Medication against alcoholism

[milan2003_07]

I am going to describe a practice of trying to get rid of alcoholism. I don't really know if people use this type of treatment (fighting alcoholism) it in other countries or not, but I suppose there definitely should be something similar. I heard this type of practice many times from my colleagues and friends in Russia when speaking about other people's experiences.

The practice is when some kind of medication is inserted into a person's body and if alcohol penetrates their organism, the mixture of the medication and alcohol forms a deadly poison that kills a person. The person knows about it and when he wants to drink again, he is supposed to remember that there is the medication in his body that can kill them after interacting with alcohol. As a result he doesn't drink.

What do you call the process of inserting this medication in your body (in Russian it's a fixed term whose meaning becomes clear after you've pronounced this word)?

 

[Tarheel]

So you create a situation in which drinking an alcoholic beverage amounts to committing suicide. Do I understand that correctly?

 

[milan2003_07]

Yes, you're right.

At least, that is how I understand the word I was wondering about in English.

So far, I haven't found this word in any of the online dictionaries available (in English).

However, there is the link in Russian. Maybe it will help somehow to find the English equivalent (the Russian word is "подшиться"):

Что значит подшиться от алкоголя? – Медцентр «Норма»

Объясняет врач-психотерапевт с более чем 20-летним стажем работы в наркологии, главный врач медцентра «Норма» Стекольщиков Сергей Вячеславович: «подшиться» не значит решить проблему алкоголизма. Кодирование от алкоголя - только начало лечения в медцентре «Норма».

medcentrnorma.ru

 

[kttlt]

Not a teacher.

Coding (therapy) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As you can see from both the English and Russian articles, this "method" is entirely a psychotherapeutic device, and doesn't really suggest the possibility of the patient dying. It's essentially a placebo.

To be honest, I've only ever heard the term "закодироваться" ("to code oneself") used colloquially before, and I don't think it's in much use anymore (the term and the practice both).

 

[stanislaw.masny]

Not a teacher or a doctor.

Yes. Alcohol implants are sterile tablets that are sewn (stitched up0 under the skin of a sick person. They slowly release an active substance, disulfiram, into the bloodstream over the next few months. This substance, better known under the trade name Esperal, affects the metabolism of alcohol.

 

[Rover_KE]

Thank you for that information.

Does this effect actually kill Russian patients, as the OP suggests?

 

[SoothingDave]

It's known as "Antabuse" here and it makes you have violently ill reactions.

Disulfiram plus alcohol, even small amounts, produces flushing, throbbing in the head and neck, a throbbing headache, respiratory difficulty, nausea, copious vomiting, sweating, thirst, chest pain, palpitation, dyspnea, hyperventilation, fast heart rate, low blood pressure, fainting, marked uneasiness, weakness, vertigo, blurred vision, and confusion. In severe reactions there may be respiratory depression, cardiovascular collapse, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attack, acute congestive heart failure, unconsciousness, convulsions, and death

One would have to really work past these ill effects to consume enough to be fatal. It's meant to create a negative association as a deterrent.

 

[milan2003_07]

Thank you for that information.

Does this effect actually kill Russian patients, as the OP suggests?

I have no idea. I just heard from my acquaintances some stories about people who had coded themselves. In one of the articles on the Internet I read about the effect of such medication when a person became violently ill after taking alcohol. This probably works as physchological prevention when a drinker (alcoholic) knows he will feel bad or even very bad after drinking.

They say this coding does not cure alcoholism completely, but serves as an important step in the whole therapy.

 

[Tarheel]

I would say it has a bad effect on a person if he or she drinks an alcoholic beverage.

 

[milan2003_07]

Dear friends,

Returning to my original question, the best word is 'to code oneself'?

 

[SoothingDave]

No, that has no special meaning in English.

 

[jutfrank]

What do you call the process of inserting this medication in your body?

Are we talking about an implant? Or taking pills? Or hypnosis?

If we can get that, we might be able to suggest something more practical. What's the context in which you wish to use this particular word or phrase you're thinking of? Why not write a complete sentence in Russian and then we'll see if we can translate it.

 

[Tarheel]

Dear friends,

Returning to my original question, IS THE BEST WORD 'to code oneself'?

 

[milan2003_07]

Are we talking about an implant? Or taking pills? Or hypnosis?

If we can get that, we might be able to suggest something more practical. What's the context in which you wish to use this particular word or phrase you're thinking of? Why not write a complete sentence in Russian and then we'll see if we can translate it.

Sure, I will try to write some Russian sentences:

"Он подшился, однако это ему не помогло"
"Пусть он попробует подшиться от алкоголизма и, возможно, это ему поможет"

подшиться от алкоголизма - Google Search

 

[milan2003_07]

Dear friends,

Do you have any suggestions about the post above and the topic of the thread in general?

 

[Rover_KE]

Returning to my original question, the best word is 'to code oneself'?

I don't think you can code yourself.

In American TV hospital dramas we sometimes hear an alarm sound and the staff shout 'He's coding!'

code

v intransitive

2. to experience cardiac arrest or respiratory failure

They were taking her up to the operating room and she coded in the hallway. The resuscitation effort was heroic.

(Merriam-Webster)

 

[kttlt]

I'd like to point out that I didn't suggest "to code oneself" as a valid English expression in post #4, I merely provided a literal translation of the Russian word.

 

[probus]

Dear friends,

Do you have any suggestions about the post above and the topic of the thread in general?

Disulfuram (brand name Antabuse) is available throughout North America but only if prescribed by a physician. I've not heard of the subcutaneously implantable version.

When the body begins to metabolize alcohol, the first reaction chemically transforms the alcohol into acetaldehyde, a toxic compound which is normally eliminated by the liver. Antabuse works by preventing that elimination. As acetaldehyde accumulates in the body it produces headache, coronary palpitations, facial flushing and other unpleasant symptoms.

 

[Tarheel]

Sure, I will try to write some Russian sentences:

You succeeded (I think).