Becknz

Antabuse (Disulfiram) is a medication that can be used to treat Alcoholism, basically when you're on the medication and you drink you will immediately get very sick. How it works:

When you drink alcohol, your body metabolizes it into acetaldehyde, a very toxic substance that causes many of the hangover symptoms that occur after heavy drinking. Under normal circumstances, your body continues to oxidize acetaldehyde into acetic acid, which is harmless. Antabuse interferes with this metabolic process. It prevents the oxidation of acetaldehyde into acetic acid and causes a build-up of acetaldehyde that is five to 10 times greater than what would normally be present after drinking alcohol.

The high concentration of acetaldehyde that occurs when someone drinks while taking Antabuse triggers a very unpleasant reaction. The severity of the symptoms, which can range from mild to severe, depend on how much Antabuse and how much alcohol is consumed. The symptoms last as long as alcohol is in the body. If you drink alcohol while taking Antabuse, you can experience these symptoms:

Flushing, Nausea, Copious vomiting, Throbbing in the head and neck, Headache, Respiratory difficulty, Chest pain and many more.

It seems like a pretty extreme step to take, to take a medication to stop drinking but it has been the only thing that has worked for me when everything else failed. I've been taking this medication for about 3 and a half years now it's an absolute wonder drug that has given me no side effects at all aside from the slightly unpleasant taste of the drink when you dissolve the pills in water.
So for about the previous 7 or so years before that I'd binge drink usually only in the weekends I would never abuse my body by drinking everyday, one of the things that also helped me was doing my hot yoga class twice a wk during the week and I would never feel like drinking after yoga. But I would drink on average a half litre of rum sometimes up to 3/4 which is a lot for one person and I'd get killer hangovers, not to mention doing really stupid stuff while drunk. I'd wake up hungover on a saturday morning full of regret, be a depressed semi catatonic zombie all day sat but by sat night I'd have recovered only to repeat the same process all over again.
I'm not going to lie my drinking sessions could be a lot fun but they took more than they gave, I'd be depressed monday that I can't control this problem and vow to not drink at the end of the week but come friday it'd be drink time again. And so on it went for years.

So I tried everything going to AA which I absolutely cannot stand I have so many issues with that quasi christian like cult. I'd honestly rather drink myself to death than go to AA. I went to this alcohol counsellor and she was very good and emphatic but nothing changed she was the one that first mentioned the idea of medication but I shelved it thinking it too extreme that that would be reserved for winos. They offered this outpatient course but I found it too time intensive 3 times a week for 2 hours and I stopped drinking for a couple of weeks but then went back to it and ended up abandoning the course.

So desperate for something to help with this problem I thought I'd try medication as nothing else has worked, so I googled about it and 2 options came up the first was Antabuse the other was some medication that just blocks the pleasure receptors in your brain when you drink but I decided the former sounded like it'd be more effective. So I went to the doc who referred me to this community psychiatrist (which cost me nothing thank goodness with their fees) he was very informative and advised me that I would need to have regular blood tests and with a very small number of people who take it can end up with liver problems. Initially some count in my liver was higher than normal but he said that happens sometimes and after the second blood test the levels went back to normal so it was green light for antabuse.

So basically the amount of times I have drunk while on Antabuse is 0, which is a pretty good score for someone who used to drink without fail at least once a week for many years. Fear keeps me from drinking hearing about the terrible side effects how could I? And I'm not gonna kid myself that just one beer will do for me I go all out when I drink. I could be taking a placebo for all I know but the fact is this drug has worked for me when everything else failed. Also in that link it says you can't have any food with alcohol in it I've cooked meals with up to half a cup of wine and noticed no ill effect I think the cooking process does something to it but I would not risk trying to drink it.

I have fallen off the wagon a few times roughly 5 I think since I started it in 2017, where I gave up taking it because I wanted to drink again, you only need to stop taking it for one week and then you can drink fine again. But each time I stopped I went back to my old ways which reminded me in the first place why I had started Antabuse. But therein lies the problem with it, it relies on you having to take it, it won't deal with your cravings in the beginning my cravings on a friday night were intense I felt deprived without it but I'd usually just watch a film being annoyed I couldn't drink but basically what choice did I have there's no way I'm gonna subject myself to feeling instantly intensely ill.

