Experiences with Antabuse
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2024
Posts: 1
Experiences with Antabuse
Hi there - I'm struggling to get sober and drinking a bottle of wine per night. I've tried AA, anti-craving medication, self-help books and recovery centres.
Nothing sticks and I find myself 'sleepwalking' to the shop once again.
I'm seriously considering Antabuse as the ultimate deterrant. I feel as though I operate best when the consequences of not playing by the rules are dire. I have very little self discipline when it comes to booze after 14 years daily drinking.
Has anyone else tried it? Can you be around other people who are drinking like bars and concerts? Or do even the fumes set of a violent reaction? Would you recommend it? Any shated experiences would be most welcome.
Many Thanks.
Nothing sticks and I find myself 'sleepwalking' to the shop once again.
I'm seriously considering Antabuse as the ultimate deterrant. I feel as though I operate best when the consequences of not playing by the rules are dire. I have very little self discipline when it comes to booze after 14 years daily drinking.
Has anyone else tried it? Can you be around other people who are drinking like bars and concerts? Or do even the fumes set of a violent reaction? Would you recommend it? Any shated experiences would be most welcome.
Many Thanks.
Community Greeter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 51,632
Welcome to SR, GetMeSober - it's great to see you here.
I have not used antabuse, but hopefully others will share their experience.
I drank daily for many years - always insisting if I used enough willpower I could manage it. That never happened. I wasted so much time, & put myself in danger, imagining I could somehow be a social drinker.
When I found SR, I realized I was no longer alone. Everyone in my life could drink socially - so no one else understood what I was going through. The people here were supportive & not judgmental. Plus, there is humor - it's not a grim place - which was a relief to me. I felt my anxiety lessen greatly, the longer I was here with people I could relate to. I hope you'll feel the same. Be proud of yourself for realizing you need to take action. You can get free.
I have not used antabuse, but hopefully others will share their experience.
I drank daily for many years - always insisting if I used enough willpower I could manage it. That never happened. I wasted so much time, & put myself in danger, imagining I could somehow be a social drinker.
When I found SR, I realized I was no longer alone. Everyone in my life could drink socially - so no one else understood what I was going through. The people here were supportive & not judgmental. Plus, there is humor - it's not a grim place - which was a relief to me. I felt my anxiety lessen greatly, the longer I was here with people I could relate to. I hope you'll feel the same. Be proud of yourself for realizing you need to take action. You can get free.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Alabama
Posts: 1,289
I took it, drank, and got sick from it. I could only stomach like 2 beers on it. If I decided to drink, I just would plan not to take it. I do think there is a shot/injection however that lasts a month. That might work.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 4,825
I took it for year, I drank while taking it once or twice. Not pleasant. Generally I would rack up 3+ months, then go off it and drink.
I think it was good for me sobriety wise. Unfortunately psychosis is a rare side effect of it and eh... those 3/4 months at a time of sobriety were not fun because I was a complete psychotic mess half the time, and it took a long time to connect my psychosis to the antabuse.
I'd take it again were it not for the psychosis side effect. In order to relapse, you'd have to stop taking it for several days in advance, At least I did on 400mg/day. So you couldn't impulsively not take it one day and immediately drink.
I think it was good for me sobriety wise. Unfortunately psychosis is a rare side effect of it and eh... those 3/4 months at a time of sobriety were not fun because I was a complete psychotic mess half the time, and it took a long time to connect my psychosis to the antabuse.
I'd take it again were it not for the psychosis side effect. In order to relapse, you'd have to stop taking it for several days in advance, At least I did on 400mg/day. So you couldn't impulsively not take it one day and immediately drink.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 923
Hi GetMe,
I have a (terrible) experience of Antabuse to share. I thought it would solve the problem of me drinking because (as you probably know), if you drink on it (drug name is disulfuram) you feel very, very poorly and included in that is vomiting. I have an ‘almost-phobia’ of throwing up. I know no one likes spewing, but I really, really, REALLY am irrationally bothered by it. Apart from a couple of times in my much younger years (age 15 ish) I have never been sick from drinking, despite drinking enough to kill an ox…. SO! You’d think I wouldn’t DARE drink on Antabuse. Well I did.
