Antabuse works by preventing your liver from breaking down (metabolizing) alcohol after you drink it.
It does this by blocking an enzyme (protein) that’s responsible for metabolizing alcohol. If alcohol isn’t metabolized, it can’t be cleared out of your body. When alcohol stays in your body longer, it causes you to feel sick.
The specific enzyme that Antabuse blocks is called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Blocking ALDH causes a negative reaction known as the “disulfiram-alcohol reaction.” About 10 to 30 minutes after drinking alcohol, you may experience the following symptoms if you took Antabuse:
- Sweating
- Flushing
- Heart palpitations and fast heartbeat
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Low blood pressure
While these symptoms are uncomfortable, they’re not usually life-threatening. But the risk of a severe reaction usually rises with the amount of alcohol a person consumes.
The knowledge that the disulfiram-alcohol reaction can occur is enough to discourage some people from drinking alcohol.