Antabuse only works if the alcoholic is very motivated. My step-son, age 26, tricked his mom into thinking he was taking his Antabuse everyday, while she watched him swallow his pill. He switched out the Antabuse for Excedrine..he had an alcohol psychosis episode from drinking and jumped out his window in his parent's 2-story home. He is one very lucky fellow having only fractured some vertebrae in his lower back, and will have to wear a back brace for a month. I think his next sneaky way of getting out of taking Antabuse would be swallowing it and then immediately vomiting it up again.
I'm sorry you're going through this, it's very difficult to watch someone you love destroy themselves. My mother was only in her mid-fifties when she passed 8 yrs. ago. She died from liver cirrhosis and hepatitis. She knew the consequenses and wouldn't or couldn't quit. She knew I was in recovery from alcohol myself and that it was possible to enjoy life and actually have fun without drinking but she didn't have the desire to quit and without that nothing works. Pressure from family and friends sometimes backfires on those who are only trying to help. Never try to reason or talk to him about it while he's drinking, wait until he's feeling pretty bad physically or mentally, some are more reseptive to the idea at those times. Someone could let him know that he doesn't have to feel this way anymore and there is help out there. Blessings
Antabuse is really useful for people who want to quit drinking and want something that makes them think more than twice about taking a drink. If he drinks while taking antabuse he's going to get very very sick. So it's a good deterrant for people. It makes them say "Whoa, I really can't drink while I'm taking this" so you don't even try.
However, if he wants to drink he can just go ahead and stop taking the antabuse. It doesn't stay in your system all that long. He'd have to agree to take it and then take it every day. If he's seriously a long-term alcoholic there's a big risk in quitting cold turkey. There's any number of withdrawl symptoms he could go through, the worst hallucinations and seizures so definitely consult with a doctor. It sounds like he needs more than just antabuse though. He needs to acknhowledge that he's drinking too much and make a concerted effort to quit or at the very least cut down a bit. Drinking every day is not a good or healthy thing obviously. Has the family ever spoken to him about his drinking?
I don't know if theres any risk of taking antabuse with his high blood pressure. That's the kind of thing to talk over with a doctor. There is an inherent danger in giving someone any sort of medication without their knowledge so I wouldn't reccomend sneaking it to him. He could have some sort of adverse reaction to it, or at the very least just drink and he'll get very very sick. Who knows when or where he might be when that happens so I definitely wouldn't sneak it to him if that's what you were thinking.
did he do that only for one day? or did he go back to his drinking habits after that? was your father in law a heavy drinker?
My mother-in-law would put antabuse in my father-in-laws coffee in the mornings before he went to work. It worked for him until he got tired of not drinking so then he got up earlier than his wife and went to work without his "coffee". Point being, if your Dad does not want to stop drinking then antabuse is not going to do it for him.
Good luck and God Bless.
Antabuse worked well for me but I am concerned about your husband taking it with high blood pressure.