Treating aAlcoholics with Antabuse

Treating alcoholics with antabuse was one of the first pharmaceutical treatments introduced. Taking antabuse during drinking creates unpleasant feelings and side effects. This negative reaction drives the person to give up the habit of drinking.

Alcohol when it enters the body is synthesized into acetaldehyde which is highly toxic. This acetaldehyde is further broken down into acetic acid which is comparatively milder and with no side effects.
The function of antabuse is to stop the acetaldehyde from further metabolising into acetic acid thereby creating an accumulation of this toxic substance in the body of the drinker. This creates a lot of unpleasant feelings and disturbances in the body thereby forcing the person to give up his drinking habit.

Symptoms produced by antabuse includes vomiting, sweating, severe throbbing and headaches, neck pain, difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest, flushed feeling, nausea, dyspnoea and palpitations. Other symptoms include uneasiness all the time, blurring in the vision, a confused feeling, hypotension, tachycardia, weakness, etc.

Apart from these milder symptoms a person may also experience heart failure, become unconscious, convulsions, depression in the respiratory system and sometime even collapse and death.

This makes it extremely important for the person who is going to be taking this drug to be aware of its implications and he must want to give up the habit of drinking. This drug must never be given to a person who is not aware of it. This may result in very serious complications.

If a person already has a defective heart, he should not be prescribed this medication. All aspects should be carefully considered before going in for this drug. Pregnant women should keep away from this drug.

Research shows that using this drug on a long term is quite effective. Practically speaking, the moment the drug is discontinued, the person goes back to the habit of drinking. This drug thus does not cure one of the symptoms of craving or any other withdrawal symptoms.

The person’s cooperation and regularity in taking the medicine is very essential for effective treatment of the condition. This drug must be continued on a long term basis for positive results.