Does drinking alcohol about 4 days a week change Lexapro's effectiveness?!
Question:
Does drinking alcohol about 4 days a week change Lexapro's effectiveness?
I drink alot. Probably about 4 out of 7 days. I drink probably 2 Tilt energy drinks after work. They are malt beverages with ginseng and ect. I also drink heavy on the weekend. I noticed that the first week on lexapro when I didnt drink so much, I was feeling so much better. Now that I started drinking more again during the week again I feel like I felt before I started taking lexapro. I am on it for stress and anger issues. When I cut back my alcohol intake I didnt get stressed nor did i really ever get angry. But now that I started back....I get upset and stressed just as I did before taking lexapro. But I havnt had a drink in about 3 days and I kinda feel like I might be feeling better. Plz let me know
Additional Details1 month ago
yes I read it....but all meds say do not take with alcohol. So I did it anyways. But I did notice that I stopped feeling good. I was in more bad moods then good
Answers:
Look, my doctor was pretty honest about how much I could drink on Lexapro. She said that a glass of wine was 'ok' but any more would start to counteract the antidepressant. I drank 2 bottles of wine and she yelled at me about it. I felt suicidal for 3 days after. I had to admit to her that I was a heavy drinker and an alcoholic. I actually had to quit drinking because my mental health is more important than getting drunk. I'm also on additional meds that can cause a seizure if I drink on them so I really CANNOT drink at all (I had a seizure after New Years Eve because of heavy drinking on Ativan).
I'm actually in AA now and I feel better in general not drinking. Alcohol is a depressant (duh) and it's crazy how I crave it when I'm depressed. Now that the meds are working, I'm not as depressed/anxious and I don't feel the need to drink as often. Honestly, AA helps me a lot with that too...
I drank heavily on a daily basis a few years ago when I was on 200mg Zoloft and the medication did NOT work at all for me. It really may have been because of my drinking.