Three months ago I posted ANTABUSE: The one-step programme for alcohol abstinence. Long story short, last September I started taking daily the drug disulfiram, better known by its first brand name, Antabuse. It was approved by the American Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for Alcohol Use Disorder in 1951, 75 years ago.

It’s available in the UK with a doctor’s prescription. If your doctor refuses to prescribe it, go to another doctor. Most doctors know little about alcohol addiction and next to nothing about Antabuse. Colin Brewer, an 85-year old retired psychiatrist of my acquaintance – the co-author of Antabuse Treatment for Alcoholism, the only major book about Antabuse published in 40+ years – prescribed it for 40+ years and says the drug has fewer side effects than aspirin. It is by far the quickest route to long-term abstinence for problem drinkers.

I had no wish to consume alcohol from the day I first took the drug (not everyone experiences this). Feel free to email me (mike@j4mb.org.uk) if you’re a problem drinker wanting to be abstinent.

Paul Elam was a substance abuse counsellor for 30+ years. We recently co-authored the international bestseller ANTABUSE: The one-step program for alcohol abstinence. It’s available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon, here (paperback £9.58, Kindle £7.49). We recorded a video (36:59) discussing the issues covered in the book.

I holiday in Ireland every summer for two or three weeks, staying with some close relatives. Two or three years ago, in an effort to remain abstinent during my holiday I drank Guinness 0.0 (Guinness Zero) on my visits to pubs, usually to catch traditional Irish music. I was very impressed with it and even drank it rather than regular Guinness when I stayed for a few days and had a room over a pub in the high street of the beautiful small city of Kilkenny which has about 65 pubs and bars. I’d never seen so many Americans outside the US in my life.

Guinness (4.1 – 4.3% ABV) is the highest-selling beer in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. I thought you might enjoy an Irishman’s video (4:54), his tasting test of regular Guinness and Guinness Zero. Surprisingly he chose to take the test in a pub in Cork, where Murphy’s Irish Stout is made.

A week ago I stopped taking Antabuse, after realising I had started to identify as a non-drinker, as opposed to a drinker who’s being abstinent.

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