Following on from a previous Q, alcohol and anti depressants?!
Question:
Following on from a previous Q, alcohol and anti depressants?
Okay, so you usually hear that you shouldn't drink on anti depressants, right? I'm on 40mg of fluoxetine and my doctor says it's okay to drink on them, just not too much. So, is telling people not to drink on them an unecessary precaution? I understand it can act as a depressant but does it actually cancel out the seratonin levels or does it just mask them so that when you stop drinking the levels of seratonin are actually still the same?
Answers:
Drinking on top of antidepressants is NOT a good idea. It's not going to kill you per se, but it enhances the effects of the alcohol and can make it very dangerous to drive, even with just one drink. I use to be able to hold my alcohol extremely well. After taking Prozac (generic - fluoxetine) for a few months, I had a few sips from my husbands drink and proceded to total out my van - my fault. I pulled out onto a main street without even looking! I was that messed up. I never had an accident or even a ticket before or since.
Also, if you drink with antidepressants, they could stop working, they did for me. I thought it was the fault of the antidepressant, but it was the alcohol that was to blame. It took me a couple years and a couple different antidepressants to realize it was the alcohol that was the problem. I quit drinking completely in '03 and asked my doctor if I could try Prozac again, since it seemed to work the best for me and had the least side affects for me. He was reluctant at first, since I had already tried it before, but when I told him about quitting drinking, he agreed to let me try it again. I've been doing well since. And I gotta say this: I don't miss the drinking at all! If its a choice between booze and not being depressed, I'd definitely rather not be depressed!!! Besides, now that I don't drink, I see what utter idiots people become when they do drink! I use to think that was fun!
I can't believe your doctor said it was okay to drink with the meds! Anyhow, Good Luck and God Bless!!