Antabuse question

[Hippiegirl]

How long do you need to be AF before starting Antabuse?

I finally got the go ahead from my doctor. The nurse called yesterday and told me. As soon as I hung up the phone, I burst into tears. Seems like I've waited so long to begin. I'm so excited - and so scared!

[DizzyBee]

Antabuse question

Hi there
I'm so happy for you! I would say 12 hours to be safe. I'm not a medical professional but have had a bit of experience with Antabuse. Feel free to ask any questions if you are scared or unsure.
Good luck!

Find my story here: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ies-63122.html

And we have a great support group here: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ion-44427.html

(well, I'm the only one on antabuse but our group is more about support than about meds really)

It is very important to get as much as possible support during the first week and not to mess around with Antabuse, OK? Its a very strong drug and you will not be able to drink on it. If you drink one sip or two sips of wine you will start feeling your cheeks flushing and if you continue you will just feel sicker. It is not possible to feel giddy or happy or mellow or drunk on Antabuse so please DO NOT drink on this. You have to wait at least 3-7 days before you can drink again.

If you are not sure you can do this on your own, I advise that you get some other help for cravings e.g. L-Glutamine or Topamax.

I'm here if you need more advice hon, be kind to yourself.

:l

[spacebebe01]

Antabuse question

I think it depends on how much you where drinking, ie if you drank a litre of whisky last night you would have to wait longer for the AL to clear than if you drank a glass of wine. Isnt there a leaflet in with the pills, or more to the point didnt your doc tell you. Since you are in the lucky position of having a doc prescribe you should make the most of it. also you could ask the pharmacist. I think its 12 hours but Im not a doc.

Are you also starting the Campral??

Good luck xxx

[DizzyBee]

Antabuse question

Hi there
I'm so happy for you! I would say 12 hours to be safe. I'm not a medical professional but have had a bit of experience with Antabuse. Feel free to ask any questions if you are scared or unsure.
Good luck!

Find my story here: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ies-63122.html

And we have a great support group here: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ion-44427.html

(well, I'm the only one on antabuse but our group is more about support than about meds really)

:l

[DizzyBee]

Antabuse question

Yeah, I think Space is right, when last did you drink and how much, lets start with that. Don't be scared. I'm an antabuse old-timer as are some others here so between us we'll help you out no probs.

[Hippiegirl]

Antabuse question

Well, I'm pretty hard core - a fifth or so of whiskey every evening. There may be an insert with the Antabuse, I haven't actually gotten my prescriptions yet. Hopefully in the next few days, Monday at the latest.

I do know I can't drink while on Antabuse. My plan is Antabuse, Campral, and a few days of Valium (tapering after the first couple of days -only about a week total.)

My worry is the day or two I will need to be AF before beginning Antabuse. I've never been able to do that before.

I don't have much of a support group at all. My boyfriend and my doctor :-(

[spacebebe01]

Antabuse question

I dont k now how much a fifth of whisky is (Ive always wondered that tho) but I don think generally it is 12 hours, do you only drink of an evening? because that would make it easy and safer because if you finish drinking of a night say 12 midnight and then dont usually start anyway until 6pm that is 18 hours so you could start then, so that is playing safe over the 12 hours, you will probably have started the valium so that will help you feel better more rested in the evening and help you sleep and you can also have started the campral as well to help with cravings so Im sure you will be fine, its great your boyfriend is being supportive. How is your eating? try to plan to have a nice easy to cook and eat meals for the first week and avoid stress wherever possible. Also have a stock of non al drinks in, for me the physical need to be drinking fluids is massive.

There is also a thread Anabuse and Naltresone with a few good women using anabuse there where you will get support as well.

And dont forget you can come on here and post as often as you want or need so think of it as having a big support group, you have your boyfriend, your doctor and us

[DizzyBee]

Antabuse question

Hippiegirl, you just need 12 hours since your last drink. Don't wait days. Trust me, I have done this about 4 times now. Try to taper down a little bit as you don't want to shock your system too much.

I didn't have Valium but I had Rivotril, similar drug. I also didnt have L-Glutamine but I recommend this for you BIG TIME. (Ask Spacebebe, it really works for her and several others here)

If you could taper a little bit from 750ml and only have 375ml on Sunday or consider giving yourself a week to taper that amount you will be a world of less pain in terms of withdrawals.

• A fifth of whisky is 750mls right?
• Are you in America? (I'm not, I'm just trying to help you find L-glut)
• Do you have the cash to go buy some L-Glutamine today and then go get your Antabuse on Monday, then we can help you taper down a bit up to then?Are your doctor going to look after you in any way other than to give you the medicine?Does your boyfriend drink?What does he think of you quitting?

I can help you but I need you to work with me and obviously you are free to tell me to mind my own business or to ask around for others' advice.

