Can Antabuse Cure Alcoholism?

I first heard about Antabuse in 1989 when I was twenty years old. I was attending a treatment centre for alcohol addiction and taking this drug was compulsory. They expected me to take Antabuse because it was believed that this tablet would discourage me from returning to the drink; for at least the time while I was on the drug anyway.

Antabuse is a brand name for a drug called Disulfiram and it is given to people who are trying to quit alcohol. This medicine works by making the person taken it to become acutely sensitive to alcohol. If you return to drink while on this drug then you will feel very sick. This information was drummed into me at the treatment centre twenty years ago; it was supplemented by other drunks telling me about how they had heard of people dying after drinking while on the drug. I wasn't sure about the truth of any of this, but it was enough to scare me for awhile.

Antabuse works by interfering with the normal breaking down of alcohol in the body. The fact that this alcohol can't be broken down as usual means that the body quickly starts to suffer from this; symptoms often begin within a few minutes of taking the drug. The person on the drug will quickly feel like they have entered their worst hangover ever with symptoms such as; nausea, vomiting, tachycardia (fast heart rate), fainting, face flushing, severe headache, and possibly even circulatory collapse.

It is the fear of the negative side-effects which makes Antabuse useful for the addict. If you know that you are going to feel terrible when you drink then you are less likely to relapse. The fact that Antabuse takes a week to leave the body means that anyone planning to relapse will have a few days to think about what they are doing. As most relapses occur on the spur of the moment this is good news.

Antabuse can have some negative side-effects even if you don't drink on it. It may cause tiredness during the first few weeks, or even lead to a strange metallic taste in your mouth. A more worrying side-effect of Antabuse is damage to the liver; this side-effect is rare but something that needs to be considered. It would be a real shame to escape alcoholic liver disease only to damage your liver by Antabuse.

I managed to stay sober for six months after my Antabuse treatment back in the nineties. At the time I wasn't really that convinced of my need to be sober so it probably worked well by encouraging me to stay sober that long. When I finally left alcohol addiction behind for good I did not use any chemical assistance. I had also sort of forgotten about this treatment option. Maybe those last few months drinking and feeling desperate to stop would have been easier if I'd thought about this drug. People with heart conditions and other health problems are often advised to avoid this drug altogether.

All in all, I feel quite positive about this treatment, but would be worried about the slight risk of side-effects. Mind you, there is no way that it is going to be any more damaging to you than alcohol; unless you drink on it or your doctor judges you as not suitable for the treatment. I think that anything that will help people stay sober is great, and a few months on this tablet might allow those with drink problems to get a taste for sobriety.

Sources

http://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/antabuse.htm

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100000144.html

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/meds/a/antabuse.htm