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Question: my husband is continiously drinking he gives pause for month and again starts severe drinking , can i give him esperal
Brief Answer:
You can give with risk of reaction
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXX,
Thanks for writing to us.
I can understand your situation.You are troubled with abuse of alcohol by husband and he is not willing to quit.
Ideally the best way of deaddiction of any substance is person's admission willingly in the deaddiction center with good motivation to quit.
But many of the persons with alcohol dependence not ready to quit and family members are helpless.
Ethically Esperal(Disulfiram) should be given after written consent of patient and relative after at least 1 week of last intake of alcohol to prevent alcohol-disulfiram reaction. First degree relative is asked to give disulfiram to patient daily.Apprehension of reaction keep the person away from alcohol.
But in many situation to prevent harm due to alcohol to the body as well as to the family's social situation,relative insists doctor to give disufiram unknowingly to the patient.Doctor gives them on their own risk.Relative mix it with food.When patient drink alcohol,he suffers from reaction like vomiting,chest pain ,dizziness etc and he feels that alcohol causing this.By giving esperal daily same thing happen again and again and patient feels that he is not tolerating alcohol and he stops drinking.
But the point is there is risk of serious reaction and hospitalization necessary sometime.However I have never seen any reaction which lead to death till in my career.So now you have to decide what to do.
I still recommend that before trying esperal,take him to psychiatrist for motivational counselling.
Hope I have answered your query.
regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
You can give with risk of reaction
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXX,
Thanks for writing to us.
I can understand your situation.You are troubled with abuse of alcohol by husband and he is not willing to quit.
Ideally the best way of deaddiction of any substance is person's admission willingly in the deaddiction center with good motivation to quit.
But many of the persons with alcohol dependence not ready to quit and family members are helpless.
Ethically Esperal(Disulfiram) should be given after written consent of patient and relative after at least 1 week of last intake of alcohol to prevent alcohol-disulfiram reaction. First degree relative is asked to give disulfiram to patient daily.Apprehension of reaction keep the person away from alcohol.
But in many situation to prevent harm due to alcohol to the body as well as to the family's social situation,relative insists doctor to give disufiram unknowingly to the patient.Doctor gives them on their own risk.Relative mix it with food.When patient drink alcohol,he suffers from reaction like vomiting,chest pain ,dizziness etc and he feels that alcohol causing this.By giving esperal daily same thing happen again and again and patient feels that he is not tolerating alcohol and he stops drinking.
But the point is there is risk of serious reaction and hospitalization necessary sometime.However I have never seen any reaction which lead to death till in my career.So now you have to decide what to do.
I still recommend that before trying esperal,take him to psychiatrist for motivational counselling.
Hope I have answered your query.
regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
can i give vitamin tablet with esperal. what is the usual course of esperal
Brief Answer:
Yes vitamin tablet can be given
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXX,
Welcome back.
Yes you can give multivitamin tablets with esperal.
Normally we start with half tablet of 250 mg esperal and after 3days if no side effects 250 mg full tablet daily given. In few patients 250 mg does not cause any reaction so 375 or 500 mg needed. Discuss about this psychiatrist.
It should be given for at least one year. As per deaddiction criteria when person keep away himself from substance for at least one year, he can be called deaddicted from the substance.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Yes vitamin tablet can be given
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXX,
Welcome back.
Yes you can give multivitamin tablets with esperal.
Normally we start with half tablet of 250 mg esperal and after 3days if no side effects 250 mg full tablet daily given. In few patients 250 mg does not cause any reaction so 375 or 500 mg needed. Discuss about this psychiatrist.
It should be given for at least one year. As per deaddiction criteria when person keep away himself from substance for at least one year, he can be called deaddicted from the substance.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Note: In case of any other concern or query related to prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, or the recovery of persons with the any type of addiction or substance use, follow up with our Addiction Medicine Specialist. Click here to book a consultation now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju
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