Posted by King Vultan on April 28, 2004, at 12:23:06
In reply to Re: Zoloft and alcohol » ravenmccoy, posted by flipsactown on April 28, 2004, at 11:07:43
> I don't want sound harsh, but alcohol and any kind of medication, generally, is an absolute no no especially when it comes to antidepressants and painkillers. Alcohol intensifies the effects of medications, thus you are actually taking an overdose of whatever medication you are taking. It also works the other way in that some medication intensifies the effects of alcohol, so if you think you can get away with just drinking a small amount of alcohol, your medication could be doubling or tripling the effects of what you thought was small amount of alcohol. Bottomline: Unless you like blacking out from a small amount of alcohol taken with Zoloft and not knowing how, what and where you are, you should not be drinking alcohol with your Zoloft. Consider yourself lucky that you were not injured, or worse killed, because you drank alcohol with Zoloft.
>
> FST
>I have to disagree somewhat with this, but keep in mind that I live in the beer soaked environment of Milwaukee, where alcohol use is deeply ingrained in the culture. Rather than prohibit the use of alcohol, which IMO is simply not realistic, I think it's more constructive to tell people that alcohol may potentiate the effects of the drug or it may cause some unexpected effects, and that it should be used with caution. I would reinforce with the patient the necessity of reporting back if the combination appears to be causing unhealthy or negative effects so that a discussion might ensue as to whether to discontinue the use of alcohol with the med, or trying something else.
I say that with the experience of running into severe problems on one of the 11 meds I've tried (Prozac/alcoholism), and I unfortunately lacked the wisdom at the time to share the difficulties I was having with my doctor. I guess I was afraid he was going to take the Prozac away if I told him, as I was so naive at the time that I thought this was some kind of wonder med that was going to solve all my problems. Fortunately, I did have enough sense to finally tell him I didn't want to take it anymore, as it became clear to me that I was on a rather destructive course.
I hope you're listening, ravenmccoy.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:583
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040423/msgs/341002.html