Heavy drinking

[JoeM89]

Is it true that heavy drinking sessions stop citalopram from working? I go out every Saturday and drink quite a lot. I know I shouldn't, but I always feel like I'm missing out if I do think go. My hangovers are getting worse, so I know I need to drastically cut down on the drinking.

[Catherine S]

I don't think any kind of medication mixes well with alcohol, from painkillers to antibiotics, and particularly mind-altering drugs like anti depressants and anti anxiety meds. Not only does alcohol alter the effect of meds, the mix could well be harmful in heavy drinking sessions. But I get the feeling you already know that, so yes, might be a good idea to cut back :)

ISB x

[Pipkin]

I don't know if alcohol actually stops ADs working (I'm on venlafaxine and it doesn't) but alcohol definitely makes anxiety worse when the effects wear off.

It's incredibly tempting to drink to ease anxiety. It makes you feel almost instantly better and it's such a relief if you're suffering. Unfortunately, it's short lived and you'll inevitably feel much worse afterwards. Check the leaflet which comes with your ADs but my advice is to keep within moderation. There's no need to live like a saint but keep it steady, drink plenty of water and have days off between drinks.

Some people have given up alcohol all together. That's great for them but I enjoy it so I drink a little once or twice a week and feel ok.

Hope that helps

Pip

[JoeM89]

Yeah it definitely does ease the anxiety for a while. Hate the feelings afterwards though. Think i'm going to have a month off the heavy drinking because I'm sick of feeling like this.

Do either of you get depressed after drinking? I feel down for days. Really don't know why I do it to myself!

[RosieBelle]

Hi, I'm on Citalopram and all I know is that they advise us not to drink on them. But, I've stopped drinking anyway because I've read that alcohol can make anxiety/mental health worse. I've felt more depressed after drinking too, so maybe it could be a good idea for you to cut down abit - boring, I know! But hey, at least you'll be able to remeber what happened the night before now lol! :hugs:

[JoeM89]

It would be nice to remember more! Although it's probably for the best that I don't remember certain things haha.

I think the aim is to ultimately stop drinking. Boring like you say, but sacrifices need to be made.

[RosieBelle]

Haha :D
Yeah you're right, sometimes sacrifices need to be made, even if you just start by cutting back a little bit. To be fair, I don't miss drinking much.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Alcohol doesn't mean anxiety in anxiety sufferers, it just can affect us. When I was Cit I got much better and my GP was fine with moderate drinking. It affected no worse than before my anxiety, just a hangover.

Whilst is does say in the leaflet drink should be avoided, if you look at the professional interactions advice it actually says limit or avoid.

What I do know is that alcohol causes Serotonin to spike. The more you drink, the more you are hammering your Serotonin. I suspect this means that we are rebuilding these levels the next day or so until the balance is restored from eating food and this may be partly why some struggle.

I think it's a complicated issue, some people are just too sensitised already so anything stimulating or anything that causes physical sensations just means anxiety to them. At my worst eating food or even drinking water made me more anxious! Having all those hangover symptoms when you are already getting anxious over any tiny sensation in your body is obviously going to affect you. Look how many threads we get about coughs & colds?

---------- Post added at 06:19 ---------- Previous post was at 06:13 ----------


I don't think any kind of medication mixes well with alcohol, from painkillers to antibiotics, and particularly mind-altering drugs like anti depressants and anti anxiety meds. Not only does alcohol alter the effect of meds, the mix could well be harmful in heavy drinking sessions. But I get the feeling you already know that, so yes, might be a good idea to cut back :)

ISB x

You need to clarify that, ISB. All meds work differently, some are enhanced by alcohol, some are reduced. It's not so simple. There are many different liver enzymes involved in meds and many use different ones which can mean different impacts.

In terms of harmful, that needs some proof behind it. For instance, persistent heavy drinking on my med, Duloxetine, does have a harm based warning but I'm yet to see that on many other SSRI/SNRI meds on the pro databases. If it were a known issue, a disclaimer beyond the alcohol warnings would be needed which don't specifically mention heavy drinking. Is there some proof it could be?

Although I would agree it's worth cutting down.

[Catherine S]

Sorry Terry, I thought I had clarified it when I said alcohol can alter the effects of the meds...alter meaning it can either cancel out the positive effects altogether as with antibiotics, or make some people feel ill when mixing it with certain other meds. I was speaking generally, as in generally speaking it's usually not a good idea to engage in heavy drinking sessions while taking meds, because Joel was talking about heavy drinking and not moderate drinking. I then suggested cutting back.

ISB