Alcoholics and cold medicine
 

Not sure if this is a ridiculous question but can cold medicine have similar effects on an alcoholic as if they were drinking? My ABF sounded on the phone like he does when he drinks but says he hasn't had anything to drink. He has been sick the past 3 days and is taking NyQuil and some other cold medicine. Any thoughts?

Some cough medicines do have alcohol in them - some of the percentages can be quite high.

D

Yes. Recovering alcoholics should not use Nyquil. Or Listerine. Or anything else with alcohol in it. The question is not ridiculous at all.

ah..and I heard about a trend called robotripping...drinking too much robotussin...

I dunno...when I was using alka-seltzer cold/sinus..I had a bad case of medicine head..I felt like my voice was coming out of some hollow tube? but I always sound funny when my nose is stuffed up/closed.

He said he was taking NyQuil PLUS another cold medicine. I have been unable to get a hold of him which worries me. He had hip surgery last year and when he got out of the hospital was taking pain pills and drinking. I really fear that he will ingest the wrong combination of things and it will seriously affect him.

Nyquil does have a high percentage of alcohol--not a good idea for an alcoholic.

As to mouthwashes containing alcohol--that isn't clear-cut. Some alcoholics have been known to drink it, and others are uncomfortable enough with the idea that it is best avoided. Others (like me) don't have any qualms about using an alcohol-based mouthwash. That's pretty much an individual decision.

Same with alcohol cooked in food--some say it's OK, others not.

Up to the individual. I always suggest that anyone in doubt should avoid it.

i just bought some nyquil the other day. do you know it contains 10% alcohol? that pretty darned much, and of course you could get high off it if you drink enough. mixing that plus something else sounds - sorry to sound like i'm generalizing, or stereotyping - but all too common.

the problem is, worrying about him won't change anything. being fearful won't make him not wanna get off on cold medicine, and it won't make him not do something reckless.

do you think you can work on detaching?

I know you are right but sometimes I feel like he won't make it another year. It's sad. About detaching...still trying. I guess I am finding it difficult. Thanks for your post.

There is alcohol plus a cocktail of other drugs with sedative properties. Even many non-alcoholic cough medicines will make you slow and slurry.

There are no ridiculous questions on SR. On SR you will find someone who has been there, lived it, and survived it! I can definitely relate to your question. My dry drunk husband's last relapse started by me finding numerous empty bottles of NyQuil both hidden throughout my house and in his car. All his stinking alcoholic ways came back. He ended up being hospitalized for depression, but didn't continue his recovery. That's a totally different story, but to answer your question, a good portion of Nyquil is alcohol, and it is FULL of acetominophen (tylenol).

God loves me where I'm at, but He loves me too much to leave me there.

:ghug3

I think I remember my A telling me his loss of body function was because of the Nyquil. I tend to believe it was the large amounts of alcohol he consumed prior to the Nyquil.

The question to you is this:

Which part of this is yours to control?

Lots of addicts in my youth got started with slamming cough syrup, one addiction I did avoid. I was shocked that our Listerine was 50% or more alcohol! We got the non-alcoholic mouthwash. The other drugs in it, taken in excess, even with only 10% alcohol can have some serious inebriation effects.

Trust me, Natural pure Vanilla Essence is a doozy as well. I fell into that one when I had awful toothache, and dabbed it on gums. Was high as a kite in the morning.

Nyquil is 25% alcohol which is 50 PROOF.

the Nyquil plus just has Vitamin C added and is still 25% alcohol.

Many alkies have used Nyquil and/or mouth washes like Listerine to intentionally get high.

Yes, he was high.

Love and hugs,

omg had no idea he never keeps any pain killers in when i was with him but he was obsessive about having beechams in has that got alcohol in it too then cos that explains that one i did wonder as he rarely gets cold although ironically is always sick with ermm some sort of illness no one else has and that he seemed to have just got even though he doesnt go out what lengths they go to eh never ceases to amaze me

My husband knew people in rehab who were in rehab because they relapsed on NyQuil after having drunk cases of it.

Ooh, very good point acririto. Not a good combination for someone with a compromised liver.

Hey, Starlynn, I agree that it's not a silly question at all. There's a reason there is dosage information on medicine, more is not better and mixing medicines can lead to impaired behavior - heck, even normal doses can do that (hence the warnings against driving after taking some medicine).

I've had an 'Aha moment' with this thread:

• STBXAH - AB at the time - missed the bed once while lying down and hit his head on the night stand giving himself a huge gash on the temple. (How does some one completely miss a bed for pete's sake?! Oh, yeah, drinking, never mind.) Scared me to death. He told me it was because he'd taken cold medicine and hadn't eaten. I hadn't seen him drink anything, so I believed him.
• I refused to buy beer or vodka one trip to the grocery store, because we wouldn't have had enough for food for us and the baby. He agreed, but when we went past the medicine aisle, he reminded me that we were both fighting terrible colds and were out of cold medicine. We bought nyquil because he prefered it and it helped him sleep, even though like half a dose makes me feel sick to my stomach (and we had to do without a couple items on our list). I decided I didn't want to feel nauseous on top of having a cough and stuffy nose and did not take any nyquil, but the bottle was still empty the next morning. "Must have spilled." Oh. Okay.
• I always had to buy a new bottle of vanilla extract when I wanted to make cookies. The old one was always gone when I looked for it. "Don't you remember, you made cookies like a month ago? You must have used it up."

:c029:I learn something new every day.

Oooh Nyquil and sleeping pills were easy things to say I took when I was actually wasted.

On the flip side.. I used to love getting loaded on cough medicine, cold medicine too.

but that was just me.. perhaps he's being an honest lad who had absolutely no idea that Nyquil is FULL of alcohol and quite intoxicating even at it's recommended dose.

When I stopped drinking alcohol, I stopped drinking things with alcohol in them.. go figure.