Anyone ever been prescribed, or know someone who's been prescribed, Antabuse? If so, what were the results?

Someone very close to me is a recovering alcoholic and has been taking antabuse regularly for the past 4 years.

Basicly, if a person drinks any alcohol while taking antabuse they will become very ill. The most obvious symptom is that the person will become very red and flushed. They will also experience nausea, vomiting and severe headaches. If the person drinks enough alcohol they may require hospitilization. It is important that they avoid alcohol all together because even a small amount can cause a reaction. Antabuse can be very hard on the liver, so the person taking it should have their liver functions tested regularly, especially if they have a history of alcohol abuse.

As long as the person does not drink alcohol while on antabuse they should not really notice any side effects. Drowsiness can occur and in some people and some notice a garlicy taste in their mouths.

Antabuse does take a couple of days to get out of the body, so even if the person skips today's dose and drinks, they will probably still experience the ill effects.

If this person is serious about stopping drinking and taking antabuse, it is best to have someone else give them their pill daily. I know from years of experience that alcoholics can be very sneaky and manipulative. Sometimes they cannot be trusted to take their pills, eventhough they truly mean or want to.

Antabuse alone cannot stop an alcoholic from drinking. They really do need the support of Alcoholics Anonymous. I have seen it work miracles for hundreds of people.

The results are that you can get violently ill if you drink while taking it.

I was in the Navy and had cohorts who were required to take it. They drank anyway. Since they were accoutomed to becoming violently ill anyway, nothing new

So alone, it does nothing good for you. If you want to change sincerely, maybe you can do without it. But if you are being mandated to use it by the courts, yes, people do survive drinking on it but I have seen some guys really blow up and get wretchedly ill, which was their intent because they wanted out of the Navy badly.

I would say, DO NOT DRINK on antibuse

And if you want to stop drinking, plenty of people do it without antibuse through treatment and 12 step, so in my opinion, it is useless and potentially dangerous

i knew someone and he puked his guts out until he stopped drinking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfiram