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antidepressants and alcohol

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Q: The effects of speed when mixed with alcohol and antidepressants and mood stabilisers?
Hiya, im just wondering about how when speed is taken, how it affects the body and mind when combined with alcohol, antidepressants (specifically citalopram 20mg) and mood stabilisers (specifically semisodium valproate 1000mg). A close friend of mine is worrying me, after last night she took this combination. She is ok obviously, but how does speed affect the mind and mental health and especially someone with manic depression? Thanks for your help.

Emma x

A: Speed and alcohol can kill a person by causing damage to your heart.Valproate by itself toxic to your liver and alcohol is too, so you can really cause problems for yourself. With citalopram the drug can reduce your tolerance for alcohol and make your mood state unstable. Another thing is that speed can take a normal person and turn them into psychotic mess. You will get paranoid, think people are coming to kill you, seeing shadows out of the corner of your eye, and stuff like that.

Q: Why do some people mix their antidepressants and Alcohol?
I know some people that are on antidepressants and or other medication and they go out drinking anyways.. I am just wondering I have nothing against people who do so but should reconsider what they are doing to themselves.

This is a two question thing:

1) What does happen when people mix alcohol with their medication example antidepressants and what does it lead to or happens?

2) Do they drink to help loosen up or shake off the bad feelings that they are feeling inside such as depression related things?

Thank you :)

A: Alcohol and anti-depressants do not mix and it can make a person with depression.People with depression drink to escape their problems and stress,then they come back down and feel worse because they are hung over and still depressed so they drink again and go through periods of binging.Then some become alcoholics and they spiral into this vicious circle that can lead to liver problems or alcohol poisoning.

Q: What are side effects of mixing painkillers with antidepressants and alcohol?
My mom’s friend is doing this, and keeps hallucinating that her brother is with her but he isn’t. Are there any other negative effects we should be worried about?

A: What are the side effects? You have just described some of the side effects. She needs help FAST.

Q: antidepressants && alcohol???
im 17 and im bipolar. i just recently started taking an antidepressant callled EFFEXOR. on the label it says to avoid alcohol while taking this medicine. i tend to drink a lot. pretty much every weekend. is it safe to still drink????

A: NO and no and no no no no….

Alcohol is a depressant. If you drink a lot, it can mess you mind up enough even when you’re not drunk or hungover that you can actually seem more mentally unstable than you really are. The very FIRST thing that needs to happen when people are getting mental illness attended to is to get off any alcohol or other drugs. Your doctor should have really stressed this, but maybe you weren’t totally upfront about how much you drink when you got diagnosed. Misdiagnoses of bipolar are very common when alcohol is a hidden problem.

In any case, antidepressants and alcohol do not mix. At all.

Q: Antidepressants for alcohol withdraw?
I have a parent who is suffering from alcohol withdraw. It’s been several months. The symptoms are not up to seizure levels, but they are still pretty severe. I’m wondering if antidepressants will help at all (he’s also a very lonely person).

And also, what other suggestions do you have for combating alcohol withdraw? Thanks.

A: Talk to your parent’s doctor. Benzodiazepines are used to help ease alcohol withdrawal and have been shown to be pretty effective. Don’t start your parent on them before consulting with a doctor though, as the dose for withdrawal treatment for your parent might not be the same as the therapeutic dose.
Alcoholics Anonymous has also been found to be very beneficial when it comes to quitting alcohol because it focuses on behaviours and giving support.
Best of luck!

Q: Mixing low dosage of antidepressants with small amounts of alcohol?
My doctor just started me on a low dosage of antidepressants, but my after prom party is coming up in a couple of weeks. I wouldn’t be taking the alcohol WITH the antidepressants, and it would be only be a small amount of alcohol to get me a little buzzed for one night. Would it really be that bad? What side effects would there be?

I will report stupid answers.

A: Alcohol is a depressant, which is why it isn’t smart to mix antidepressants with alcohol. The side effects of mixing these two together would be symptoms of depression. If you have started taking the antidepressants within the last month, I wouldn’t recommend taking them since your body is still trying to reach therapeutic level. I am a pharmacy student who takes antidepressants for anxiety and I still occasionally drink with it. During the first 6 weeks of taking it, however, I didn’t drink. If you do decide to drink, just try to be responsible about it and don’t drink too much.

Q: Are you still able to drink alcohol while taking antidepressants?
I’ve been taking Wellbutrin XL 300MG for 3 months and I havent drank ANY alcohol till today. My family bought several bottles of Sangria (which I love). So I had a glass at dinner.

A: Ok first, alcohol is an depressant…..so the opposite of an anti depressant. You are taking the anti depresant to help your depression….the alcohol will make you depressed.

And that is talking not even considering any other interactions with the med.

One thing with wellbutrin in particular, is it lowers threashold for seizures…..meaning it makes it much easier for you to have seizures, even if you never have before. Consuming alcohol when on wellbutrin lowers that threshold even more……making it even higher chance.

That being said i take wellbutrin. I still do drink every once in a while….but its becoming rarer and rarer as i find when i do, even just a couple drinks, i feel the effects on my mood from it for like week after, and its really not worth it.

Q: Can antidepressants raise my blood alcohol level?
I got a DUI. Blood test.09. Legal limit in California is .08.

I only had 3 beers, I was on Celexa antidepressant and I had a terrible reaction. Got a DUI sleeping in my car with the engine running after leaving the bar.

Is it possible that Celexa raised my blood alcohol level?

A: Antidepressants don’t raise your blood alcohol level. What happens when you mix SSRIs and alcohol is that you get a synergistic effect-the combination of the two drugs greatly increases the intensity of the side effects of SSRIs. Clouded judgement, drowsiness, slowed reflexes and suicidal thoughts are just some of the side effects that are caused by both alcohol and SSRIs-put the two together and there’s your DUI.

