Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

[fragileflower]

Hi all,

I've tried all the supps. I cannot stop drinking. I am thinking about going to my GP and asking for Antabuse. I first admitted my drinking problem to him about 6 months ago. He asked if I wanted Antabuse and Campral but I said no. I thought I could do it on my own. I was scared of the Antabuse and the Campral is too expensive. (I have crappy insurance).

I was doing ok, abstaining for weeks at a time. But the drinking has now gotten out of control. I doubt he will prescribe Topamax or bac because they are off-label treatments for alcoholism.

Does anyone have experience with antabuse? Is it true you can't use hair spray, color your hair, or even eat pickles because of a severe reaction?

Thanks,
fragile flower

[marybel]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

Hi! I am on day four of Antabuse and am loving it! I was also concerned about having a reaction to things like hair spray and perfumes, but so far so good. I have started using body spray from Bath and Body works and have had no reactions, though I did only apply it to one small section of my arm to make sure!

The Antabuse has been a god-send, it totally takes drinking off the table! I would recommend going for it!
Good Luck

[bleep]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

Hi there,

I have no experience with Antabuse, but would suggest you do a little research on baclofen. There is much information to be found right here. It is relatively inexpensive, and works. You don't need a prescription, it can be ordered online.

Good luck with whatever path you choose.

[Marshy]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

Hi fragile flower,

I had a very positive experience with Antabuse - it definitely helped me on my way to getting sober.

The only side effect I had was feeling tired for a few days. I didn't have any reaction to food/products at all.

[beatle]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

I suggest searching this forum for all posts on Antabuse. There are many.

Personally, I would not recommend it for 2 reasons.

1) It is dangerous
2) In my experience, it will not help you to become a sober person. Based on my experience: You will always crave alcohol. You will be just as uncomfortable as when you have been abstinent with sheer willpower. It will not change that. As soon as you stop taking it, you will almost certainly start drinking again.

Oh, yes, one more reason. It's hard on the liver.

[Accountable for Me]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

I would have to say that Antabuse is a very useful tool.

Like anything else (anti-depressants, supplements, etc) you have to take it in order for it to help you. A lot of people will take it for a couple of days and then stop because subconsciously they want to drink on the weekends or whatnot.

When I was on it, it made me tired for the first few days. But, in a lot of ways it took the edge off of feeling anxious from wanting to drink.

As Beatle said it can be hard on the liver, but drinking is hard on the liver, and many other organs as well.

Your Dr. will monitor your liver while you are on it. It is a tool to get you on the road of recovery; not used for a lifetime.

Good luck, and I would explore that option if I were you.

[mollyka]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

Have 2 say antabuse started me off well! Only took it 4 initial couple weeks but it took a lot of the turmoil of early sobriety away. No products had any affect on me but that may be individual still have a tub by my bed and actually took one before Christmas when tempted. Did make me tired but hey - so did booze! Molly

[Accountable for Me]

Antabuse may be my only hope..need advice

mollyka;1057623 wrote: Did make me tired but hey - so did booze! Molly

The booze made me tired as well. Much more so than the antabuse.