Psycho-Babble Substance Use Thread 345206

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Pills / Alcohol liver damage

Posted by craftyfriend on May 9, 2004, at 19:32:20

I've heard that mixing pills and alcohol causes liver damage. I know this is true for particular things such as acetaminophen (tylenol) + alcohol, but am curious if it extends over to all drugs. Is the damage due to just being particularly taxing on the liver. Does it extend to all drugs which are metabolized by the liver? How exactly is the damage caused?

thanks,
lauren

Re: Pills / Alcohol liver damage

Posted by Tony P on May 13, 2004, at 15:22:48

In reply to Pills / Alcohol liver damage, posted by craftyfriend on May 9, 2004, at 19:32:20

The complete answer to this is very complicated as scientists discover more and more specific liver enzymes. The short answer is, yes, almost any drug + alcohol is going to put an extra load on the liver generally.

Tylenol is one of the most dangerous, because it is a threshold effect - one too many and suddenly you have serious liver damage. It happens when a particular enzyme becomes saturated with drug(s) it is trying to detox, and instead produces a family of substances that are ironically very destructive to the liver itself.

A number of drugs I know of have a similar threshhold effect, but there are too many to go into - and I'm only an "amateur" <g> in this area, not a professional. If you have questions about specific pills, I have found my pharmacist very helpful and completely non-judgmental.

Tony

> I've heard that mixing pills and alcohol causes liver damage. I know this is true for particular things such as acetaminophen (tylenol) + alcohol, but am curious if it extends over to all drugs. Is the damage due to just being particularly taxing on the liver. Does it extend to all drugs which are metabolized by the liver? How exactly is the damage caused?
>
> thanks,
> lauren

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