Antibuse??

[Rich]

Please tell your experiances, or what you know about antibuse here

[Twiggy]

There was a warrior here who took antabuse and shared some good information about it. She is no longer here, but I am sure she wouldn’t mind me sharing her knowledge and experience to possibly help other warriors…


Antabuse is the brand name for Disulfarim (actually, drug companies here in the U.S. stopped making the generic form, so only the brand name is available...not sure why.) It is a fairly old drug...discovered accidentally when factory workers in a rubber plant became violently ill when they consumed alcohol. Okay here goes (bear in mind, I'm a former chemistry teacher, so I'm going to go into detail here). Alcohol is broken down by your liver into two substances, one of which is alcohol dehydrogenase. This stuff is poison to your system, and if any quantity of it builds up, you get very, very sick. Most people's bodies immediately break this stuff down when you drink. Certain cultures, notably Asian, don't break it down as well, which is why in some countries, alcohol consumption is lower. Antabuse prevents your body from breaking alcohol dehydrogenase down...so if you drink, you have this stuff in your body and it stays there. It quickly makes you very ill...small quantities can produce flushing, rapid heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, and blood pressure increase. Larger amounts can produce heart attacks, stroke, even death. In addition to avoiding alcohol, I have to also be careful not to consume wine vinegar. And, if I'm getting a shot, I have to tell the person administering it not to use alcohol wipes on my skin. Certain vapors, such as those from vulcanized rubber, and ethanol, can produce a reaction. For some really sensitive people, perfumes and hairspray can make them sick.

I know it's a drastic thing to take Antabuse, but for me, it works. It eliminates all the back and forth inner fighting...should I have one, shouldn't I? The pill makes the answer an unequivocally 'NO'. No ifs, ands or buts. It can be taken for years and years safely, as long as one doesn't consume alcohol.

Sorry this is so negative, but I feel like crap. I'm tired, achy, pissed off. I hate life today. And I can't drink because of the Antabuse I took this morning (and yesterday, and the day before that, etc.) But if I weren't on the medicine, I would DEFINITELY be drinking,

Hi guys. I am a total, miserable failure. Last week I stopped taking my antabuse, and 5 days later went out and got drunk. Then I drank 'reasonably' (2 drinks) for 2 nights, then on Monday night got totally, completely wasted. I dragged my husband along with me. I won't go into the gory details, but it was awful. I made a complete, total, jackass of myself. Yesterday we both missed work; sick, vomiting, dizzy, bloated. Today I feel horrible again. I started my antabuse again. I simply cannot survive sober without it.

And it went on from there. She is a fantastic person and has fought one hell of a battle. In regards to Antabuse: it was the one thing that kept her from drinking for sure. Whenever she stopped taking it she was planning to drink. The truth is we all plan to drink before we do. Some (or many people) here said a slip starts days or weeks prior to consumption; and when you go back and really look closely it always does.

[Neha]

Hey.

Well, I took Antabuse combined with anticraving meds to help with my quit. I'd like to say, it's NOT a drastic measure at all. In fact, it's a very easy solution to help with the quit. What Antabuse does is remove the very Thought of drinking. Since your drinking option is removed, you don't even think about drinking. It's psychological. Now the mind is free, and can work on betterment of life.

Drinking is a habit, along with being an addiction. So it can be turned around and made into a non-habit. It is simple, really. This is what Antabuse did for me. It made non-drinking a habit. It put a distance between drinking and non-drinking, till the cravings, obsession, thoughts of drinking - became a far off memory.

I popped a pill, without thinking, blindly. And there was no option available at all to drink. It was freedom. And this is where I'd like to clear the misconception that Antabuse might be a crutch - it's the opposite. It is your CHOICE to take the pill, to not drink. If you want, you can stop it at any time, to drink ! (however dumb that might sound). It is still in your hands, the decision to take the pill or not. For me, I chose to take it, and I felt freedom. I could work on so many other areas of my life, I could move on, and educate myself on alcoholism and my addiction on the Q.

I personally didn't have any reaction to perfumes or other alcohol-based substances, these depend on individuals.

Honestly, without sounding trite, it saved my life. I'd recommend it to anyone who's struggling. My quit was very easy, no cravings, no relapses... which is almost a miracle considering where I came from, an end stage alcoholic. (http://wqd.netwarriors.org/showthread.php?t=2828)

I'm off it now, and sober a long time. I don't get cravings, or drinking thoughts. Life is good.

Hope this can be of help. There are a couple of other warriors who've started taking it recently, and I've seen the difference it's made to them.

If anyone wants more information, please PM me.

