Antidepressants and alcohol

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum but have a question for anyone who might be like me.  I take zoloft but like to have a few beers.  It hasn't been a real problem until recently and I don't remember things when drinking.  I know this can be a side affect from alcohol and I'm sure mixing the two only intensifies the problem.  My question is, does anyone take an anti-depressant and drink and not feel it makes you feel alot worse or makes you forget things more easily?  I'm really thinking of trying something different other than Zoloft.  There's a generic version out there now and I think that has bee part of my problem

Thanks!

Hey Penny64,

Glad to have you on board.  Have you ever read the warning sticker on your meds bottle(s).  Or the pharmacy information they include with every prescription?  All anti-depressants warn against the use of alcohol while taking the medication.  Alcohol is a depressant, Zoloft is an anti-depressant.  See any conflict here?  It's like a milder version of a speedball - cocaine and heroin - which is what killed John Belushi.  Mixing medications with conflicting purposes is just asking for trouble.  You know, you just can't have it all.  If you need to take the Zoloft, lay off the beer.  Sometimes you have make sacrifices to fix a chemical imbalance in your brain.  If nothing else, try substituting a non-alcoholic beer.  That way you can be out and social, without the fear of something really bad happening, or doing things you won't remember the next day.

I made the mistake of drinking while on my meds back in October.  I had no idea that it would affect me the way it did.  I was drinking double White Russians faster than the alcohol was hitting me.  It started catching up with me pretty quickly.  I knocked something onto the floor, which I bent over to pick up.  I hit my head squarely on the bar and gave myself a concussion.  I remember nothing about the next half hour.  I saw friends, had conversations, and had to get an escort to walk me back to my room.  Good thing he was a really nice, well-built fireman, because my room was way at the other end of the complex.  I do remember bouncing off the walls a number of times.  Drinking was a stupid thing to do, and I knew better.  I thought I'd just test the odds.  Bad idea.  Don't keep making the same mistake.  It's just not worth it.

Leigh Ann

Hey Penny,

I didn't mean to come across as lecturing, I just wanted to give you another perspective, since my mixing of anti-depressants and alcohol did not work out so well for me.  If you step back and look at your situation like it was some unknown person, you might see things slightly different.  You started taking anti-depressants for a reason.  Unless your situation is drastically changed, stopping prescription medication in favor of herbal remedies is a crap shoot.  Non-regulated herbal remedies are very sketchy in their effectiveness.  Because they are not regulated by the FDA, which would basically eliminate their existance, there is widespread disparity in what benefits they may offer.  In addition, the concentration of the "active" ingredient varies widely, not only from product to product, but within individual lots of the same product.  That's why the FDA wants to regulate all herbal remedies.

Drinking alcohol numbs you out, and seems to make your problems disappear.  But they don't.  It just prevents you from dealing with them.  Saying that you've been drinking on the meds for ten years is not a thing to brag about.  If you stopped drinking for a while, you might be able to confront and resolve your problems while still on your meds, and if you did that, maybe you wouldn't need to take them anymore.  Not lecturing, just giving you food for thought.  Lastly, you're not posting on this board because life, as you are living it, is working for you.  Just think about it.

Let us know how you are doing.  We care.

Leigh Ann

Hi there n welcome why not start your own thread....topic..... introducing self to others here.....take care...lyn

Hi Penny,
I'm allergic to alcohol, so I can't speak from personal experience, but I really think this question is better asked of your doctor. Everyone processes anti-depressants differently. Everyone processes alcohol differently. Some people like Leigh Ann will have serious & immediate consequences of mixing the two. Some people will have no immediate consequences of mixing the two, but will end up with liver damage from continuing to mix them for a year or more. Yet others will somehow manage to mix alcohol, antidepressants and a half dozen other drugs & will miraculously have no consequences at all.

Your doctor knows your medical history & can evaluate your neurological & psychiatric functioning. It is possible to have the symptoms you describe. A friend of mine had those same symptoms (though she didn't recognize them in herself, just about everyone who knew her would talk about it & try to discourage her from drinking; especially the last year or so when for some reason it seems her memory after drinking has gotten a lot worse).

I would agree with the post about there not being a difference in the side effects of the generic vs. name brand. By law they have to be nearly identical. Unless you are having a reaction to one of the inactive ingredients, nothing is likely to change by switching to the generic (there are some people who are lactose-intolerant, for example, who by switching between a name-brand & generic can benefit by having a lactose-free medication with the same active ingredient. it can improve general health & thereby decrease the severity of some side effects, but the difference even with that is typically not huge even if it is measurable).

Please do talk to your doctor. I'm assuming by the number of years you say you've been drinking that you're over 21 so there really is nothing to fear by bringing it up. There are even tests that can be run to check how your body is metabolizing the medication while on alcohol to see if somehow it is affecting you more.

take care,
frances

Hi everyone,

I would just like to add my story to this forum. It might help others, and I would be interested to know if anyone else has the same issues I had. The botom line is that my experience with alcohol and antideppressants has not been a good one. My behaviour has been very random and it took me years to figure it out.

I'm 43, I have been on Lexapro for about 6 years after having work related anxiety issues. I have just about got myself off the drug but not after a real rollercoaster ride which has almost ruined my marraige, my business and other personal relationships. This isn't bagging Lexapro. Its works well, but perhaps just a note of caution to what you mix with it.

I took Lexapro for anxiety. I used to drink about 5 standard drinks a day. the lexapro worked, but at some point I started to do really stupid things while drinking. Previously drinking would relax me, but more and more I was behaving erratically while drunk. eg. showing off, running up the street in my underwear when my football team won, riding shopping trolleys down busy streets, booking holidays and buying things online with my credit card that I could not afford. Dumb stuff like this. I would have random sex with strangers. I also got these strange 'highs' from drinking and I would drink more and more until I got very drunk and could not remember what I had done the next day. I didn't make any co-relation with my medication at the time.

After visiting my doctor, we considered that my behavour might be more than depression and anxiety but bipolar disorder. I had all the symptoms. I was put on a drug called Zyprexa, which made a tempoary improvement. After about 6 months I was getting very depressed, and could not work Did not want to get out of bed. I used to go to bed after drinking of course and hope I would not wake up the next day. Over the course of another 18 months my dosage of my Zyprexa and lexapro was increased to the point where i could no longer function. My drinking sessions started to become violent, my relationship with my partner broke down, and my business was going broke.

Luckily at this point, mother nature stepped in and flooded my business in a massive storm For the first time in about 4 years I was able to take some time off and think about my problems. I got off the Zyprexa and my depression went away immediately(again, this is not against Zyprexa. It just was not the drug I needed). I continued with a 40mg dosage of lexapro, and continued drinking. My behavoiur while drinking was still bad. I still did random things. Not everytime, but at least once every 5 or 6 drinking sessions. The obvious issue I had now was that i had become an alcoholic during this period.

As my workload was now different. I did not have the same stresses i used to have(which was the reason for using it in the first place), I decided it might be time to come off the lexapro. And thats where the magic has happened. Over 8 weeks i cut back from 40 to 20, then from 20 to 10, and now from 10 to 5mg/day. I would not recommend anyone to halve their medication like I did. i had some serious highs and lows when I did this but I rode through it. in retrospect I would have cut down in smaller steps.

The great news for me is that with this cut back, am able to have a single beer at the end of the day and stop, or maybe not drink at all. On a friday or sat night i can have 6 if I want, and NOT do anything stupid, I now just get relaxed like i used to. I am back to being a non-violent person which is what I want. I have my sexual function back so no more frustration. I have my conscience back so no more cheating, and best of all. I have a chance to make things right with my girl who i have put through hell in the last 3 years.


I would like to know if other people have had bad experiences when mixing alcohol and anti-depressants?


My advice to anyone on or considering anti-deppresants for anxiety is consider this.
1) if you are not coping with your job or your life, perhaps you should look at changing them, rather than taking medication to cope with them. The medication might work, but he side effects down the track can be devastating.

2) Seek professional advice from a shrink, rather than a general practitioner. They might cost more, but they are better trained. Just a few visits might save years of grief.


Problems you could have when using anti-deppressants(from my experience)
1) Loss of conscience- you can become lees concerned about doing the wrong thing. For me this led to infedelity.

2) Inability to have an orgasm. Again this can become a major problem over a couple of years and combined with 1) above, can lead to problems in your relationship, should you be in one. This one is mainly for guys. Unfortunately for us, when our life goes to crap, we still feel the need to. Unlike most women who don't seem to have this issue (well not on a daily basis)

3) Lack of compassion/closeness for your partner or those close to you.

4) Random behaviour when combining medication with alcohol.


All of these issue have casued me great problems with my relationship and I am only very lucky to still in with a chance at re-building it and my business


Be happy everyone!

Jason

Post Edited By Moderator (getting by) : 1/16/2010 7:40:48 PM (GMT-7)

jasonb6603 said...
Hi everyone,

I would like to know if other people have had bad experiences when mixing alcohol and anti-depressants?


My advice to anyone on or considering anti-deppresants for anxiety is consider this.
1) if you are not coping with your job or your life, perhaps you should look at changing them, rather than taking medication to cope with them. The medication might work, but he side effects down the track can be devastating.

2) Seek professional advice from a shrink, rather than a general practitioner. They might cost more, but they are better trained. Just a few visits might save years of grief.


Problems you could have when using anti-deppressants(from my experience)
1) Loss of conscience- you can become lees concerned about doing the wrong thing. For me this led to infedelity.

2) Inability to have an orgasm. Again this can become a major problem over a couple of years and combined with 1) above, can lead to problems in your relationship, should you be in one. This one is mainly for guys. Unfortunately for us, when our life goes to crap, we still feel the need to. Unlike most women who don't seem to have this issue (well not on a daily basis)

3) Lack of compassion/closeness for your partner or those close to you.

4) Random behaviour when combining medication with alcohol.


All of these issue have casued me great problems with my relationship and I am only very lucky to still in with a chance at re-building it and my business


Be happy everyone!

Jason


Wow - Thank you for sharing your story... I have to agree with you on these side effects. I was in a good marriage for 14 years with my husband and have 2 wonderful kids. I started to feel extreme anxiety in my early 30's... I am now 36. I found my PMS getting worse with mood swings and crying uncontrollably and went to my doctor. I'm an active person in the summer times but the winters out here are brutal (used to live out west for 13 years and moved to mid-west and found that winters are pretty harsh on the psyche) So, the doctor listened to me... I told her of my past... which was bumpy and the feelings I was experiencing at that time. She decided to put me on generic form of Zoloft and started with 25mg - which I found after awhile taking 50mg I could sleep better and was doing fine with that dosage. I did find that my orgasms were being effected and told my husband of this… that they weren’t as intense as they were before. Which frustrated me sexually. But I also found myself having sex more with my husband… especially if I wasn’t in the mood… the pills made it easier to do things. But as times got tougher for my husband and I with finances and moving so close to his family that were pretty dysfunctional themselves I started taking more... which I thought was great and so did everyone around me. I was up to 100mg a day.... but then I would find myself forgetting my medication or not realizing I already took 1 for that day and add another one... my memory on taking the medication was very bad... sometimes too much or sometimes not at all. I would have to say the first thing I did that wasn’t in my style was I combined the medication with alcohol one night. My husband was away on a business trip…. And I found myself at the computer one night with a bottle of wine…. I ended up talking to pretty much a stranger and doing a strip tease and ********** show for him on the web cam… I never told my husband until a year later and when I woke up the next day… I was appalled at myself and paranoid and freaking… the guy was at least cool about it and was drunk too (at least from what he told me) and I never did it again with him or anyone. But that should have been my first warning with mixing alcohol with this drug.

