For those of you who take SSRIs (Prozac, Lexapro, etc) - do you also drink?

No. They won't work as well and it can cause coma.

Shure, honey! Itsh fine. Jusht fine.

R1 - a coma? Really? Say more. ...

I'm on Paroxetine and I find that the day after drinking I can feel quite shaky and no I'm not an alcoholic.

I've been on SSRI's since 1999 and have never stopped drinking.

My shrink said unless you are a heavy drinker it’s no big deal.

Lexapro for 18 years - never had a side effect from drinking

Called a pharmacist who said, In extremely high doses an extremely rare syndrome called seratonin syndrome can happen. Usually this happens when you take more than one seratonin-enhancing drug though. A few glasses of wine aren't going to make you slip into a coma. The main issue is that drinking is a depressant. If you are taking an SSRI for depression then drink you're basically counteracting the medication.

I'm guessing you will regret drinking the next day. Hopefully, it will be bad enough to make you never want to repeat that mistake.

r9, can you say why...? Do you have personal experience?

You are undermining the stabilizing effect and setting up a yo-yo effect. It will take a couple of days to feel "right" again. At the low end you may just be listless, worse case suicidal.

Yes - well not to the suicidal part but I also take SSRIs and when I drink I feel truly horrendous the next day - anxious and depressed. I am not suicidal so it's not a worry but I can see how someone with suicidal tendencies could be pushed over the brink pretty easily this way...which is likely why they have the label. If you have mental health issues you probably shouldn't be throwing booze into the mix to begin with.

But should buy firearms

bump

Alcohol is a deadly toxin. Poison.

[quote]I've been on SSRI's since 1999 and have never stopped drinking.

That's because most people on SSRI are basically drug addicts pretending to have real issues so they can get high with legal prescriptions. Usually lying to themselves about it but blatantly obvious to outsiders who can see they have a screw loose and constantly inebriated on one thing or another.

I have been taking Prozac (fluoxetine) for nearly 12 years. My psychiatrist said that a drink with dinner wouldn't be a big deal, and it hasn't been. I haven't noticed any side effects at all. YMMV, but that's been my experience.

That problem is people like R17 who's drink with dinner is really several glasses of red with with a Prozac chaser. Of course she has not noticed any problems, she is blotted out of her mind.

No. I was told not to.

R16 needs to take his self-righteous ass and micro-dick right back to ma's couch and stop posting here. Who the fuck do you think you are, doc, with that Sara Lee cake in one hand and fried chicken leg in the other?

After I started taking Prozac I had one strong vodka lemonade, was tipsy and went home and fell asleep for 14 hours. That was the last drink I had. Prozac is better than drinking

hmmmm.

Don’t be fucking dense. Your brain deserves good health too. What’s the point of taking what decades of research has produced, for a night out that really won’t matter. Learn to adjust your life to live without mind altering substances that aren’t medical in the least.

r23, you must be fun.

r4 is hysterical. I'm on Paroxetene (Paxil) too, and have no such symptoms if i drink alcohol.

R18, nice try, but that has not been my experience at all. I usually have a glass of wine with dinner, but it doesn't seem to affect me any more now than before. Certainly nothing like what R21 described has ever happened to me. I guess everyone's different.

Alcohol consumption demishes your meds effectiveness against depression. If you’re gonna drink on a regular basis, it’s stupid to take the antidepressants.

My internist gives me Lexapro and Wellbutrin and said I should add a couple of glasses of red wine at night to go on a Mediterranean, heart healthy diet. I’m having trouble with this because I’m a lightweight and prefer sweet, girly drinks. I get Valium too but use it not too often. Just regular Ritalin, baby dose tid.

One can also skip a night of SSRI when drinking because they have good half lives. This means you can drink maybe once a week and not more than two small glasses of wine. And of course, don’t mix any other meds or drinks. No, do not drink on a regular basis. Your health is in your your hands and moderation is key.

R16- you are wrong. Some of us are doctors and psychiatrists and pretty good with drug abuse problems. Don’t call me or my patients drug addicts, you huge fool. Are you some kind of cult dropout? Nitwit.

You know, the older I get, the less I want booze.

Go choke on a giant turd r16 I am not a Fucking drug addict. I've been clinically depressed since childhood. Parents, grandparents and aunts were severely clinically depressed. When I was 11 I suffered a strep infection that caused neurological anxiety/depression disorder called PANDAS. I was also molested as a child so yeah the SSRI's were necessary for me in high school and then saved my life. I'm 36 now and have never had a problem drinking socially while on SSRI's.

I take Citalopram and have for over a decade. I have usually a drink a night - wine or a mixed drink. On weekends a bit more. Never had any issues, but I think it makes me have a worse headache than I normally would have if I am excessive with the alcohol.

Bump

OP, didn’t you post a similar thread about drinking on antidepressants? If you need this much encouragement to drink on antidepressants just drink. You know you want to...

OP = hypochondriac

Your mileage may vary. You might consider drinking less or not at all and gauge your reactions.

I just stopped drinking (and I had been drinking more heavily and more regularly than I liked) this summer, and my antidepressants are working much better. My moods and energy levels are much more stable, and I'm happier day to day.

OP: If you are only one month in, the true effects of Prozac aren’t realized yet. You are still in the hyper yet calmer, whacky vivid dreams stage, right? I took Prozac a few years in the 1990s and never had an issue with occasional alcohol use. EXCEPT I think I got more risky so make sure you don’t drive or pick anyone up!

It took cialis AND whisky for me to have fun sex on SSRIs

I’m on an antidepressant and when I take a sip of alcohol, I immediately pass out.

Why are we doing this thread again, OP?

R28, there are plenty of sweet red wines, like sangria and many others. Get your drink on!

As most people here have commented, one drink of alcohol, every so often is fine. What you absolutely must NEVER do is to mix alcohol with BENZOS. PLEASE don't EVER try this: we're talking slipping into unconsciousness, coma, and even death. I did this once when I was incredibly depressed, immediately felt respiratory depression coming on, had a tough time maintaining consciousness, and scared the shit out of myself. Never again.

R41 I mixed Benzes and champagne and woke up the next morning on the floor of my kitchen surrounded by smashed glass and china. I was cut, not badly, it has stopped, and there was blood everywhere. I didn't remember anything about getting there.

I have a friend who used to take benzos and/or ambien, and sometimes drink. He had so much broken shit in his house. He even staggered into his large screen TV one night and trashed it. Then came the sleep driving. He crashed his car, got busted for pill-driving, went to jail for a couple weekends, house arrest ankle monitor for a month, ignition interlock for a year and a half, cost him over $20,000. He quit them all cold turkey.

The Lancet said that the only safe amount of alcohol you can drink is none. I don’t mean to be rude but if you can’t pass up a weekend of drinking it’s time to ask yourself why. It’s self care and only good can come from it. Best wishes.

OP maybe shouldn’t drink. Lot's of people don't drink liquor and lead good lives. Alcohol is not a requirement.

Lexapro 4 years. Up to moderate drinking fine. If I have, maybe, 3 glasses of wine, I can't talk without slurring. I sound very drunk, but I'm not. It's embarrassing, so I don't drink as much. My therapist and GP both said drinking a little is fine.

Taking antidepressants and regular alcohol consumption is counterproductive. Alcohol is a depressant.

Life without good food and great wine is depressing. All things in moderation including moderation, as Julia says.

It used to give me headaches to drink on those. It made drinking less fun, which was fine.