anti depressants and alcohol - help

first time here. Could do with a little advice or help. I was prescribed anti depressants abour three months ago and they made a big difference to how i felt. However, i recently had to sit some exams and became a little anxious so i started to have a glass of wine in the evening to help. Big mistake ! I am now addicted to the stuff and regularly get through a bottle in one night. Consequently, the anti depressants are no longer have as much effect, i feel low all the time and get annoyed with myself when i wake each morning with the hangover from hell. I desperately want to kick the habit and get back to how i was before i started drinking, feeling the full effect of my medication and living my life properly. My doctor will be horrified if i tell her so i am not going to see her about this.

[CarolD]

and Hello...

I think being honest with your doctor is very important. Different drugs have different side effects when mixed with alcohol.

Some are dangerous...and detoxing from the combination requires supervision.

Err on the safe side...tell your doctor.


Good luck

[Jem's girl]

Hi Debralynn80....I have been on antidepressants for 7 years and abusing wine at the same time. It's a dangerous combination in the sense that alcohol intensified the effects of the anti depressants....most people get sleepy when combining the two - for me, it had an adverse reaction....I was ready to go, would clean the house, (when I was a student, I would bang off papers without any trouble). Over time, what has happened is that after only a few glasses of wine, my behaviour toward my husband (and anyone else for that matter) would change. I would say horrible things, do stupid and embarassing things....and then feel intense shame and guilt the next day.

It sounds like you are at place where you recognize this as a problem FAR before I did.....I still don't know the physical consequences of mixing anti-depressants with alcohol, but it can't be a good thing....keep coming back here, talk with your doctor and know that I wish you the best of luck with this....

Nikki

[justaround]

This is an interesting topic. I have always wondered what the physical consequences of anti-depressants with alcohol was. When I was still drinking I did so with anti-depressants which I have been on 5 years. Mentally, I would always be very irritated and grumpy when not on the bottle and the anti-depressants seemed to have little theuraputic effect. While drinking I felt euphoric and out-going, but of course, I was always on anti-depressants ever since my first drink. My mind probably got pretty fried

[gaff]

Hi Debralyn

I was on anti-depressants for some years as the doctors thought I was severely depressed. I had been on drugs and alcohol for some time and as a result have had 5 suicide attempts in the last 5 years - 2 within the last year.

As a result, I came to rely heavily on the anti-depressants and drank vast amounts of alcohol as it seemed to give me a lot of energy and I didn't seem to worried - told the doctor the pills were working just fine. Of course they werent and so I started to take more and more every day to get the desired effect. By the end I was attending different doctors, lying and stealing scripts and telling chemists how I had lost my pills. It was endless and horrible and I hated every minute of it - however, I could not stop and it ended up with me in hospital in a coma for 4 days with my family not knowing if I would make it.

What I just want to say is - try and lay off the drink and pills - its really a dangerous thing to go through. Try and attend some meetings and speak to your doctor about your problem - they are there for us to talk to and will understand the situation. Please try and stop before it is too late. This is really a wake up call for me as it reminds me of where I was and how out of control everything became in my life - thank you for bringing it back to my attention.

Good luck and keep posting here - it really helps

[justaround]

Gaff,
I'm sure that you meant you were relying on tranquillizers, pain killers, or something like that right? Just asking because anti-depressants are non-addictive, non-habit forming, and do not produce a high. Just wanted to clear that up because some folk get the misinterpretation that they are. Although though do produce withdrawls.

[gaff]

Hi Justaround,

Yes I agree I was relying on the anti-depressants because at first they made me feel better about mys4elf - just like Debralyn said. However, the more I drank the less I felt better so the more pills I took to try and achieve what they were meant to do so the cycle got worse and worse. I knew there was a problem but didnt know how to stop it and things went downhill very very fast. I also used other pills as well and I felt that if someone had to pick me up and shake me, I would rattle from head to toe.

I agree they are non-addictive and do not produce a high because when I stopped drinking for a while I tried a heavier dose and all I did was sleep. It was then that I thought I could drink and drug again because I was feeling better about myself.

Thanks for your comment and sorry if I caused any confusion

[MootPoint]

I can tell you that when I was drinking and taking anti-depressants, the anti-depressants stopped working.

This resulted in a suicide attempt, then alcohol poisening (drinking to dull the pain)

Please tell your doc about your drinking and check out a meeting. Depending on which anti-depressant you're on, you could be in big danger!