My inner ‘loophole lawyer booze expert’ managed to negotiate via experimental methods that I could just about get away with 5-6ish days after the last tablet and still be able to drink without getting ‘too ill’…
The problem was that the whole situation was a mess. It was being coordinated by me, for starters. So that was the first nail in the coffin. I started off with the purest intentions, but before long I became my own enabler again, trying to beat myself at my own recovery attempt (?!)
Then you have to take into consideration that your body is really suffering from the toxins of alcohol that it cannot process, due to the Antabuse. So everything becomes much nastier and takes more of a toll. This progresses quite quickly. You can’t leave as little time between tablets and drinking, the ill symptoms get worse, you get more ill from less drink, you take longer to recover, you do more damage, etc etc. You get the idea.
To summarise: I was very lucky I didn’t die! I was projctile vomiting, consciousness was in and out, my stomach pains were agony, I was sweating, banging headache, felt really hot and my partner said I kept stopping breathing in my sleep and he was petrified I was going to choke on my own spew in my sleep. That must have been nice for him to be worrying about all night!
Now, I will add that I wasn’t following a doctors guidance - but if I HAD been under a doctors care, the result would have been exactly the same, because I was trying to fix my addiction from the wrong end.
I think the idea is that you’re supposed to take Antabuse AND have therapy/counselling/a structured plan, under the care of a professional. But ultimately, you are still in control. I did read somewhere that 98% of people try drinking on it at some point.
Just don’t do what I did with it, for goodness sake. I was an unhinged idiot. I thought I was helping myself. I wasn’t.
Fast forward to today, I am 4 and a half months sober (not using meds this time!) and I have never felt better in my entire life.
I think some people could/have succeeded with disulfuram, but I think it depends on you as an individual and also the extent of the surrounding support you have. Also, please be aware of how dangerous it is if you do something stupid with it like I did.
Let me know how you get on! Sending hugs xxx
I have a (terrible) experience of Antabuse to share. I thought it would solve the problem of me drinking because (as you probably know), if you drink on it (drug name is disulfuram) you feel very, very poorly and included in that is vomiting. I have an ‘almost-phobia’ of throwing up. I know no one likes spewing, but I really, really, REALLY am irrationally bothered by it. Apart from a couple of times in my much younger years (age 15 ish) I have never been sick from drinking, despite drinking enough to kill an ox…. SO! You’d think I wouldn’t DARE drink on Antabuse. Well I did.
My inner ‘loophole lawyer booze expert’ managed to negotiate via experimental methods that I could just about get away with 5-6ish days after the last tablet and still be able to drink without getting ‘too ill’…
The problem was that the whole situation was a mess. It was being coordinated by me, for starters. So that was the first nail in the coffin. I started off with the purest intentions, but before long I became my own enabler again, trying to beat myself at my own recovery attempt (?!)
Then you have to take into consideration that your body is really suffering from the toxins of alcohol that it cannot process, due to the Antabuse. So everything becomes much nastier and takes more of a toll. This progresses quite quickly. You can’t leave as little time between tablets and drinking, the ill symptoms get worse, you get more ill from less drink, you take longer to recover, you do more damage, etc etc. You get the idea.
To summarise: I was very lucky I didn’t die! I was projctile vomiting, consciousness was in and out, my stomach pains were agony, I was sweating, banging headache, felt really hot and my partner said I kept stopping breathing in my sleep and he was petrified I was going to choke on my own spew in my sleep. That must have been nice for him to be worrying about all night!
Now, I will add that I wasn’t following a doctors guidance - but if I HAD been under a doctors care, the result would have been exactly the same, because I was trying to fix my addiction from the wrong end.
I think the idea is that you’re supposed to take Antabuse AND have therapy/counselling/a structured plan, under the care of a professional. But ultimately, you are still in control. I did read somewhere that 98% of people try drinking on it at some point.
Just don’t do what I did with it, for goodness sake. I was an unhinged idiot. I thought I was helping myself. I wasn’t.
Fast forward to today, I am 4 and a half months sober (not using meds this time!) and I have never felt better in my entire life.
I think some people could/have succeeded with disulfuram, but I think it depends on you as an individual and also the extent of the surrounding support you have. Also, please be aware of how dangerous it is if you do something stupid with it like I did.
