Disulfiram for Alcohol Use Disorder User Reviews (Page 5)

• TonyK
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• March 23, 2023

"Maybe another honest review will help someone on the fence. I have absolutely no clue how I am still alive (and very healthy according to a thorough physical last week). I was way past the point of morning anxiety. Lots of weeks here and there sober, but never really committed. Couple of car accidents under the influence..kept on going stronger with the booze. DUI, lost business…drink! The 6th time I was hospitalized for pancreatitis, I had a rare sense of clarity and still not sure what set it, but decided I wanted my life back and would take the less than 5% chance (less than 5% of alcoholics get and stay sober), needed to get to week one to get a clear, sober head. Asked the ER Dr for Antabuse. I did have a lot of the minor side effects other s noted, but I’m at 7 years and 8 days sober today. It’s not a miracle drug, but it buys time early to get and stay sober. Bought me a day, then a week, then a month..then oddly, good things happened frequently. Still on 100mgs/day today."

• wine-...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 18, 2015

"I'm so disappointed....why oh why does this not work for me? I started drinking 3 weeks after the implant...went for a second implant and started drinking without any reaction to the alcohol? Why do out of millions of succcess stories this does not work for ME!!!!"

• Joano
• August 15, 2019

"Had six and a half years of clean and sober, mucked up went out for 25 years could not stop drinking. Started 250mg of disulfiram 5 days after my last drink and it's the only thing that helped me besides AA meetings with no side effects thank you."

• Dudeman
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 22, 2023

Antabuse (disulfiram) "I was able to drink on it with minimal side effects. I stopped taking it. Went to AA 12.5 years ago and have been going since albeit less frequently. I haven’t had a single drink since. Swear by the AA concept of group recovery."

• T-cha
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 25, 2016

"I've been on Antabuse for a few months now, after 4 x rehab, suicidal attempts and getting obese because of drinking (I could add a lot of other horrible things happening in my life because of my drinking) and I'm only 30. I have a will to have a normal life, therefore I make that little effort and I take that white pill every morning. One thing that surprises me when reading what others have written is a statement that "everybody tries to drink on disulfiram". No, not everybody. Apart from the fact that I can't drink at the moment, I also don't want to drink. If somebody is still trying to drink despite all of the side effects then I'm sorry to say that but the sobriety won't last long."

• TKano
• June 27, 2018

"I've been on this medication for almost a year now for AUD (alcohol use disorder) and it's been the absolute solution for me. I never was in rehab or experience a physical dependence or withdrawal from alcohol, but I was emotionally dependent on it, especially in social situations. In 2016 I became depressed and really started abusing alcohol which led to the use of other drugs like heroin and meth. Acknowledging my mental health/life was at stake, I went to see a psychiatrist. I've been on Disulfiram for about a year and I haven't had a drink since knowing exactly what will happen. Now, when someone offers me a beer, its like they're asking me if I'd like to pass-out, vomit, sweat profusely, or experience a splitting migraine. I entertained the idea of going off of it a few months ago but I decided not to. Although willpower is important, I know myself well enough that I can cave in certain situations, and I don't look at it as weakness but rather radical acceptance."

• No...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 21, 2017

"I have been dry for 230 days since beginning my daily 250mg dose. I have cravings still, but I've never missed a dose. I will say that my occasional use of cannabis has made it much easier to be in social drinking situations and still feel like I'm getting my head change. No more hangovers. No more binging. I recommend this to any alcoholic."

• rich
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 20, 2022

"Actually died on the table. Pancreas problem almost killed me. Was a chef for 30 years and lived hard. Long story, try to explain briefly. Drinking since I was 12 and used to wake up in the woods. Eventually lost everything in one week later in my life. If you're reading this, I don't have to explain the rest of the agony, pain, loss etc. Because we all know the end of the road when it comes. Psych wards, rehab, homeless and helpless. I was actually sober for 16 years and went to relapse. Was worse physically than ever before, got real bad fast, two years relapse was back in the psych ward. Long story fast, this drug is like a lobotomy for drunks. Can't tell whether I'm scared to drink or it's.. The meds. I would take it if I was you, it works for some reason, not a cure, but you can live day to day. What more can you ask from yourself. Coming from someone who was as bad as it gets. Sober today."

• Banan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 8, 2022

"After a few relapses after a long period of sobriety, I decided to try disulfiram. I haven't had a craving since, and other addictive behaviors seem to have become uninteresting, too. My withdrawals after quitting were well-controlled with benzodiazepines, but in prior detoxes, even with sedatives, it had still been hell. This time it was a breeze. I immediately felt more motivated, and less depressed and anxious. I was so puzzled at the effect, I had to look further into it. Turns out, Antabuse affects the breakdown of dopamine into noradrenaline, and a recent study (on rats) strongly suggests it has anxiolytic effects through inhibiting another enzyme apart from those metabolizing acetaldehyde, the toxic break-down product of alcohol, the accumulation of which is responsible for the antabuse-alcohol reaction. I've been able to taper the sedatives very rapidly with no ill effects. I wish I had known it could potentially have these effects earlier."

• Aby
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 2, 2020

"I personally took Disulfiram and could still drink with facial flushness as my only reaction. It did make me want to stop drinking after 3 beers vs. 10. I asked my psychiatrist if he had heard of this before and he said he had and advised me that drinking on Disulfiram was very harmful to my liver."

• Anony...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 29, 2018

"I was prescribed it for alcohol dependence. Took it for 5 days, had been sober for 8 days. Started drinking like a fish after 5 days off. Maybe I'm just not ready to give up the jug. When I decide to though, I'll just stick to the AB. Not a believer in AA, and won't go to rehab. The pill works, just be careful if you drink on it."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 13, 2015

"I had been to AA before and had five years sobriety before going back out for twenty something years. AA really works if you have the capacity to be honest. I was fortunate enough to go back to a 30 day inpatient program. My spirituality is my cornerstone, God and faith are the only things I can depend on for my sobriety."

