can I drink a week off antabuse

[dirty birdy]

I've been on antabuse a little over a month now and have been doing fairly well. I would however like to give myself a little drinking night tonight and get back on the drug afterwords. I purposely stopped taking the drug for a week now so this is not a spontaneous choice. Please do not lecture me on why this is wrong,etc. I am just wondering if a week off 125 mg of antabuse daily is long enough to drink this evening. Thanks in advance.:thanks:

[Ne/Neva Eva]

can I drink a week off antabuse

I'm no expert, but from everything I've read the window is 48 hours.

[GingerDust]

can I drink a week off antabuse

Ne/Neva Eva;1262300 wrote: I'm no expert, but from everything I've read the window is 48 hours.

That's not right. I've seen that as far as the length of time to go without drinking before going on antabuse, but the length of time you can safely drink after you've been on it for a while is quite a lot longer - more like a week, depending . . .

DB, antabuse is a really BAD choice of meds for people who want to moderate. If you don't have a firm commitment to not drinking, it might be in your best interests to choose another path. I don't know if you are OK after a week or not. If you are determined to drink again, you might want to start with a VERY small amount, like one swallow, and wait to see if you have a reaction, then go slow. It would be a good idea to have someone else with you, just in case.

You started taking antabuse for a reason. Please try to remember what that reason was.

Good luck.

[DriftyAlison0]

can I drink a week off antabuse

Yeah its one thing to moderate and its another to drink. What your AL mind is trying to tell you is the one last time trick. The thing is, this could be the last time, and it could not. Don't fall into the trap. What are you going to do the next time if you do go through with it, and you AL mind says the same thing? Its a never ending cycle if you allow the AL mind to win all the time.

I want to see you succeed.

[GingerDust]

can I drink a week off antabuse

DriftyAlison0;1262348 wrote: Yeah its one thing to moderate and its another to drink. What your AL mind is trying to tell you is the one last time trick.

That is a nasty trick. My brain played it on me for decades.

DB, drinking is going to be just like it was when you left it, the same old hell hole. You did not go on antabuse because you were having a great ol' time drinking. When you were looking at the first pill, right before you swallowed it, you were thinking something. Can you remember what you were thinking at that moment?

[K9Lover]

can I drink a week off antabuse

GingerDust;1262378 wrote:
DB, drinking is going to be just like it was when you left it, the same old hell hole. You did not go on antabuse because you were having a great ol' time drinking. When you were looking at the first pill, right before you swallowed it, you were thinking something. Can you remember what you were thinking at that moment?

:wd: Bravo Ginger, nicely put! I know when I take my Antabuse every morning it's because I am thinking "I hate Alcohol, and I will NOT drink it anymore!"

For most of us here, the good ol' times ended long ago....is that true for you too DB?

[Supercrew]

can I drink a week off antabuse

Why don't you ask your doctor?

I am sure it is different for each person on how they will react. I know you said you don't want to be preached to, but why take antabuse if you still want to drink? Seems like your mind might be playing tricks on you. I mean come on you haven't drank in a couple of weeks so you want to reward yourself?

Drinking isn't a reward my friend. If it was you wouldn't be on a forum for alcoholics asking how to get off antabuse? It's rather funny the more I think about it.

[Greg]

can I drink a week off antabuse

I'm another one here who has deliberately stopped Antabuse at various times, in order to drink again. The biggest trouble I have had is not being able to stop again once started, for example planning to just have a night or a weekend back on the booze but then drinking every night for weeks. The drinking is also not very pleasant, and not the old fun I remember from my young days. Straight away I am back up to high amounts, yet this does not give me the emotional high and escape I hoped for.

I usually do a very slow and cautious test, as suggested above, by drinking half a beer and waiting 30 minutes or so to see if there is a reaction (although it shouldn't take that long). Even when this test goes ok however there can be a reaction later on, when larger amounts of alcohol have been drank. I have had a hideous hangover from doing this too, with a splitting headache and a lot of nausea. When taking 125 mg every day, longer than a week could be necessary before this hazard has gone.

Anyway I'm just telling you my own experience rather than lecturing.

[K9Lover]

can I drink a week off antabuse

DB - When I F*cked up and drank (Ann is right, it is NOT a slip when you plan it for a week!) I didn't feel the need to announce it to everyone or to ask permission. You know we care about you and don't want you to drink, so why are you trying to get us to say it's ok? If you need to know facts about Anabuse, go to WebMD or Drugs.com....don't ask a bunch of people that are trying to quit whether it's okay for you to drink. On the other hand, if you need advice on how to use the drug properly, I am more than happy to give you my experiences.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

can I drink a week off antabuse

oops. My bad. I won't weigh in about antabuse issues anymore.

