober, not a pill
One thing, your hard work has got you to 21 days sober, not a pill
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 3
Thank you! The first few weeks were rough. How many days I thought about marking off on the calendar when I could start drinking again if I didn't take the pill tomorrow. One thing I like about the Antabuse is if I decide to give up and go back to drinking I've got to wait at least a week for it to wear off. That gives you plenty of time to reconsider. Luckily I haven't had any side effects on it. The last few months before I quit drinking I was going through some really noticeable and embarrassing facial redness and flare ups myself. I have noticed that although it's reduced, it's not going away as fast as I'd thought it would. Perhaps that's a side effect of the Antabuse? I dunno. I've been very glad that this time around the withdrawals weren't as bad at first. Did you go through long term fatigue? 38 days in I guess you've got at least 2 weeks on me this go around. Did you find anything helped with being tired a lot?
Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 1
Me too
Originally Posted by Dylan1979 
Hello all.
Been sober for 21 days now. First time making it this long since I did a little over 30 days 5 years ago.
Both times around I've gotten sober with the help of Antabuse which I'm learning is somewhat uncommon in treatment circles. If you're not familiar, it's a prescription medicine taken daily that causes an immediate and rather intensely unpleasant reaction if the user consumes alcohol. I researched a lot of methods of getting sober and a "dry out pill" wouldn't be my first choice except for the fact that rehab is not an option for me currently. I have a good job that I like and I just can't afford to take that kind of time off work to go to a proper rehab and very few people I work with are even aware that I drink heavily, much less have a severe drinking problem so I don't know that they'd take me seriously if I requested the time off anyway.
The drinking was much worse this time. First go at sobriety I'd been an everyday drinker about 10 years (26-36) but was having maybe 6 beers a night on average and a couple of bar nights on the weekends with heavier drinking. I went through massive withdrawals that time around. The whole nine yards with shaking, sickness for days, bad dreams, night terrors and all.
This go around, I'd been drinking much more heavily. An average of 12-14 beers a night with heavier binges and hard liquor on weekends for about 3 years (36-39) I quit cold turkey this time around and to my surprise, the initial withdrawals were not as bad as I'd expected. Still not pleasant, but I figured with the heavier drinking it'd be exponentially worse compared to the first time I quit.
I had a prescription for the Antabuse that I'd filled months ago after getting some bad results from my annual physical so I've been thinking about it, just couldn't get the courage up to actually stop. More specifically, I just couldn't seem to get enough sober hours under my belt to feel comfortable taking the pill. I've been feeling terrible for about 6 months and some blood work showed very bad numbers all the way around but especially the liver was looking bad. It was a wake up call, but I still couldn't manage to quit. I kept trying to cut back and telling myself, "just be one of those guys who drinks a few after work". And, well, I'm guessing if you're looking at this forum to begin with you know how that ends up. I always told myself as soon as I got proof it was affecting my health I'd quit. But I went another 3 months of heavy binging after that sitting on top of the pills and thinking about taking them. Anyway, I got held over for a double shift one night and realized I'd been 18 hours without a beer so I popped the first pill as soon as I got home and haven't drank since. Been taking the Antabuse every morning. I still get cravings to drink sometimes at night so I take it first thing in the morning before I get a chance to think about it.
It's working so far. I am still having the cravings, but not as bad as any other time I've quit drinking. I think knowing that a drink is not possible is helping control the desire, but I don't intend to take this pill forever. I know this isn't a viable strategy for long term sobriety so I'm hoping to develop some way of having the willpower to stay sober without taking a "dry out" pill every. I'm hoping somewhere around the 60 day mark to start transitioning from depending on the Antabuse to staying sober on my own will power.
Since there's not much on the internet I can find about using Antabuse to get sober, I'm willing to discuss what my experiences have been like to anyone else who's going that route or thinking about it.
Also, hoping to make some connections with other people and talk about strategies and what works and maybe just have somewhere to go and discuss the long term hardships of staying sober, especially interested in talking to other people about the longer term aspects of the physical part of staying sober. I have to admit that I'm also surprised how slowly my physical health is improving after quitting. Still sleeping 10-12 hours a a day and waking up feeling like crap. My best guess is that since I was drinking far heavier this go around I did more damage to my body and probably was quite a bit malnourished to boot. All the same, I'd be reassured if other people can talk about similar experiences or offer some advice on how to feel better and feel healthier as I go along. I've been taking a lot of dietary supplements. This week added in iron, magnesium and a B vitamin as well as trying to eat healthier overall. Trying to get back into exercising but with the overall fatigue that's been a challenge. Just seem to keep hitting roadblocks to feeling better and it's admittedly a bit discouraging sometimes.
