Expert: james52144@earthlink.net - 12/21/2006

Question
I have a 43 year old alcoholic son who has been in 3 rehab facilities over a 2 year period.  In each case within a week or so of leaving he starts to drink again.  His heavy drinking started about 4 years ago.  About 2 years ago he lost his job as a VP of a major company and hasn't worked since.  I believe the major reason is he can't stay sober long enough to get a job to say nothing about his ability to keep a job.

A friend told me about a treatment where a metering device is implanted under the skin to meter out a drug which causes a somewhat violent reaction if the patient drinks an alcoholic beverage.  The friend told me how it saved lives but couldn't give me any specific information.

Are you familiar with this?  If so, what are the pros and cons of this treatment?  

Answer
Dear Bob

I am so sorry you have to go through this. Some people recover from this disease when their lives become so miserable that they don't want to drink any more. Others don't. The drug is called Anabuse, and if someone wants to drink badly enough they will choose either to drink and get sick or take out the implant on their own. You can try it, but like other forms of treatment, if the person hasn't "hit the bottom", they will relapse after the treatment is concluded. You may wish to attend meeting of Alanon to help you with the feelings you are experiencing, or at least read Caroline Beattie's book "Co-dependant no more".

Good luck.