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How Effective is the Standard Dose of Disulfiram? A Review of the Alcohol-Disulfiram Reaction in Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Colin Brewer
Colin Brewer*
Affiliation:
Community Alcoholism Treatment Service, Westminster Hospital, London S.W.1
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Summary

The current maximum recommended dose of disulfiram, 200 mg daily, is often inadequate. Of 63 patients taking disulfiram under supervision who either risked drinking alcohol or who had a medically supervised challenge with alcohol, only half produced a significant response on a dose of 200–300 mg daily. Some patients need as much as 1.5 g daily but even at high dosage significant side effects are uncommon, reversible and rarely serious.

A modification to the recommended technique for a medically supervised alcohol challenge is described, which minimises distress.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 2 , February 1984 , pp. 200 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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