I'm bipolar. I think with many of these mental health issues, we try to self medicate. Many, if not most of us are on medications and alcohol affects the effectiveness of these meds. Meds then end up not working well. More alcohol and a horribly viscous cycle forms. Alcohol interacts with these medications in many ways, including reducing the effectiveness and increasing the side effects. There are other medications you might try. Talk to your doctor. Also, it's always a good idea to let your doctor know if you are going to stop any of these psych meds, as opposed to stopping them on your own. Bipolar is a complex condition with multiple things going on. The main point I'd like to make is to stop alcohol. AA or whatever it takes. BP will be a lot easier to treat without alcohol. There are many programs and if you look around this site there are many options. Many of us have stopped just by reading and posting on this site. If you have alcohol in your house, dump it out now. Right now. You have to start somewhere. Tomorrow never comes.