Q: Should you refrain from drinking alcohol while taking Prozac (or other antidepressants)?
The prescription bottle says do not take Prozac with alcohol, but does not necessarily say to avoid alcohol all together. I was wondering if anyone has any experiences with taking antidepressants, not even specifically Prozac, and consuming alcohol. Did you experience any negative effects? Are there any effects of consuming alcohol and taking antidepressants?

A: yes i have seen it first hand don’t do it and if you need to just one or two.i ignored the warnings and feel victim, ended up in hospital not nice was in for three days

Q: Mixing antidepressants with alcohol?
A doctor started me on thyroid medication and something else that is an antidepressant. I actually started to feel better and now a friend I haven’t seen for a long time shows up and starts mixing up margaritas and kamikazes. I don’t want to sound ungrateful so I just keep drinking them. I skipped doses because of daily drinking of both medications and now feel really warped and screwed up. Like I said, don’t want to sound like a jerk because he pays for them after all.

A: What do you expect us to tell you?

Needless to say, it’s a bad idea.

Remember it is a lot easier to say “No thank you,” than it is to pay for an ambulance ride and a stay in the ER.

Antidepressants tend to make the effects of alcohol poisoning far worse. Whereas mixing alcohol with thyroid medications, or antidepressants, runs a big risk of liver damage.

If you want any better advice than that, you need to talk to your doctor.

~WOMBAT

Q: Antidepressants and Alcohol?
My Dr has given me a prescription for zoloft (50mg) for mild depression (post partum depression). I didn’t want to take it while pregnant or nursing. Now I am no longer nursing and will be starting the medication today.

I know that alcohol and antidepressants don’t mix. But is that only in large quantities or when drinking often?

Is it ok to have an occasional glass of wine (one 4-6 oz glass of wine per week)?

Basically, how much alcohol and how often is considered safe?

Thanks for the advice.

regards,
mari

A: Really the big problem with alcohol is that it IS a depressant, so the medication can’t work effectively. One drink is fine. Two is enough. Three is too many.

Q: antidepressants and alcohol don’t mix?
I take antidepressants and drank on new years and on christmas day. I did drink to much because I felt horrible the next day. I don’t drink much anyway but it was the holidays. My question has anyone felt like their medicines quit working for a few days after drinking? I drank last Sunday and it is Friday and I still don’t feel as good as I did before.

A: No, it isn’t good to mix antidepressants and alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant and when mixed with your medication it prevents the medication from working. It’s a ratio imbalance…your depression plus the medication is a balance, when you add alcohol, you have both the depression and the depressant from the alcohol working against the medication. If you still don’t feel good, talk to your doctor.

Q: mixing alcohol and antidepressants my friend needs HELP!?
i was out with my friend and she is on effexor, she usually doesnt drink more than 1 drink when we go out because of the medication but tonight she had 3 drinks… she is pretty drunk (because she doesnt drink alot) should I be worried about how the drinks will interact with medication??? what should I do?

A: she will be fine tonight. dont worry. just get her some water, and put her to bed. later though, you might want to look up the consequences of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol, and show her just how damaging it can be. i had a friend die from taking vicadin and drinking. its no matter to fool around with.

good luck to you both.

Q: antidepressants and alcohol?
I already know you aren’t supposed to drink alcohol and take antidepressants- which sucks. I have suffered from depression for 18 years and I’m only 25. I’m tired of feeling sad all the time. Life stressors make me feel worse. I should be happy in life but Im not. I am successful, and have a lot of great talent but I never feel happy or proud of myself for anything. I had my first art show a few weeks ago and it was hard to even feel happy about that- and everyone loved my show, but i didnt really care. It did feel a good, but not like I think feeling good should feel. I have felt happy in the past about things, but I am stuck in such a rut since my dad passed away 2 years ago and everything changed and I just have no energy to do anything. I have 550 things I want to do but no motivation. I do try, but we all know nothing great is achieved without enthusiasm.
i want to take an antidepressant, but i still want to be able to have 7 guinnesses on saturday night.

A: Years ago I got on Zoloft and I was a heavy drinker (Guinness). I drank the whole time I took the antidepressants and all it did was make the antidepressants not work for me. I finally just stopped taking them and I drank for another 4 years. I finally quit because I got into AA. At the same time I got on Effexor, Abilify and klonopin. I went out and I got drunk on New Years and I woke up with the DTs. I shook for 3 days and I felt like I was dying. It was only from one night of drinking (2 bottles of champagne and 1 Guinness). My doctor told me that my liver was compromised from taking the Effexor (300 mg/day) and that’s why I got the DTs.
7 Guinnesses is a somewhat heavy amount of alcohol. I just wouldn’t do it if I were you.

Q: Mixing alcohol and antidepressants?
I take an antidepressant every day. On the weekends i like to party with my friends and get drunk, pretty much every weekend. What will happen if i keep this up?

A: It is the worst mix EVER… not physically so much, but MENTALLY. you will feel like ABSOLUTE hell, have weird thoughts, very low emotions, your brain doesn’t know what to do… Because you are taking an anti-depressant. and alchohol is a DEPRESSANT. So my experience with it was, Not being able to get drunk, unless you drink so much that it completely erases the help that the drug is doing, the next morning having the WORST hang over ever, and then the next two days or so feeling completely worse than you ever were before taking the meds.. If you are gonna try to get better by taking an ANTI DEPRESSANT, why drink a (DEPRESSANT) it just doesnt make sense. The two just dont mix.

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