The last summer before the big blowup I was very stressed financially and my husband's family issues were getting worse.... so I found myself taking sometimes up to 200mg a day... I read that is the maximum dosage you can take.. so I thought I was fine. But then I started to have a few beers with friends around me more.... I was always able to handle my liquor before and never really was a drinker.. my stomach would get upset and I would find myself not finishing my drink alot at most parties. But with Zoloft and alcohol.... wow, did I become a drinker and quick. I didn't wake up with it or have it throughout my day but when there was a moment to party.... I drank and didn't realize how much I drank.

One night after a hard work day.. I found myself alone at the bar already with 200mg of Zoloft and a 1/2 a bottle of gin in me. As I sat and drank... the more and more I didn't realize what I was doing. I ended up having unprotected sex with a stranger which living in a small town everyone knew before me! My husband and I started fighting more.. due to my guilt. And I started taking more Zoloft and drinking more... I was probably up to 500mg a day and the next day throwing myself back down again to 200mg or 100mg and then taking more again. After a huge fight with my husband and his family.... I left and met that guy again a week later from the first night.... and just having no emotion or care to what I was doing.

The next day... I told my husband everything....even about the computer deal… and then I got myself checked and found that I had an STD.. chlaymidia (thanks goodness that could be cured with antibiotics) but then still found myself drinking and Zoloft more because of my guilt... So, I went to another doctor which through me on another anti-depressant Welbutrin (Which was giving me haluucinations and light headedness, and exteme dizziness) during the next couple weeks after I told my husband... I found myself kissing a girl and making out in a bathroom only when I was drunk with my husband in the next room and making messed up decisions.

It wasn’t until I started to get sick.. I came down with pleurisy (mostly bedridden) did I come clean about the girl…. I decided to quit all medications that were given to me by the doctors and alcohol very abruptly. I know they say you should wean down but I was disgusted with myself and wanted to get off the drugs to try and figure out why I was doing and making the choices I was…. It wasn’t me and I had no more care for anything or anyone or even myself…. The people that I chose to cheat on my husband wasn’t even people that I would sleep, kiss or hang out even if I was single. They just weren’t my type and I know I could do waaay better if I were to go that route.

I ended up getting very sick with pluricy and probably from totally quitting Zoloft and Welbutrin… I was pretty much in bed for 3 months that winter…. At the same time… trying to fix my marriage. I did finally see a Christian therapist for the first time in my life and was able to point things and people in my past that was making me make decisions that were not healthy for myself. The therapy was very helpful and I urge anyone to do that first before seeking a pill to try and fix your problems.

Once I started to walk and move around… I was starting to feel better…. I gave my husband my pill bag… I had kept it for years… combination of sleeping pills, pain killers for my psoriasis, all my depression pills… Most of these bottles were 5 years old… goes to show I didn’t take them very often but having them around wasn’t good while I tried to quit and also knowing I have an addictive behavior … it was probably a good thing for my husband to do away with those pills.

Summer is finally here… And I am completely off all drugs it’s been 7 months for me not taking Zoloft or anti-depressants… I have had a few drinks but back to myself not being able to finish them. It’s been a hard battle for my marriage but my husband has forgiven me and we are still here and kicking it in this small town…. Because I do love him and he loves me. We decided that when we took our vows in front of God and everyone that this was one of our worst but till death due us part.

I don’t feel the need or desire to cheat on my husband now and even though financially we are still struggling and his family problems have gotten worse (they completely don’t speak to us now)… I am learning to handle my problems without the drugs. There are days where I am extremely sad and days where I’m happy… I realized this is life and I have to use my family and friends to talk to when I am down. I do feel better now and I still have urges to take Zoloft but I am able to resist them….

