Posted by MarkCSF on October 18, 2002, at 0:24:21
In reply to Alchohol and Lexapro or any other AD's, posted by fluffy on October 17, 2002, at 13:35:25
All I know is that when I drink excessively, I end up feeling worse for a couple days afterwards. It just becomes this bad cycle, and I was in it for a long time. I just wouldn't learn. I was taking Paxil for a couple months and would drink until I passed out about 3-4 times a week, I'm talking like 3-4 shots and 8-12 beers each time (I was in college at the time).. It was fun at the time because it seemed like the Paxil made me even more uninhibited and drunk, and this pattern continued for the better part of a year, on different medications. And then I started noticing I'd feel worse and worse each time I drank too much, and, not surprisingly, my depression had not gotten better one bit but worse. It took me quite awhile to ween myself off of drinking like that. I would drink less and less each time I did, until finally I got to a point where it literally kind of frightened me to think about drinking like I used to. I haven't given up drinking all together. I've found a good limit for myself that I have been sticking to, which is 4 beers or 2 mixed drinks. I get a nice buzz and never feel like crap in the morning, and, it doesn't feel like it ruins the effect of my medicine. When I used to drink so much, psychologically I would feel like I had washed all of the medicine out of my system, which may or may not be the case (I hear it does to a degree). But I figured, whats the point of taking the medicine if Im just going to keep ruining its chances at helping? So, my advice would be to not drink at all, or, set a limit for yourself and stick to it. It's kind of tough at first, me being one that used to never be able to drink just a few beers, but I got used to it. And I started to feel like me exercising some self-discipline was a sign that I was getting better.. So, thats my opinion on the whole drinking-AD dilemma which I have struggled with a lot up until recently. Hope this helps..!
poster:MarkCSF
thread:124022
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021012/msgs/124084.html