Been sober for 21 days now. First time making it this long since I did a little over 30 days 5 years ago.
Both times around I've gotten sober with the help of Antabuse which I'm learning is somewhat uncommon in treatment circles. If you're not familiar, it's a prescription medicine taken daily that causes an immediate and rather intensely unpleasant reaction if the user consumes alcohol. I researched a lot of methods of getting sober and a "dry out pill" wouldn't be my first choice except for the fact that rehab is not an option for me currently. I have a good job that I like and I just can't afford to take that kind of time off work to go to a proper rehab and very few people I work with are even aware that I drink heavily, much less have a severe drinking problem so I don't know that they'd take me seriously if I requested the time off anyway.
The drinking was much worse this time. First go at sobriety I'd been an everyday drinker about 10 years (26-36) but was having maybe 6 beers a night on average and a couple of bar nights on the weekends with heavier drinking. I went through massive withdrawals that time around. The whole nine yards with shaking, sickness for days, bad dreams, night terrors and all.
This go around, I'd been drinking much more heavily. An average of 12-14 beers a night with heavier binges and hard liquor on weekends for about 3 years (36-39) I quit cold turkey this time around and to my surprise, the initial withdrawals were not as bad as I'd expected. Still not pleasant, but I figured with the heavier drinking it'd be exponentially worse compared to the first time I quit.
I had a prescription for the Antabuse that I'd filled months ago after getting some bad results from my annual physical so I've been thinking about it, just couldn't get the courage up to actually stop. More specifically, I just couldn't seem to get enough sober hours under my belt to feel comfortable taking the pill. I've been feeling terrible for about 6 months and some blood work showed very bad numbers all the way around but especially the liver was looking bad. It was a wake up call, but I still couldn't manage to quit. I kept trying to cut back and telling myself, "just be one of those guys who drinks a few after work". And, well, I'm guessing if you're looking at this forum to begin with you know how that ends up. I always told myself as soon as I got proof it was affecting my health I'd quit. But I went another 3 months of heavy binging after that sitting on top of the pills and thinking about taking them. Anyway, I got held over for a double shift one night and realized I'd been 18 hours without a beer so I popped the first pill as soon as I got home and haven't drank since. Been taking the Antabuse every morning. I still get cravings to drink sometimes at night so I take it first thing in the morning before I get a chance to think about it.
It's working so far. I am still having the cravings, but not as bad as any other time I've quit drinking. I think knowing that a drink is not possible is helping control the desire, but I don't intend to take this pill forever. I know this isn't a viable strategy for long term sobriety so I'm hoping to develop some way of having the willpower to stay sober without taking a "dry out" pill every. I'm hoping somewhere around the 60 day mark to start transitioning from depending on the Antabuse to staying sober on my own will power.
Since there's not much on the internet I can find about using Antabuse to get sober, I'm willing to discuss what my experiences have been like to anyone else who's going that route or thinking about it.
Also, hoping to make some connections with other people and talk about strategies and what works and maybe just have somewhere to go and discuss the long term hardships of staying sober, especially interested in talking to other people about the longer term aspects of the physical part of staying sober. I have to admit that I'm also surprised how slowly my physical health is improving after quitting. Still sleeping 10-12 hours a a day and waking up feeling like crap. My best guess is that since I was drinking far heavier this go around I did more damage to my body and probably was quite a bit malnourished to boot. All the same, I'd be reassured if other people can talk about similar experiences or offer some advice on how to feel better and feel healthier as I go along. I've been taking a lot of dietary supplements. This week added in iron, magnesium and a B vitamin as well as trying to eat healthier overall. Trying to get back into exercising but with the overall fatigue that's been a challenge. Just seem to keep hitting roadblocks to feeling better and it's admittedly a bit discouraging sometimes.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 8,674
Search around here and you will find plenty of experience (and some info, like I usually comment on) on using Antabuse.
I took it successfully for the first 90 days of my sobriety, and it was ONE tool in my recovery program. It's a good choice, under a good dr's care, for some of us.
Good luck and keep going!
I took it successfully for the first 90 days of my sobriety, and it was ONE tool in my recovery program. It's a good choice, under a good dr's care, for some of us.
Good luck and keep going!
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