Mixing alcohol and medication?

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Is it true that mixing a lot of alcohol with medication such as antidepressants and antipsychotics etc can damage your heart and liver?

It's incredibly addictive,once you start mixing antipsychotic's and anxiety meds with alcohol,you will get addicted fast and soon you will need to do it more and more.

It will get to the point where you will run out of meds long before refill's are available you will start doctor shopping and such.


Mixing antipsychotic's and anxiety meds with alcohol will ruin your life,cost you your job,ruin your relationships and put you in rehab long before any damage to you liver or heart sets in.

As far as antidepressants go,if you mean Prozac,Paxil or Zoloft,those take three weeks to take effect and don't give the immediate high that antipsychotic's and anxiety meds do.For those it's possible damage to the body could set in if mixed with alcohol over time.But most people won't mix say Paxil with alcohol because it's not going to get you high.

It's likely not a good idea to drink often if on antidepressants and could if done to much damage you body.

I warn you sternly mixing antipsychotic's or benzodiazapines with alcohol is playing with fire

Warning: trigger. A friend of a friend lost her boyfriend that way. I don't know all the contributing factors, but our mutual friend said it was meds and alcohol (he was on those meds, but admittedly could have been on others). He was in his late 30s (or early 40s?), had one too many drinks one night and didn't wake up the next morning. I gather he was not a "drunk" so I am not sure of what frequency and occasion he drank "a lot". He was a kind person.

If I remember correctly, drinking alcohol with my current medications (mostly the Effexor, I think) will result in a trip to the ER with multiple organ failure.

I say talk to your doctor. My experience with my psychiatrist was that he said it's ok to have 1 or 2 drinks. Unfortunately I took that and ran with it. I wasn't noticing any problems so thought I could drink more and more. What he didn't tell me was that if I drank that much, I could have seizures from the withdrawals. It's not like I was having bad withdrawals. I felt a bit hungover, etc., but nothing too serious...next thing I know I'm being woken up by paramedics after having a seizure (happened three times). So you can't drink too much on antipsychotics like Seroquel.

The first seizure was late morning. I went to visit my probation officer. I felt pretty much fine, again just a little hungover. I wasn't shaking or anything even close to that. Next thing I know I'm surrounded by people, on the floor of the entrance to the courthouse (where you go through the metal detector). They're asking me questions like who I am etc., told me I had a grand mal seizure. Of course when you have a seizure you 1) can't remember much of anything, and 2) feel like you're about to pass out and possibly die, and 3) can't really move or do much on your own, so you wonder if the effects are permanent (like you had a stroke). It's horrible.

Second seizure was probably around the same time of day. I really felt pretty much okay, similar to before. Of course I had been drinking heavily the night before. So I decide to drive to get some groceries. Next thing I know I'm being woken up by paramedics informing me I've been in a serious car accident.

Third seizure was in the evening. I went to a music festival with friends...drank throughout the day, never really felt extremely drunk, just kind of buzzed all day. I stopped drinking in the afternoon sometime. I remember feeling like maybe I wanted to grab another drink, but none of my friends wanted to. So we decided to take the bus home together. I had a seizure standing there with them at the busstop.

The reason I didn't quit after one is I tried to make excuses that if I drank less, I'd be fine. The message just wasn't getting through. I was so set in my habit of drinking that I didn't want to give it up. It took a few times for people to sufficiently intervene. I remember it was seeing my dad there crying at the hospital saying he just wants me to be ok...that I think ultimately drove it home for me that I absolutely had to stop drinking. The guilt each time I had the seizure was tremendous. I knew I wasn't supposed to be drinking on my meds (or at all, given probation) and yeah it was just bad...

I went to rehab for a month, this was after the first seizure (I had two more even after I came out). I feel like if you're drinking with your meds then you've got a problem anyway. I'm not saying it's as bad as mine, but why risk it? It's a slippery slope and you should probably just quit now...

YESSSSS, not to mention falls, fights, assaults, arrests, car accidents, accidental death, physical illness, and God knows what else.