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ANABUSE....I haven't seen any posts on the subject of this drug. I had a written script for it for A son, but never filled it as I didn't feel that I knew enough about it....side effects, etc. Comments, please.
My AH used Antibuse unsuccessfully. Part of the reason it didn't work is because he could plan to stop taking it, wait a couple of days, then drink. He would also lie to me saying he had taken it when he hadn't. The side affect of the drug varied. If he didn't drink at all while taking it there were no side effects. If he drank with a little of the drug in his system, he would get extremely flushed and not feel too great. He never attempted to drink until several days had passed because he knew he would be violently ill.
In my opinion it can't hurt to take it, but the A has to want to be sober to begin with for it to help at all in the long run.
Antabuse is a danerous drug , especially if they are still using or drinking can cause a heart attack , it is prescrbed to adicts or alcoholics to prove that they are not drinking . If they drink or use while on anatabuse they become a very unpleasant color of red , as it affects thier blood pressure . Louise
It can cause supposibly a stroke. My ah learned that he could drink on it AND take it. In my opinion it doesn't work. You are pulling at useless strings. You can NOT do anything. You can tell him about al-anon but that's it. You can not make him stop drinking, you can not save his life, you can give him everything threat in the world. Some of these men have perfect wives, perfect children and they STILL drink. If your son does NOT want to quit then that's that. If he DOES want to quit then HE will find a way to call someone or find a rehab all by himself. YOU can not do it for him. You REALLY need to go to al anon meetings to realize that you can not make him quit. No threats are going to work. We have all tried EVERYTHING we could to be their saviors only to realize that it's not up to us. We are powerless........POWERLESS. This is something that mommy or daddy can not take away. I know you probably feel as if "well, I can't sit and do nothing" but you are going to have to. This is how the disease takes you down with it. It will make you think that you can have control that something will work, you will exhaust yourself only to realize that nothing has worked and you have NO control. He will make promises that he can't keep, this can go on for years while you are in denial because you will believe it because you want him to be sober so bad.........and again..............it doesn't work or pan out. We learn to let go and let God...........to detach with love........have acceptance over things we can NOT change........to let the alcoholic go and also to quit being co-dependant. It sounds as if you are very co-dependant, please read up on that as well. Please realize that grabbing at straws will not work. Good luck. It is very hard.
HI, I am sad to read your son has this awful disease.
If antabuse really worked, all A's would be on it. It interferes with the bodies ability to metabolize alcohol. They can take it and in two days drink and still get very sick.
some drink on thru it.
If someone is not ready to quit on their own, taking a dangerous drug is not going to help.You were wise not to use it.
Shame on that doctor for being so ignorant. There are few doctors who know anything about alcoholism.
Besides the fact, all they have to do is find another drug to use.
The best thing for you to do is get books on alcholism for teens. I am assuming he is a teen. Get the times and places of AA meetings. Offer it and leave it to him to decide. Threats, ultimatums will not work.
I would get a book that will tell him what alcoholism does, erectile dysfunction is a major thing.
Sadly teens will not get it. They have not met that milestone of realizing they are not invinsible.
I am glad you came here. We are always ready to listen here and share our experience. I want to tell you, I packed up my son and sent him on a very well known survival hike in the mountains for 3 weeks. Changed his life. He is so proud he did it.
Lots of experience here and hope to see ya come back. love,debilyn
I'm so glad you didn't go that route. Friend and Deb know what they are talking about. You can't stop him. He has to want it for himself. The best you can do is to love him and stay out of his way. Make sure there are enforcable boundaries on his behavior and be sure he knows that YOU WILL NOT RESCUE HIM from those consequences.
I know this sounds terribly hard. It is, but his life is at stake. Please find a f2f alanon meeting. It will help. The more we interfere the longer and harder they fall.
Keep coming back here. You are not alone in this.
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~Jen~
"When you come to the edge of all you know you must believe in one of two things... there will be earth on which to stand or you will be given wings." ~Unknown
In my opinion, Antibuse is a waste of time. It literally poisons the alcoholic if they decide to drink while taking it. It's supposed to provide a conditioned response to alcohol abuse whereby if the alcoholic drinks, they become very sick. Hence in theory, they would be motivated to quit drinking. However all the alcoholic has to do is quit taking antibuse in order to continue to drink. Substituting a drug to keep the alcoholic from using another drug (alcohol) is in my mind stupid. The alcoholic has to want to quit, and in my mind abstinence is the only way.
SenoraBob
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Higher Power doesn't always wrap presents in pretty paper.
My husband was on it for about 2 mo. and after a while it started having negative affects on his body - his doctor didn't like his blood pressure and his blood work came back and she took him off it. (he was only 26 at the time). Maybe that was just him and the way his body reacted to it, but it's in his medical record that he can not take it. After that he when back to drinking not even a week after he got off the stuff. It just depends on how bad they want to quit.
There are much newer meds like Naltrextone and Campral that work by lessening the cravings for alcohol. Neither are addictive but the song remains the same. The alcoholic has to WANT sobriety.
Christy
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If we think that miracles are normal, we will expect them. And expecting a miracle is the surest way to get one.
