Alcohol and SSRIs (Antidepressants)
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 46
Alcohol and SSRIs (Antidepressants)
I’m convinced that my antidepressants (SSRI’s) influenced my drinking problem. There has simply not been enough research done on interaction between antidepressants and alcohol, but there is some anecdotal evidence on various blogs to suggest this. In my experience that was absolutely the case. I was never as bad with alcohol as when I was on antidepressants. I am 48 and my heavy drinking started around 40. Prior to that I was almost a daily drinker, a couple per day and more on weekends, too much yes but not an obsession. When I turned 40, I was experiencing a lot of anxiety due to work and relationship issues, my doctor prescribed me Lexapro. It did help with my anxiety initially as my drinking was under control. However later, I had horrible experiences with mixing Lexapro and alcohol. It made the hangovers so terrifying that I started drinking in the mornings to put them off. Thus started my 7 years of living a life consumed with alcohol. My obsession with drinking and planning my day around drinking turned that period into a horrible time that I never want to experience again. My alcohol and Lexapro are both gone now: zero anxiety and wonderful quality of life. But lately I’ve been asking myself if I could resume normal drinking again now that the SSRI’s are gone? Anyone else feel the same that I do with Antidepressants and Alcohol?
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 1,145
Drinking a couple a day and more on weekends before you started taking Lexapro is still quite a significant amount of alcohol for anyone to be drinking. I don't understand why you would be willing to risk what you're calling 'a wonderful quality of life' for a drink if you are no longer obsessed with alcohol?
Think about it... is it worth it?
Think about it... is it worth it?
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 929
There is also anecdotal evidence on blogs that homoeopathy is an effective cancer treatment.
There's also anecdotal evidence that crystals and stones can cure severe disease and illness.
Whatever you choose to do, time will tell.
Best of luck.
There's also anecdotal evidence that crystals and stones can cure severe disease and illness.
Whatever you choose to do, time will tell.
Best of luck.
Life the gift of recovery!
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Home is where the heart is
Posts: 7,061
Anti-depressant medications, including SSRI's, are contraindicated with alcohol. The accompanying package warning states to not mix them with alcohol and most prescribers will state the same.
That said, your theory that your problems with alcohol were caused by the mixing of anti-depressants and alcohol is an interesting one. I have to wonder though if you were predisposed to an alcohol problem in the first place and the combination just sped up the process.
To address your question I would have to ask you a question. Why do you feel the need to drink at all right now? If your life is fine without alcohol why the need to add it to the mix? I guess it might be good to examine your reasons for wanting to start drinking again. I know my experience with alcoholism was such that I could easily convince myself after a brief period of not drinking (once up to a year) that I could drink normally again. Often I could the first couple of times I drank but eventually I always wound up in the same position as I was prior to stopping drinking with my life out of control because of my drinking and alcohol consuming my life. So I guess my second question would be, is it worth the risk? If life is good without alcohol is it worth risking what you have now just for a drink or two on the chance that maybe you can drink normally now?
I wish you the best in whatever choice you make.
That said, your theory that your problems with alcohol were caused by the mixing of anti-depressants and alcohol is an interesting one. I have to wonder though if you were predisposed to an alcohol problem in the first place and the combination just sped up the process.
To address your question I would have to ask you a question. Why do you feel the need to drink at all right now? If your life is fine without alcohol why the need to add it to the mix? I guess it might be good to examine your reasons for wanting to start drinking again. I know my experience with alcoholism was such that I could easily convince myself after a brief period of not drinking (once up to a year) that I could drink normally again. Often I could the first couple of times I drank but eventually I always wound up in the same position as I was prior to stopping drinking with my life out of control because of my drinking and alcohol consuming my life. So I guess my second question would be, is it worth the risk? If life is good without alcohol is it worth risking what you have now just for a drink or two on the chance that maybe you can drink normally now?
I wish you the best in whatever choice you make.