• Jackie
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 25, 2019

"I’ve been through a number of treatment programs (inpatient and outpatient). I work closely with three different counsellors a week. I also attend AA meeting. What is currently preventing me from having my “slip” every three months is being on monitored Antabuse. It works. I had two occasion where I was off the med long enough to drink and became violently ill. It’s enough to curb my sudden urges. Once I know I can’t drink, the obsession stops. Antabuse is currently a safety net or extra support while I learn to use some of the positive coping skills I’ve picked up from all the programming I’ve been exposes to these past two years. It works. Boy does it ever."

• Dicki
• August 1, 2021

"I've been on Antabuse for a while now. Been a alcoholic for 21 years since I was 15 years old. I've tried everything AA meetings group/ one on one meetings pysch therapy everything you can think of basically and I decided to have a drink yesterday. I thought let's see what one beer does to me and 10 beers later no side effects still no effects from the Antabuse. I was absolutely wounded, I thought this medication was to make me feel very poorly. Now I need to say this - that doesn't mean just because I didn't feel poorly that other people won't as everybody' is different"

• Anony...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 1, 2020

"My husband is an alcoholic. Nothing has worked until he started on Antabuse. He tried drinking while on it and got very ill while driving and wrecked his truck and landed in the hospital. He counts on taking this pill to keep him from drinking but now we can’t get it. I called the manufacturer and they said they have stopped making it! He is back to drinking again. He tried other pills and it didn’t work. Why would they stop making something that helped? They are playing with peoples lives."

• theha...
• July 6, 2021

"I started taking disulfiram 11 days ago (500 mg/day). It worked great as a deterrent, but I had to be hard headed and test it out; I didn't take the pill yesterday and experimented with a glass of wine. At first it wasn't so bad -- a flush on my face/ neck, a weird pulsing sensation, that was it. So I poured another glass of wine and made it about halfway through it before the worst headache I've ever had took over my existence. I stopped drinking, but the damage was done. My head was splitting for hours. Then I threw up copiously. I was eventually able to sleep and woke up feeling fine, if a bit wrung out. My point is, disulfiram works for me. Don't test it unless you want hours of pain in exchange for a measly glass of wine. It was awful. But, perversely, I'm glad, because now I know I simply cannot drink while taking disulfiram, and that's the whole point, right?"

• Unable...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 26, 2017

"Went on Antibuse to try to save my job after having 1 incident at work. I was unlawfully fired. Went and completed in and out patient programs. After 2 months of being on the drug I started to stumble when walking, loosing weight, talking funny, becoming very week and tired. It came to the point where I am unable to walk without a walker or use a wheelchair. After much testing Dent found the cause of my health conditions to be Antibuse. Stopped taking it. Condition has worsened. I have seizures and recently developed a uncontrollable jerking of my arms. So instead of saving my job I lost everything. My health. My marriage. My house and the ability to do anything I enjoyed in life. I’m lucky to have a father and sister that assist me in everyday living."

• Carou...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 26, 2021

"I don't understand how people have been able to get this drug for most of 2020. I couldn't get my prescription refilled from March 2020 to now and I just restarted disulfiram. I am hoping I can keep getting it, otherwise I'm back to downing a bottle of wine every day. I have to stop don't want to die of liver cancer"

• Charlie
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 2, 2021

"This medication is amazing I've been on it for 2 weeks and have had great success so far. Not thinking to drink as an option, as makes you sick . Tried it 3 years ago and tested it out to see if it worked with half a bottle of wine. Was very sick with vomiting, pounding heart rate and bad headaches. This was enough to show me it was a pill that did it’s work!! I have no depression symptoms anymore and back to gym training everyday."

• NEA
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 16, 2024

Antabuse (disulfiram) "Antabuse is good, but it has its limitations. The first two weeks I started taking it, I did not drink at all and felt great. This is not the first time I try this medication. I am now drinking again while taking Antabuse, but not to the same extent as before (all-day drinking). Of course, a couple of drinks at lunch and 3 or 4 drinks at dinner. For me, it works in two ways: I get a really bad skin rash when I drink (which is visible not only to me but also to everyone around me) and get extremely tired while drinking. I hide when drinking as my friends know I am trying to quit; it is clearly a deterrent but not the perfect solution. If you feel like drinking and are taking Antabuse, you can, but will suffer 'minor' discomfort. I am going to continue taking it but also buying books about alcoholism that I hope will give me even more willpower to cut down on alcohol. My main goal is not to give up completely but to become a social drinker and stop being an alcoholic."

• beerjet
• July 3, 2015

Antabuse (disulfiram) "Had a drink while on Antabuse. Felt nauseous, heartbeats increased, bloodshot eyes, headache. Never drank when taking again."

• Spud
• December 28, 2019

Antabuse (disulfiram) "I been on Antabuse for 12 years , it sure works I will not be without it."

• thepl...
• May 3, 2008

Antabuse (disulfiram) "After 6 months of counselling this was offered to me, I have never wanted to stop drinking, just stop the binges. this drug has worked brilliantly"

• bluuuuu
• October 1, 2015

Antabuse (disulfiram) "have not ingested alcohol while on anabuse"

• Moano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 26, 2019

Antabuse (disulfiram) "30 hours after taking it, It 100% it works for alcohol issues, high BP, HR-125 sitting still, nausea, flushed, this works better than withdrawals as a deterrent man this sucks"