Why take L-Glutamine? The short answer is it is a natural rather inexpensive supplement you can buy at your local health shop which seems to work for about 8 out of 10 people I speak to on this site. So its worth a shot and so much nicer than simply white knuckling it! The long answer? The Way Up Newsletter : Benefits of Amino Acid L-glutamine

And: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f6...ble-57651.html

And I think Space is right, you can post here and we'll help you but if you want to be in a community of long term antabuse users for help and support - this is the best place for you: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...one-54587.html

:l

[windycitylady]

Antabuse question

I think a fifth is about 15 units, and your body processes one unit/hour, so you could wait 15 hours to be safe. But I would taper down from that first so you avoid any chance of withdrawal. I was a vodka drinker, and beer was helpful to me when tapering down. You still feel like you're drinking something, but (duh) it's got a lot less alcohol. Maybe try a pint and 3 beers one night. Then a half pint and 6 beers. Then a half pint and 3 beers. I was alternating - drink a little vodka, drink a beer, drink a little vodka, drink a beer - so I didn't find myself racing through the beers to "get to" the vodka.
Dizzy's right, l glut might really help. With cravings and repairing your body and brain. I would buy the powder or open the capsules in water. You're going to want to take (at least I take) around 3 or 4 grams at a time. So if you have 500 mg capsules, that's 6 - 8 capsules. Put the powder in water (it barely has a taste, maybe slightly sweet), and try to drink it on an empty stomach.
A high quality kudzu might help too. At Vitamin Shoppe they sell Kudzu Recovery by Planetary Herbals. But I don't think any other kudzu brands you can find in-store are very good.
I think it's important to have a pleasant evening planned for when you do go AF. Rent a movie, take a hot bath (maybe with epsom salts, relieves aches and pains and speeds detox), make a delicious dinner. My supportive BF made me, I think, lamb chops the first night I went AF.
And, yes, come back here! We are a fun bunch of ABers on the Antabuse Naltrexone thread! I know I wouldn't be sober without the support I've received there.
Best of luck to you, and keep us posted!

[spacebebe01]

Antabuse question

I do take the l glut and would recommend you get some soon to start before stopping drinking, the pwoder is best I think the pills no good and you would be going through too many capsules, its easier to just use powder and a spoon. If I think of a drink I just mix some with water and drink it down and then I will realise maybe hours later I had forgotten all about AL. And its a natural suppliment so its not like more medication. I also forgot to say that you could read up about vitamins and stuff, they will really help you. At first I think you could have Vit B complex, Multi vit and milk thistle will help your liver repair. There are lots of others but they would be a good start. There is lots of reading you can do on this, I think the most used book is seven weeks to sobriety but I cant think of anyone who has actually followed that protocol, but its good for info if you want to look into nutrition and suppliments.

Actually tho you may well want to leave all the reading and stuff for later, I am very scatter brain and go from one idea to the next

[Hippiegirl]

Antabuse question

* A fifth of whisky is 750mls right?

Yes, I believe so.
* Are you in America? (I'm not, I'm just trying to help you find L-glut)

yep - in the midwest.

* Do you have the cash to go buy some L-Glutamine today and then go get your Antabuse on Monday, then we can help you taper down a bit up to then?

yes, I have the money, but this is a very small town - I doubt if I could find it.

* Are your doctor going to look after you in any way other than to give you the medicine?

No, other than approving my plan and prescribing the meds, there is no plan to be in touch. I guess he's leaving that up to me.

* Does your boyfriend drink?
Yes - beer, which I don't like.

* What does he think of you quitting? He wanted me to just taper and drink moderately. And I don't think he really understands that I can not do that. But he will support me in what I want to do.

I'm kind of scared of glutamine. I'm diabetic and take medication. I read that it fiddles with your blood sugar. Can't think that's good for me.

[Greg]

Antabuse question

Hi, I'm no doctor, but I have some experience with Antabuse.

As pointed out above, your system is not free of alcohol until it has finished metabolizing one standard drink per hour, and that can be a bit slower in some cases. You'd have to count how many standard drinks you had, then work out how many hours that will be since you started drinking. The 12 hour figure that seems to be common will not work well if someone is drinking a large quantity all bunched up into a few hours, because your liver will not get rid of it quickly enough to have none left in you 12 hours after you finished drinking.

I take a risk of going into the front entrance of my local club the day after drinking and breathalyzing myself there, to check when I'm down to 0.000. This is not a good idea if simply being in a drinking establishment is enough to make you start drinking again however. Luckily I only ever drink at night, so I'm not tempted to drink again when I go in to test myself during the following afternoon.

I also take only 50 mg (a quarter of a pill) on the first day, just to minimize any chance of a bad reaction. That 50 mg is still enough to make you very sick if you drink later that day, so it's enough of a deterrent to get me through until the next day, when I then take 100-200 mg.

Definitely make sure you take Antabuse every day, in fact make it a ritual at a certain time if that will help you not skip days. As said above it will still stop you drinking for days after taking it, but taking it daily helps stop you making up excuses to miss it and plan out another drinking episode when it has worn off. Hopefully you won't do this, and I only mention it because my own addictive mind is so cunning and persistent that it looks for any opportunity to get away with another drinking binge. I'm up against that part of me, and have to do everything I can to stop it getting its own way!!

Sorry if I have missed other things in this thread that need an answer but I only have a few more minutes online right now. Best of luck with it!