Recovering ostrich
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
Posts: 2,551
I drank socially and then after having been laid off three times in 15 months, I saw my doc for anxiety and was given lexapro which I can state was one of the worst things I ever put in my body. I craved alcohol and I craved carbs like you wouldn't believe (I would dream about eating, diving into warm loaves of buttery bread.... Bizarre).
That was 8 years ago. I still have an alcohol problem though that the lexapro hasn't influenced in any of those 8 years. That's just my experience though. Best of luck!
That was 8 years ago. I still have an alcohol problem though that the lexapro hasn't influenced in any of those 8 years. That's just my experience though. Best of luck!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 503
Hi Beatle,
I had a breakdown while living abroad in 2007 and was 'prescribed' a high dose of Paxil which, for me, removed most of my faculties for a short while hehe. I started drinking crazily heavy but I also started smoking again and generally feeling and acting like I didn't have a care in the world, except that I was continuing to collapse mentally and emotionally. I used to say the Paxil made me smoke again and drink to the extreme. But I now realise it didn't. I did.
Even if I didn't acknowledge it at the time, I was an alcoholic long before the Paxil and have been since and the booze was the only thing i thought I could use to cover over the horror/emptiness inside. Yes, i believe the breakdown and the pills very much created a fertile ground for challenging behaviour and for the progress of my alcoholism but that crazy behaviour with booze was mine and mine only.
I was then on lexapro for four years and at first I thought it was 'helping me drink without the problem drunken behaviours' which was great but yes I too seemed to get worse hangovers on it. But it wasn't the lexapro which gave me hangovers it was the fact that I drank way too much tequila. It doesn't really matter if the lexapro made the hangovers feel worse or not, they were the hangovers of someone who has a hugely disfunctional relationship with alcohol.
I hear you when you say that perhaps the problem drinking actually started with the lexapro therefore perhaps you don't have a problem, but it does sound like there was a fair amount of booze in the mix anyway, and for me my alcoholism progressed in fairly abrupt jumps coinciding with stressful events. Please remember lexapro nor stress ever takes bottles off the shelf for people.
I hope though that the reason you posted this on SR is because you know that the replies will be on the side of 'don't run the risk of going back to that mess'
. But we also realise how incredibly difficult that can often be so I hope you keep posting.
Good luck and a massive congratulations on living a clean, happier life!
I had a breakdown while living abroad in 2007 and was 'prescribed' a high dose of Paxil which, for me, removed most of my faculties for a short while hehe. I started drinking crazily heavy but I also started smoking again and generally feeling and acting like I didn't have a care in the world, except that I was continuing to collapse mentally and emotionally. I used to say the Paxil made me smoke again and drink to the extreme. But I now realise it didn't. I did.
Even if I didn't acknowledge it at the time, I was an alcoholic long before the Paxil and have been since and the booze was the only thing i thought I could use to cover over the horror/emptiness inside. Yes, i believe the breakdown and the pills very much created a fertile ground for challenging behaviour and for the progress of my alcoholism but that crazy behaviour with booze was mine and mine only.
I was then on lexapro for four years and at first I thought it was 'helping me drink without the problem drunken behaviours' which was great but yes I too seemed to get worse hangovers on it. But it wasn't the lexapro which gave me hangovers it was the fact that I drank way too much tequila. It doesn't really matter if the lexapro made the hangovers feel worse or not, they were the hangovers of someone who has a hugely disfunctional relationship with alcohol.
I hear you when you say that perhaps the problem drinking actually started with the lexapro therefore perhaps you don't have a problem, but it does sound like there was a fair amount of booze in the mix anyway, and for me my alcoholism progressed in fairly abrupt jumps coinciding with stressful events. Please remember lexapro nor stress ever takes bottles off the shelf for people.
I hope though that the reason you posted this on SR is because you know that the replies will be on the side of 'don't run the risk of going back to that mess'
. But we also realise how incredibly difficult that can often be so I hope you keep posting.Good luck and a massive congratulations on living a clean, happier life!
