Cymbalta can cause liver damage.Antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), like Parnate and Nardil, can cause serious heart problems when combined with alcohol. When mixed with beer or wine, they can also cause dangerously high blood pressure due to an alcohol byproduct called tyramine. The use of complementary, alternative and herbal medicine has grown tremendously over the last few decades. A study by Ekors and colleagues noted that over 80% of people worldwide use some type of supplement. Many of these products are not regulated by authorities or monitored by a patient’s healthcare provider, and the potential for drug interactions is often unknown.
When used under medical supervision, the combination can be an effective way to treat alcohol withdrawal. Medications that are prescribed to treat nausea can make you feel drowsy, dizzy, and may impair your motor control—symptoms that can also be caused by alcohol. Some drugs (often antihistamines) used to prevent and treat motion sickness can also be purchased over-the-counter. If you take prescription medication or use a specific medication every day, ask your doctor if it is okay for you to drink alcohol.
Determining whether you can take medicine before or after drinking alcohol can depend on several factors. For example, the type of medication as well as the type and amount of alcohol can make a difference in how safe or unsafe it is to combine them. Alcohol and medicines can cause harmful effects even if they’re not taken at the same time. Combining alcohol with medications used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) can cause dizziness, fainting, drowsiness, and arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). As with cold and flu remedies, combining alcohol with medications used to treat a cough can cause drowsiness, dizziness, and motor impairment.
Medications typically are safe and effective when used appropriately. Your pharmacist or other health care provider can help you determine which medications interact harmfully with alcohol. This pamphlet lists medications that can cause harm when taken with alcohol and describes the effects that can result.
Examples of Potentially Deadly Interactions
This CME/CE credit opportunity is jointly provided by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and NIAAA. You might not need to completely avoid alcohol if you are taking a blood thinner. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting your intake to no genetics of alcohol use disorder national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism niaaa more than one or two occasional drinks if you are on anticoagulant therapy. If you mix any type of anti-nausea drug with alcohol, the side effects of the medication can become more intense. Stimulants and sedatives (such as alcohol) mask each other’s effects.
When you combine these drugs with alcohol, you’re even more at risk. The combination of alcohol and painkillers and other sedating medications may be a common risk for the elderly. Among adults over 65 years liquid marijuana of age who were current drinkers in the NIH study, close to 78% of those surveyed used a medication that could interact with alcohol. The dangers of mixing alcohol with prescription drugs are well known.
Alcohol and Other Substance Use
More resources for a variety of healthcare professionals can be found in the Additional Links for Patient Care. Drinking even a small amount of alcohol while taking an antibiotic called Flagyl (metronidazole) can cause a severe reaction, making you extremely sick with nausea and vomiting. You will want to avoid alcohol for three days before you start and after you stop Flagyl. Angina (ischemic chest pain) is caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. If you have angina, you might be prescribed a medication called nitroglycerin. The longer a person misuses stimulants and alcohol together, the higher the risk becomes of developing substance use disorders.
Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition. The effectiveness of oral contraceptives (and other forms of hormonal birth control) isn’t affected by alcohol, so it’s OK to enjoy a drink here and there when taking the pill. Muscle about step 12 of the 12 step program relaxants and alcohol both suppress your central nervous system, which controls the functions of your heart, lungs, and brain. Cough syrup and laxatives may have some of the highest alcohol concentrations. Make your tax-deductible gift and be a part of the cutting-edge research and care that’s changing medicine.
- Mixing anti-anxiety and epilepsy medications with alcoholic beverages can cause slowed breathing, impaired motor control, abnormal behavior, and memory loss.
- The dangers of mixing alcohol with prescription drugs are well known.
- For example, OTC painkillers (including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can cause a range of symptoms from gastrointestinal upset to bleeding and ulcers in the stomach to tachycardia (racing heart).
- Mixing alcohol and medicines puts you at risk for dangerous reactions.
This is because women’s bodies generally have less water than men’s bodies. Because alcohol mixes with body water, a given amount of alcohol is more concentrated in a woman’s body than in a man’s. As a result, women are more susceptible to alcohol-related damage to organs such as the liver.
Many people with alcohol problems and their family members find that participating in support groups is an essential part of coping with the disease, preventing or dealing with relapses, and staying sober. In addition, herbal sleep remedies, like chamomile, valerian, and lavender, can cause increased drowsiness when mixed with alcohol. In addition, the older we get, the more likely we are to be taking one or more medications that could interact with alcohol. Even though most people over 65 drink less than the maximum recommended amount, this drinking is still considered harmful for many of them, due to their general condition, medical problems and medications. In older adults especially, alcohol use may increase the risk for falls, serious injury, and disability related to balance problems.
Why Medications and Alcohol Don’t Mix
If you are not sure if it is safe to drink alcohol while you are taking medication, call a local pharmacy or talk to your doctor about the potential interactions. Some medicines that you might never have suspected can react with alcohol, including many medications which can be purchased “over-the-counter”—that is, without a prescription. Even some herbal remedies can have harmful effects when combined with alcohol. Polysubstance use is when two or more substances are used together or within a short time period, either intentionally or unintentionally. Polysubstance use involving alcohol includes drinking and using other substances such as marijuana, opioids, heroin or other illicit drugs, or medications not as prescribed.
Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride) is an opioid agonist—a medication that can help counteract the effects of opioid medications such as morphine, oxycodone, and heroin. Naloxone can rapidly reverse opioid overdose by quickly restoring normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped due to mixing opioid pain medications with alcohol. It’s important to note that this list is not exhaustive and may not include every medication you are taking. If you are not sure if you can safely drink alcohol while taking a certain medication, read the label carefully and consult with a pharmacist or doctor. The effects of mixing alcohol with medication also depend on certain individual factors.
If you have an injury or medical condition that causes pain or spasms in your muscles, you might be given medications to relax them. Muscle relaxants are commonly used to treat back and neck pain, as well as certain kinds of headaches. Some research has found that alcohol does not appear to worsen liver inflammation in certain people who take medication for their cholesterol. A 2006 Harvard study found that moderate alcohol use did not have a significant negative effect on the livers of men taking statins after heart surgery.
In addition, there are hundreds of mental health medications that interact with alcohol. Combining alcohol with a mental health medication can make the medication less effective or even more dangerous. When the interaction between the substances goes the other way, certain drugs can change how your body responds to an alcoholic beverage. For example, some OTC products can make the effects of alcohol (such as drowsiness) more intense. More intense side effects mean you might be more impaired after having one drink than you would typically be. Additionally, if you have an underlying health condition like heart disease or high blood pressure (hypertension), mixing alcohol with your medications can put you at risk for complications.