Let me know how you get on! Sending hugs xxx
Member
Join Date: Nov 2023
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 923
Originally Posted by Hevyn 
The people here were supportive & not judgmental. Plus, there is humor - it's not a grim place - which was a relief to me. I felt my anxiety lessen greatly, the longer I was here with people I could relate to. I hope you'll feel the same. Be proud of yourself for realizing you need to take action. You can get free.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,564
Hi and welcome GetMeSober
I have no antabuse exerience to share, but I did want to echo Hevyn in saying this is a great community to be a part of.
I credit SR with helping me get sober and stay that way.
I hope you'll stick around
D
I have no antabuse exerience to share, but I did want to echo Hevyn in saying this is a great community to be a part of.
I credit SR with helping me get sober and stay that way.
I hope you'll stick around
D
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,572
I haven't used antabuse either. I would just caution you that antabuse might be a tool that would help you, but sooner or later you will have to find the motivation to stay sober. There is no magic bullet.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 244
Hello,
I give a lot of credit for my first 6 months of sobriety to Antabuse. I asked for it specifically as I had (therapy has helped make it mostly past-tense) a lifelong phobia of vomiting. (Emetophobia) That being said, I was also in an outpatient program and addressing my mental health issues.
We are all different. What will work for one may not work for another. The one thing that helps us all is support, and developing a program that works for us. I'd highly recommend AA, SMART recovery, recovery dharma, not sure on your gender identity but Women in Recovery, etc.
Medication Assisted Treatment can be a wonderful tool in our tool box, but one tool is rarely enough.
To answer your question, I never had any reaction to being around alcohol (and continued to use my colognes which had some alcohol in them). I did switch to an alcohol free mouthwash and alcohol free deodorant just to be safe.
The support I got here was also an important part of my early recovery, so stick around and read/post!
Donnylutz :-)
I give a lot of credit for my first 6 months of sobriety to Antabuse. I asked for it specifically as I had (therapy has helped make it mostly past-tense) a lifelong phobia of vomiting. (Emetophobia) That being said, I was also in an outpatient program and addressing my mental health issues.
We are all different. What will work for one may not work for another. The one thing that helps us all is support, and developing a program that works for us. I'd highly recommend AA, SMART recovery, recovery dharma, not sure on your gender identity but Women in Recovery, etc.
Medication Assisted Treatment can be a wonderful tool in our tool box, but one tool is rarely enough.
To answer your question, I never had any reaction to being around alcohol (and continued to use my colognes which had some alcohol in them). I did switch to an alcohol free mouthwash and alcohol free deodorant just to be safe.
The support I got here was also an important part of my early recovery, so stick around and read/post!
Donnylutz :-)
Member
Join Date: Sep 2023
Posts: 530
Hi and welcome. I agree with Anna, I have never used it but taken correctly as a tool it may be helpful but like Anna said you will still eventually need a longer term plan. Taking a drug is possibly like painting over the cracks. SR is a fabulous group for help and advice, not to mention inspiration. Have you thought about reading others journeys, picking up bits that might be appealing to you and forming a long term plan to get sober without medication. Sometimes we've been drinking for so long we have no idea how to stop. Knowledge is key here, no your enemy and learn how to defeat it yourself. Your long-term sobriety will be greatly increased if you focus on you. Just an option but reading KneePads post would definitely put me off and it would be shelved to last resort.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 987
I used it for about a month as an "insurance". I was a binge drinker. Most mornings I would wake up DONE. Not drinking again. Then end of day rolled around and I was buying a bottle and going to start quitting the next day, or Monday or the next month. This helped me to ensure that it didnt happen. I did try to drink on it and it was a sickness that I'd not known before. It was awful. With Antabuse, I couldn't not take it for a day or even 2 days and drink. Whereas before I could drink a whole bottle, with this, it was a few sips made me sick. If anything it allowed me "time" to stack some days up to get a foothold.
Looking back, I see that with this drug I was poisoning myself. But I know that I was doing that anyway with a bottle of vodka a day or more. It's not a drug to mess with, but for me it was a tool.
Looking back, I see that with this drug I was poisoning myself. But I know that I was doing that anyway with a bottle of vodka a day or more. It's not a drug to mess with, but for me it was a tool.
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