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Louisville Kentucky
Posts: 87
While I think there are those with a legitimate need for certain SSRI's they are ridiculously over prescribed a lot of the time. I was on prozac for awhile for anxiety. It was awful. I prescribed this mind altering /brain chemistry changing drug by a nurse practioner after a 20 minute session.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 929
Originally Posted by BillyWeaver 
While I think there are those with a legitimate need for certain SSRI's they are ridiculously over prescribed a lot of the time. I was on prozac for awhile for anxiety. It was awful. I prescribed this mind altering /brain chemistry changing drug by a nurse practioner after a 20 minute session.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: "I'm not lost for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost ..."
Posts: 5,273
But lately I’ve been asking myself if I could resume normal drinking again now that the SSRI’s are gone?
There is no benefit to drinking alcohol for anyone. You have given no valid reason to resume any kind of drinking.
The part of me that wants to get drunk will come up with myriad reasons for drinking. Consider that may be what's happening in your case.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Northern Utah
Posts: 920
I've had more than one doctor and a couple counselors tell me that alcohol hinders the effectiveness of antidepressants. I do agree that they are quite overprescribed, but they really can be a lifesaver. Alcohol problems and depression/anxiety go hand in hand. Often it is difficult to treat one without treating the other.
My personal experience is that antidepressants work well when supplemented with an alcohol-free life, exercise and balanced diet. I have only once been on antidepressants when I was free of alcohol. I had been sober for about 40 days or so and fell into a debilitating depression. I went on Effexor. I was stable within a week. It all went downhill when I started drinking again 3 or so months later. But I will say that it was easier for my doctor to give an accurate diagnosis and good prescription without alcohol mucking up my brain chemistry.
Alcohol is a depressant. For those of us with tendencies toward depression and anxiety, alcohol makes those problems far, far worse. Lose the alcohol for a while. See how you feel. You may find, that, like me, anxiety and depression happen far less frequently.
My personal experience is that antidepressants work well when supplemented with an alcohol-free life, exercise and balanced diet. I have only once been on antidepressants when I was free of alcohol. I had been sober for about 40 days or so and fell into a debilitating depression. I went on Effexor. I was stable within a week. It all went downhill when I started drinking again 3 or so months later. But I will say that it was easier for my doctor to give an accurate diagnosis and good prescription without alcohol mucking up my brain chemistry.
Alcohol is a depressant. For those of us with tendencies toward depression and anxiety, alcohol makes those problems far, far worse. Lose the alcohol for a while. See how you feel. You may find, that, like me, anxiety and depression happen far less frequently.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 626
Lilac
Of all the anti depressants I've tried, effexor definitely worked the best for me. And it worked within days!!
And i also agree that for your doc to accurately diagnose you, it's a smart thing to be 100% honest with them!!
Of all the anti depressants I've tried, effexor definitely worked the best for me. And it worked within days!!
And i also agree that for your doc to accurately diagnose you, it's a smart thing to be 100% honest with them!!
Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: fort wayne, IN.
Posts: 1,085
This is funny to me. When I had 30 days sober I went to my Dr. She knows about my alcoholism. I have always been honest with her. Anyway. she gave me Lexapro. I took it for a month and it did really help me with anxiety and abstinence.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: nh
Posts: 90
I've been on anti-depressants for a long time off and on. Alcohol seems to affect me more when I drank while taking them and I couldn't always predict how I would react. Sometimes-a couple beers was fine, others it really messed me up. What I DO know-is that alcohol was a problem for me outside the anti-depressants. And I also know now that drinking is just not an option on them because of the unpredictable nature of my reactions (drinking isn't an option anyway but you know). It took me a LONG time to realize this and finally "get it". I also found that my antidepressants work much better when I don't drink.
In my opinion-that anecdotal evidence that you are finding is really people with alcohol issues that are looking to play the blame game somewhere else and not take responsibility for their problems.
In my opinion-that anecdotal evidence that you are finding is really people with alcohol issues that are looking to play the blame game somewhere else and not take responsibility for their problems.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
