Notices

Alcohol and antidepressants

Old 08-27-2012, 08:44 AM
  # 1 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
ashbyee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 64
Alcohol and antidepressants

These two things DO NOT MIX. Anyone have any input on this? I have got to get a grip.
ashbyee is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 08:49 AM
  # 2 (permalink)  
Member
 
frances2011's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,826
I was 6 months sober when I started taking an antidepressant.

My experience is that my medicine started making me feel so much better that I will never go back to the hole I was in trying to self-medicate with alcohol. Sobriety ROCKS. Recovering from depression is AWESOME.

Glad you are here, sending you good vibes!
frances2011 is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 08:49 AM
  # 3 (permalink)  
Its_me_jen
 
PaperDolls's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Salina, Ks
Posts: 8,547
I found that to be true as well.

One thing that really helped me was getting honest with my doctor. REAL honest. And it wasn't easy.

That was some time back and I can tell you that now I am sober & happy.

I was stuck in this thinking that the drinking wasn't causing my depression. It was my depression that needed to be fixed and then I could drink normally. I was lying to myself. It took me a long time to figure that out.
PaperDolls is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 08:51 AM
  # 4 (permalink)  
Administrator
 
Anna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,329
No, it's a bad combination.
Anna is online now  
Old 08-27-2012, 02:41 PM
  # 5 (permalink)  
Member
 
Pondlady's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Midwest
Posts: 8,320
I've taken anti depressants prior to my drinking, during my drinking and after I quit drinking...although at a reduced dosage. They work much better without alcohol
Pondlady is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 03:07 PM
  # 6 (permalink)  
Self recovered Self discovered
 
freshstart57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Toronto Canada
Posts: 5,148
My anti D medication did not do a single thing for me until I stopped drinking. Zero. Just like the guy that was prescribed the suppositories who ate them without understanding what they were for. When asked if they worked, he said 'Doc, for all the good they did me I might as well have shoved them right up my ***'.

Hope this helps.
freshstart57 is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 03:07 PM
  # 7 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SAN FRANCISCO
Posts: 1,176
I think alcohol cancels out the effect of the antidepressants & the combination can be really bad for your liver.
ZiggyB is offline  
Old 08-27-2012, 03:43 PM
  # 8 (permalink)  
Member
 
Notmyrealname's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Midwest, USA
Posts: 1,022
When I was a teen in the 80s-90s I was on prozac. It was the new "wonder drug" for depression.

It made me able to drink basically nonstop for great justice. I would then hit the blackout point, but keep going like a freight train loaded with pfetzer ball bearings. I awoke in strange places, including --

a girl's bed in a different part of the city, luckily she had potato chips, which seemed to stabilize me

detox. when the guy in detox greets you with "good morning a$$hole" you know you were bad. a kid there told me he wanted to go to the bathroom but decided to hold it after he went in the restroom in the night and found me pounding my fist into the wall howling like a man-wolf

actually remembered this part but I managed to smash a car into a light pole on one side of the street and then bounce - - - over to the other side to hit the curb on that side

Yeah, do not mix antidepressants with alcohol. They tell you that, and then tell you that again, and the bottle tells you that, and the accompanying paperwork tells you that some more. It is probably better to refuse antidepressants if you realistically can't keep yourself from drinking, because you can do some really f-ed up stuff on the mix.
Notmyrealname is offline  
Old 08-28-2012, 08:42 AM
  # 9 (permalink)  
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Vancouver BC Canada
Posts: 384
Totally agree and wow , I have had a mix of them , SSRI's were the worst. Last week saw another state of mania induced by alcohol and probably enhanced by anti D drugs. The drugs won't work at all on the depression if you drink period. The question is , is the depression from alcohol abuse over the years in my case.

I know they won't work if I drink but somehow I delude myself that I can drink normally or just have one and this time that has to end. I am at the blackest hour I have ever been , wife and kids gone , job hanging by a thread .....time to get honest. Luckily I am on good terms with my wife and our kids and I have a boss who I told it all too in mid mania and he is working with me to keep me on.

Shall see what stae my liver is in shortly ....I am worried.
YVRguy is offline  
Old 08-28-2012, 09:33 AM
  # 10 (permalink)  
Member
 
MrsKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: UK
Posts: 1,145
Originally Posted by freshstart57 View Post
My anti D medication did not do a single thing for me until I stopped drinking. Zero. Just like the guy that was prescribed the suppositories who ate them without understanding what they were for. When asked if they worked, he said 'Doc, for all the good they did me I might as well have shoved them right up my ***'.

Hope this helps.
Hahaha!

It was the same for me, too... I drank whilst taking anti-depressants (many different types - thinking I'd find one that worked eventually) and they did nothing except give me side effects. When I stopped drinking my depression lifted almost immediately... probably a combination of the medication working and getting off alcohol.

So, yeah, they don't mix!
MrsKing is offline  
Old 08-28-2012, 09:37 AM
  # 11 (permalink)  
Member
 
Jeni26's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South East England
Posts: 8,008
I have been on antidepressants for a few years. It wasn't until I quit drinking that the anxiety and depression improved. Now at 3 months sober, I'm actually in the process of coming off them under medical supervision.
I hadn't realised that it was actually the alcohol that had been causing my symptoms!!x
Jeni26 is offline  
Old 08-28-2012, 09:46 AM
  # 12 (permalink)  
Its_me_jen
 
PaperDolls's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Salina, Ks
Posts: 8,547
The fact is, alcohol is a depressant.
PaperDolls is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:40 PM.