And the next morning I'd wake up feeling like a ray of sunshine I could bounce out of bed with actual energy to do what I wanted to do in my weekends like work on my 3D art projects which I'd neglect a lot due to feeling too ill from a hangover. So it's def not for everyone I do believe Antabuse works best as part of a holistic approach where you need to find other ways to cope with your need to drink. But for me it has been a life saver, wonderful little pills I couldn't sing enough praise about.

Dee74

Hi Beck
Hi and welcome and thanks for sharing what has helped you.
Like you say Antabuse is not suitable for everyone, so I'm sure you'd agree it best to see your Doctor first.

AA is not for everyone either - but it's helped many many people too.

How long have you been sober now?

D

GentleProbe

I'm so glad I made the choice to take antabuse. It saved my life. Sadly, I got so much bad advice from the counselors while in treatment. Some of the bad advice was to not take antabuse and attend AA meetings instead. I'd still be drinking today had I listened to these "counselors".
Super thanks for posting this. More people need to learn about this great medication.

Becknz

My sister who has alcohol issues herself (she goes to AA off and on, it's her thing I respect that but it's not for me) she asked about Antabuse and her doc put her on it but only for a short period, when she asked about staying on for longer her doc told her you're not meant to take it long term. That is such BS, I'm glad my doc was very supportive of it (he agreed alcohol is bad news and doesn't even drink himself) as long as I had the regular blood tests which confirms my body is ok with it, where is the harm.

Some people seem to have such a narrow minded and dogmatic belief about treating alcoholism, it's like there's AA or the highway. But everybody is different, and a lot of people find different paths to sobriety some unorthodox. I know AA helps a lot but there is an awful lot that it doesn't. For me Antabuse is a great 'tool', if the tool does the job why on earth would you not use it?

Glad to hear GentleProbe that it's helped you, I just wanted to spread the good word about this wonderful drug and I'm not pro medication in general, I have had some really bad experiences with anti depressants in the past but these pills are the bees knees IMO.

Becknz

Hi Dee74, I've been almost entirely sober since 2017, in that I've had a few times where I came off the medication for only about a week or 2 and went back on it. I've been completely sober since June 2019 so coming up to 2 years soon.

Dee74

Congratulations

D

Becknz

Thx, hope you're well too. BTW I like your signature, I do think a lot of things in life are how you look at it, for better or worse the choice is yours. Sometimes life is about seeing things through different eyes.

Scd619x

I was on it for 6 months when i was in my 30s, it was amazing! It was like a holiday from booze.

slimjim30

I found antabuse to bee the only medical intervention that worked for my drinking. Unfortunately after about 18 months I found I could "drink through" the flush and from that point it stopped working. It's also very dangerous to do that - so I stopped and had to find another way.

Donnylutz

The world of addiction counseling is changing. Many very well intentioned people refuse to open themselves up to new options and treatments - and while Antabuse certainly isn't new, it's still a bit contentious - why I don't know. I'm studying addiction counseling now and we talk about this kind of stuff a lot. It wasn't that long ago AA was the only thing that existed to help people with SUD - as more avenues have arrived, some people have a hard time with that...... but it's changing.

I'm being taught that what works for someone works, what doesn't doesnt.....arguing about that is pointless! Counselors should meet people where they are, figure out where THEY want to go, and help them find ways to get their..... that's it. Counselors are not Dr's, and any meds being taken as prescribed aren't any of our concern. A large part of recovery is self care, and seeing your Dr regularly and following their advice is essential.

I was on antabuse the first 4 months or so of my recovery and it made those early months SO MUCH EASIER for me - as an emetophobic (fear of vomit) it completely took away my ability to drink - I was a week sober and you couldn't have paid me enough to take a drink! I still have a bottle - for the first year or so if I was having a bad craving or going to a wedding etc, I'd pop one. It worked great for me.

I'm rambling - I tend to do that lol. Just wanted to add my personal experience with Antabuse.

nez

I am glad that antabuse is meeting your needs because I truly hope anyone who is suffering from alcoholism can find a way out.

This website is about recovery...
such vitrol doesn't belong here. There was no good intended reason to include it in your post.

Dee74

this thread is over a year old.

D

finchloe121

This can be an effective deterrent because it causes very unpleasant reactions if a person drinks alcohol while drinking.

Sudz No More

Sort of like putting crusted still hot in the middle charcoal on top of a burning fire to try and smother it. But if it works for someone, I'm all for it, just not for me.