[Freya]

Antabuse was actually invented in Denmark, in the 1940's. My mom was an antabuse nurse for twenty years, working at a center for alcoholics. It's unfortunately the drug of choice in Denmark for alcoholism...meaning, the government still thinks (though this is changing) that they can appease the poupulation by just sending alcoholics to "treatment" centers where antabuse gets distributed. (The antabuse, when given like this, is monitored by nurses, no cheating).

Don't get me wrong, antabuse is great....for what it is intended to do, which is make you sick when you drink while you're on antabuse. That's all it does. It acts as a deterrent to drinking.....if you get cravings, you'll have to wait for three days to be able to drink without getting VERY sick....chances are that you'll change your mind in the interim.

What it doesn't do is to change the fundamentals, the addictive personality of the alcoholic. On it, you're a drunk who can't drink. Its success rates are thus very poor, long-term.

At the treatment center where I apprenticed, we didn't use antabuse unless the patient demanded it or was already on it. It really wasn't necessary, because we were treating the addictive person as a whole. Many of the patients had been through the regular, state-sanctioned antabuse treatment, and told stories about how to cheat....one guy, a doctor, told how he used a nail file on some vitamins, to make them look like antabuse so his wife would think that they were antabuse when she saw him taking them. There's also someting (can't remember which, either a cough medicine or a headache med) that you can take that cancels out antabuse.

Because I was so determined to quit, I probably could have been successful if I had only taken antabuse after my detox. BUT I would have totally missed out on the incredible personality rebuilding that rehab gave me and continues to give me. I would have treated my desire for alcohol, but I would not have treated my underlying disease. That would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

[Neha]

What it doesn't do is to change the fundamentals, the addictive personality of the alcoholic. On it, you're a drunk who can't drink. Its success rates are thus very poor, long-term.

This is where for me, WQD came in. As an educative resource and the company of other addicts. I gain knowledge about addiction and I am learning about myself. Whilst not drinking, I had the ability to do that. This is what I meant by gaining freedom, so your mind can actually start rebuilding itself, restructuring.

As for the success rate, I don't know. But for me, it worked, very well. And like I mentioned in that story, you have to want to quit. I wanted to, and I willingly got onto Antabuse. It was a transformation. And now not even the worst "triggers" make me feel like drinking - because I formed a huge distance between drinking and not drinking. Drinking was a thing of the past. And the work on myself continues, everyday, which I am able to do because I could get out of my alcoholism.

[Rogue]

Just a FYI because a lot of folks here are also being treated for depression, or might be taking Bupropion to help smoking cessation: There are some dangerous interactions between Bupropion (Wellbutrin IR/SR/XL, Buspar, Amfebutamone) and antabuse.

[Glen_McIvor]

I am still struggling with alcohol. I really want to be free of it for good as I can see the destruction it has brought to my life. I also really don’t want to face up to all the harsh realities of life (single, poor, unemployed etc.). Most of the time I chose not to drink, but when I am tempted (having had my Antabuse) it is easier to not drink. And if I do drink it is a wast of time as I can’t get drunk. After drinking (when I come to my senses) I don’t have a hang over. Also after drinking I find I have not followed through on some of the self destructive behaviour (such as blowing all my money).

I find that I have been depressed a lot, not wanting to get out of bed and face the world. Ane since taking Antabuse I can no longer self medicate with alcohol. This basically means I have the chose to stay in bed (and stay depressed) or get out of bed and put effort into improving my life. In a sense my misery is compelling me to make positive changes in my life.

[Neha]

Good for you, Glen

It helps keep it simple. Don't drink. When we're quitting, maybe we just don't need to over think things (thanks Rich!) and keep it simple. The first priority is not to drink. Everything else will happen in its' own time.

That's what happened with me.

[Gemma]

I had a terrible reaction to Antabuse, it made me very, very ill and had to be taken off it for medical reasons....

I was really ticked off as I had not seen this reaction in others on the board, but after speaking with my doc, apparently it does happen......

I am now in the transition of going to see a counsellor at an addiction centre to a psychologist at the same centre.

It's all a learning experience..........for me, that will be learning how to live, feel, speak (at times), express myself, have fun, function without anxiety and fear.... basically how to relive my life without a crutch (alcohol) and depend on my own two feet.........it's a long process, but will be worth it...............

[Soul fader]

My experience has been great. I've only had one slip and it was the worst pain of my life. It helped though, cause in my mind now I associate booze with migrains, so the cravings are gone.

My hardest part has been dealing with the "underlying issues" still present with alcoholism. I'm kind of what they call a dry drunk. Still being destructive and not really fixing whats wrong. Don't get me wrong, I'm much happier not drinking/drugging, but I find I just replace one addiction with another. (Work, sex, girls, etc)