[DizzyBee]

Antabuse question

Yes, Greg has some good points there. I would highly recommend you taper down first a bit before you just go on the Antabuse. You realise its just a pill thats going to prevent you from being able to drink but all the cravings are still going to be there? If you go on after drinking 1/5 of wisky for I don't know how long the first few days may feel like you're trapped in prison.

Its a great drug, don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to help you not feel so bad once you have to go 100% abstinent as once the first tablet is in there is no turning back.

I had to smile at your L-Glutamine remark. Not that I judge you. We all do it. I used to drink two bottles of wine a day but refuse to eat Mcdonalds because it was bad for me. Others here used to chuck a bottle of gin but not eat meat because it is bad for their bodies. From what I've read it is safe for diabetics and you can order it from this website. By the way, what I don't understand is that my own friend is a type I diabetic and if he drinks more than 4 drinks he ends up in a sugar coma, something much worse than L-Glutamine will do.

The L-Glutamine will help you taper down for a week and make this process much easier but apart from giving you this excerpt I will no longer push this point:

L-Glutamine
Another supplement shown to induce weight loss is L-glutamine. L-glutamine is a fatty acid oxidation inhibitor. Since fatty acid oxidation is linked to increased insulin output by the pancreas, glutamine supplementation prevents hyperinsulinemia, and enhances glucose utilization resulting in the reduction of hyperglycemia. In this manner, L-glutamine supplementation abolishes the characteristic insulin resistance associated with a high-fat diet. In a study using an obesity- and diabetes-prone strain of mice fed a high-fat diet, within one week of supplementing the animals with L-glutamine there was a minimum of a 5% reduction in body weight accompanied by a normalization of plasma insulin levels.(2) After two months of glutamine supplementation, blood glucose levels in the previously obese and diabetic animals became normal. In the study, L-glutamine was supplemented as approximately 3% of total calories--a significant quantity of glutamine. Further studiesare required to determine the lowest effective dose and duration of L-glutamine supplementation to induce weight loss in humans. Anecdotal reports indicate that L-glutamine supplementation as low as 1 gram per day (at bedtime) for 2 months has been found to be effective in lowering blood sugar levels in human subjects with type 2 diabetes.

L-glutamine is a preferred fuel source for a variety of cells and is also a precursor for the biosynthesis of the antioxidant glutathione and other important biological compounds such as glycogen, nucleotides and proteins. In normal individuals, supplemental glutamine would, therefore, be utilized for different biological processes. The dose requirement for this amino acid would be greater in disease. Until controlled experiments are performed with diabetic patients, supplemental glutamine should be limited to less than 5 grams-per-day. It is, however, not advisable for individuals who have advanced diabetes with complications of kidney or liver disease to take glutamine supplements.
Source: Diabetes, Weight Loss and Supplements : Part II - Vitamin Research Products

So once again, what I really recommend for your own benefit is to taper down from a 1/5 to at least half of that (sorry the american quantities has me confused) before you quit. I like the ideas Windycitylady gave of how to do this with the help of beer. This will allow you to start the Antabuse after a nice long sleep (12 hours) and it will drastically reduce your withdrawals. If you are in a real rush then decide that you will have half on Sunday, and work out the increments for Fri, and Sat accordingly. Let your boyfriend help you and let him help you with this. You are going to need his help on the first few days of going on the pills.

By the way: Are you going to work on those days or are you going to stay at home? As I really recommend staying at home for the first two days if you can but also having some support if you can.

Also two more questions:
How long have you been drinking, and
Have you ever stopped before?

I recommend that when you start you take the Antabuse every day as soon as you wake up in the morning. This is because your addicted brain is usually not awake by then. You will wake up, feel so relieved to not be hangover, drink the pill, and perhaps later in the day wonder whether you shouldve taken it but as long as you keep taking it you will keep adding sober days and keep feeling better and stronger every day.

:h

[spacebebe01]

Antabuse question

Hi Hippie, how are you today? keep us posted, are you going to try to reduce what you drink over the weekend because that would definately help you a lot, if you stop from 1/5 no matter what you take you are going to feel bad although the valium would help. Also when I have done detox using Librium I have to have my AL levels down to start it, when I was an inpatient they just have you sit it out until they will give you it but then you are in a hospital so if anything goes wrong they can do something but when I have done at home detox the nurse who came out to me insisted I reduce before I started, I was on a bottle of vodka a day at that time so I think its about the same as you. Just for the next couple of days you could try to start drinking a bit less, either by the beer way windy suggested of you could try alternating AL with a non al drink, start later of finish earlier. Dont worry you can do this and Im sure we will all help you as much as we can, since your boyfriend is on board you could maybe ask him to pour your drinks for you over the next few days, that way you cant just pour some extra into the glass, which is what I would have done, or go and get another one sooner than planned.

[spacebebe01]

Antabuse question

Oh and I may be wrong here but with Campral if you are taking it and drink they tell you to continue taking it, I think from that then it is safe to take when drinking so therefore could you start it now?? Im not a doc so does anyone else have any experience of this.

Campral for me didnt do enough to stop the cravings, I take baclofen for that which seems to be working