I guess I want someone else to know what I have gone through… I still find it hard to totally blame Zoloft and alcohol for my problems…. I did somehow choose these things to do…. So I do still feel guilty at times and sometimes just sad about what has happened especially when people in town call me a ***** or bring up what I've done. But I am learning to forgive myself and everytime I feel the urge I try to realize that my problems with out the drugs are way less stressful then taking the drugs and making decisions that are way more stressful.. does that make sense? Maybe my story can help someone you know or you yourself. I feel better already being able to share it. Thank you. I also want people to realize… that this drug might work for you… at one point in my life it was.. but if you have a troubled past, addictive behavior… you should see a therapist or psychologist while taking this drug and do not mix alcohol with it.

Hi Donna,
Penny posted this almost 4 years ago. I don't think she's active on the forum anymore. Bill posted 6 months ago. I haven't seen him for at least 3-4 months either. Just wanted to let you know so you're not expecting a response.

The thread renewed because Lolita posted today. She probably found the thread through either a google search or a site search. I'm glad you were able to share your experience with a/d's & alcohol. This is a recurrent theme in the Depression forum. As you say, everyone experiences different things when mixing the two, so the decision is best left between doctor & patient with the understanding that the combining of the two can be risky (alcohol & depression, even without anti-depressant meds, for that matter can be risky).

Most anti-depressants come with black box warning labels for young people in their teens & 20's. Personally, I had horrible reactions to more than one a/d. But they also can save people's lives. Out of all the meds I was on, Lexapro was the least damaging. But that decision really needs to be made by one's personal psychiatrist. Depression is a tricky illness. Ideally, it is treated without meds. But sometimes that just isn't possible & when faced with the alternative of someone who is already actively suicidal, sometimes meds, even for young people, are the best option.

Hope you will continue posting to the forum. :)

frances

Thanks Frances...'Bill' continues to stalk other forums, encouraging teens to take SSRI's.  I just happened to see a news report yesterday stating that these drugs are being used at an alarming rate, recreationally, by teenagers...Zoloft and Ritalin being the new drugs of choice.  I didn't realize how old the post was...my mistake!!

Donna

Karen, Thanks... I did find this forum through google search by typing in alcohol and anti-depressants... I am very grateful that I found this... I just feel way better knowing I'm not alone. My doctors were prescribing me higher doses and like I said... it started with me forgetting how much medication I took. I think the winters started my depression... which made me go to the doctors and get help. From there I should of seen a counselor but I have not done drugs since I was a teen (just experimented) and never was an alcoholic. I guess I never really understood how careful you have to be when taking these drugs... I've learned that I do get extremely depressed around my periods and in the winter times more. But now I'm so afraid to take these drugs that I would rather go through my depression. My husband is understanding more of these times and that has helped. I know that depression runs in my family and has even put a few of them in the hospital. So I need to be careful.... I'm aware now and that has helped. Thanks for not judging me and responding... it means a great deal.

Lolita,
Have you tried birth control (hopefully you're not trying to get pregnant right now -- if so, ignore the rest of my advice)? It can be great to help regulate hormones & prevent that once monthly deep depression. It can also lighten bleeding which can lead to more energy. I take BCP for the 3 weeks as scheduled & then take iron vitamins twice a week for Week #4. It is not a miracle cure, but it does help some. You should NOT take iron supplements without consulting your doctor first (you can get too much of it & it is toxic, so only people who are borderline anemic or anemic should take iron vitamins).

hoping you find something that works,
frances

I am a smoker again too. Started for the most stupid reasons. But the stress was high and it calmed me down. I desperately need to quit now. But I like it and that is hard. Plus it calms my nerves. But yes it is a bad habit and expensive.

I hope that you are feeling better now. Take things one day at a time and try to live in the moment. My cousin had psoriasis and it was hard on him. It was always on his arms and legs. I hope that you can find something to keep it at bay. I know it is frustrating.

Take care my friend. Keep posting and know that we are all here for you.

Hugs, Karen

bbddnn,

This is a very old thread and Lolita hasn't posted since June. I checked to see if she had an email listed but she doesn't. But please start your own thread by clicking on "new topic" and tell us your problem and we will try to help you.

Best wishes,

Hugs, Karen