Anti booze implant

Fighting an alcohol addiction is a difficult time for everyone, not just the addict themselves. Although it’s mostly a psychological issue and it can’t be treated directly by pharmaceuticals, there are drugs that are being used to help addicts get through on the road to sobriety. In the UK and the US the drug – Antabuse (disulfiram) is used in form of a daily pill. However, in Easter Europe people went one step further and found a way to make it work non-stop for at least 8-12 months. Esperal is using the same ingredient as Antabuse, but instead of being a pill, it’s an implant that goes under one’s skin. How does it work and what are its main pros?

Anti booze implant – how does it work?

Esperal (disulfiram) is a powerful drug that stops the body from producing enzymes that breakdown the alcohol that’s in your system and thus causes a powerful reaction with an amount as small as a sip. It works within minutes and with the fact that it’s an actual implant, not a pill that you take willingly once a day, it works at all times. By doing so, even the smallest amount of alcohol in your system would mean a reaction similar to a hangover but much more severe. Headaches, dizziness, excessive sweating, drop in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, hyperventilation or even extreme anxiety are normal here and they would continue to occur for hours on end.

The effects of drinking alcohol while having an implant under your skin can last up to 10-12 hours and they start just few minutes after taking a sip of alcohol. Disulfiram works not only on vodka or liquor – it’s just as effective with beer, cider, chocolates stuffed with alcohol or even some medicines that are based on low alcohol dosage. It’s a really powerful drug and one that can get you feel disgusted by alcohol. And that’s the point.

What is an anti-booze implant and why do we need it?

Esperal or simply disulfiram as it is being called now has been used as an implant in Eastern European countries as a way of eliminating the struggles of an addict at the beginning of their road to sobriety. When you have to take a pill every day, someone should be there to remind you and even shove it down your throat if necessary. With the implant, there’s no such risk. The addict has to be willing to go through the procedure and they can just as easily go to the doctor to get it taken out, but it’s still far more effective.

The main idea behind the anti-booze implant is to make the person aversive to alcohol, which has been their problem solver for a long time. People who struggle with giving up drinking all by themselves need that push which would tell them that alcohol is not actually an answer and that it can harm them and still not mask the psychological pain it used to.

Pros and cons of a disulfiram implant

One of the main pros of an anti-booze implant is obviously the fact it works at all times and you can’t simply take it out whenever you want. That way it’s much more effective than a pill which you could throw away the moment you feel like you need a drink or switch to vitamins to keep pretending to your close ones that you’re taking care of the problem. That’s not all though. Esperal (disulfiram) works for about 12 months straight which means it stays in your system longer than an average rehab treatment. You can easily incorporate it in your program, starting from the detox and then going in with a disulfiram implant to form an aversion towards alcohol while you try to solve your problems and figure out that alcohol is not an answer.

If there is one disadvantage of the anti-booze implant it would be that you can actually take it out if you wanted to. There are no laws that say an addict can be forced to get an implant, go to rehab and quit drinking. Some people who do it because a judge says so often go to the doctors the next day to have the implant removed just so that can keep drinking and the doctor can’t legally say no. Other than that, there’s no harm in getting a disulfiram implant and so much good that you can get out of it.