I can relate, though, to deciding to drink, knowing full well that it's not what I want to do. It's always confused and conflicted me--the whole sharing that I'm going to drink, regardless of the effort I've put into not drinking, knowing that I don't want to drink, but that I'm going to anyway...

I had a sponsor who was often frustrated by the fact that in most meeting rooms they don't allow drunk people. We both understood why. But, he countered, (rather persuasively!) that there really isn't any other place to be when you're a hopeless drunk and drunk. And what better time to see the truth?

My experience was that I repeatedly felt such shame that it perpetuated the cycle. I wonder if there is room to create a new response. One that takes into account the fact that the very definition of the disease indicates that we will ALL relapse. Every single one of us. Repeatedly. In spite of the consequences, and perhaps because of the ramifications of the last one.

In my perfect world there would be no 'day one' or 'surrender' token. That walk of shame to the front of the room was enough to keep me from the rooms. Does that make sense?

If anxiety is a part of the problem (and I would argue that it could be the root of the problem) then creating anxiety is to be avoided.
And for the official record, I am not suggesting, not for a minute, that we not speak the truth. There is no gentle approach to dealing with this illness. And God knows I looked! I can't tell you how many times I want to...speak truth. (But yet, if there is one thing I learned in those rooms, and I've learned Many Good Things, it's that it's MY truth I think and speak. I have no idea what your truth is.)
Anyway. Enough thoughts from me. Thanks for indulging.

DB- I hope you're well. That the experience left you wanting none of it and that you are ready to get back on the bus. The bus will stop for you wherever and whenever. Thank all that matters for that.
:l

[GingerDust]

can I drink a week off antabuse

I completely understand not wanting to shame people who drink again or even who want to drink again. The AA walk of shame is a hideous tradition that should be banished, IMO, and I applaud Ne for saying so!

I also understand people in recovery who cannot tolerate an alcoholic talking about a binge as a gift to him/herself because that is a deadly mindset. It?s such an awful and common self-delusion for alcoholics that it?s scary. I applaud people who try to break through that self-delusion and who try to point it out to people struggling. DB was not the only struggling alcoholic who was reading these two threads.

Whatever you decide, DB, we?ll still be here for you. I hope that you do not decide to drink. I hope that you decide to swallow an antabuse instead. You will find swallowing the antabuse worth it. I doubt the same is true of swallowing the alcohol, but it is your choice to make.

Good luck! Please let us know how you are doing. :l

[Supercrew]

can I drink a week off antabuse

I apologize if I came off as harsh, but I felt the same way many times when I was trying to quit and stay quit. I needed a kick in the butt in those moments to open my eyes whether it worked or not.

The addicted mind is a funny animal, one moment promising the lord never to do it again and in the next breath making a deal with the devil to get that little buzz one more time. I meant no offense DB, just hoping that you might realize you are making a mistake...and I'm kind of blunt if you haven't noticed.

[GingerDust]

can I drink a week off antabuse

I don't think anyone came across as being cruel. It was pretty obvious that everyone was coming from a place of understanding the destructiveness of the mindset.

Don't think of it as "blunt." Think of it as "concise."

[Supercrew]

can I drink a week off antabuse

GingerDust;1263029 wrote: I don't think anyone came across as being cruel. It was pretty obvious that everyone was coming from a place of understanding the destructiveness of the mindset.

Don't think of it as "blunt." Think of it as "concise."

I like that! I will now tell my wife and kids that I am no longer blunt....I'm just being concise.

[caper564]

can I drink a week off antabuse

Hi DB,
I am a dedicated user of antabuse. Yes 1 week should be fine but it does depend how long you ahve been taking it. after a month y9ou should be ok. But you already know that by now. My only comment is we all can make reasons why we NEED to drink. its someones birthday, anniversay, my last one was Xmas new years, halloween, VALENTINES etc... but that's what they are excuses, our Booze brain trying to convine us that we can't have a good time without AL. these "special"days will always be there we need to find a way to celebrate without booze.

last march i did exaclty as you are doing and i purposely stopped taking my antabuse so i could have "A drink" and 7 months later i was still drinking.... I am a little concerned that its been 2 days and we've not heard from you.
I hope you are well
caper