Many people with drinking problems also use pills for a number of reasons. It’s a good idea to know the risks of mixing alcohol with these drugs. Here is a list of some of the results that can be expected from mixing drinks with pills.
antibiotics
Antibiotics, as we know, are used to treat infectious diseases. In combination with acute alcohol consumption, some antibiotics can cause nausea, vomiting, headache and, in more extreme cases, seizures. At a minimum, alcohol consumption decreases or cancels the effects of the antibiotic. In other words, there’s no point in taking antibiotics if you’re drinking because the antibiotic won’t work and you won’t experience any of the benefits of the antibiotic.
antidepressants
Alcoholism and depression often go hand in hand, raising a very good possibility of interactions between alcohol and antidepressants. Alcohol increases the sedative effect of tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil and other similar drugs, impairing the mental abilities needed to, for example, drive. This is because acute alcohol use (regular drinking) increases the availability of some tricyclics, potentially increasing their sedative effects. There’s also a chemical called tyramine, found in some beers and wines that interacts with some antidepressants, causing a dangerous rise in blood pressure and, if it gets high enough, can lead to a stroke. Even a single drink can set the stage for an interaction like this.
antidiabetic drugs
Oral hypoglycemic agents are prescribed to help lower blood sugar levels in some patients with diabetes. Chronic alcohol consumption decreases the availability of these necessary medications in your system. Alcohol also interacts with some medications in this class, producing symptoms of nausea and headache. In addition to the possible interaction with other medications, while moderate amounts of alcohol can cause your blood sugar to rise, too much alcohol can actually lower your blood sugar, sometimes causing it to drop to dangerous levels.
When diabetics encounter severe deviations from the correct blood sugar levels, organic degeneration occurs.
antihistamines
Medications such as Benadryl and similar medications in this family are available without a prescription to treat allergy symptoms and insomnia. Alcohol can intensify the sedation caused by some antihistamines, causing slower reactions and poor judgment. These drugs can cause excessive dizziness and more intense sedation in older people.
antipsychotic medications
Drugs like thorazine, for example, are used to decrease psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations. Acute alcohol use increases the sedative effect of these drugs, leading to impaired coordination and life-threatening breathing problems. Additionally, the combination of chronic alcohol ingestion and antipsychotic drugs can accelerate liver damage.
anti-seizure medications
These medications are primarily prescribed to treat epilepsy. Chronic alcohol use can significantly reduce a patient’s protection against epileptic seizures, even during a period of abstinence.
cardiovascular drugs
These medications include a variety of medications prescribed to treat heart problems and problems with the circulatory system. Acute alcohol use interacts with some of these drugs and causes dizziness or fainting when trying to stand up. These drugs include nitroglycerin used for angina and most drugs used to treat high blood pressure.
Chronic alcohol use decreases the high blood pressure medication in your system, reducing its effect and leaving you more vulnerable to the problem the medication has been taken to relieve.
narcotic pain medications
These medications are prescribed for pain. They include the opiates morphine, codeine, Darvon, and Demerol. The combination of opiates and alcohol enhances the sedative effect of both substances, increasing the risk of death from overdose.
Non-narcotic prescriptions for pain
Aspirin and these types of over-the-counter pain relievers, by themselves, some of these medications cause stomach bleeding and inhibit blood clotting. Mixed with alcohol it can increase these effects. This can result in episodes of gastric bleeding. Also, aspirin can increase the potency of alcohol, increasing the effects of drinking.
Chronic alcohol ingestion activates enzymes that break down acetaminophen-type drugs like Tylenol and others into chemicals that can cause liver damage, even when acetaminophen is used in common (or lesser) amounts.
Sedatives – Sleeping pills/Tranquilizers
Benzodiazepines such as Valium are used to treat anxiety and insomnia. Benzodiazepine doses can cause severe drowsiness in the presence of alcohol, increasing the risk of home and car accidents and, in the right combination, can lead to depression of cardiac and respiratory function. Low doses of Dalmane interact with low doses of alcohol to impair driving ability, including when the alcohol is ingested the morning after taking Dalmane. Since many alcoholics often suffer from anxiety and insomnia, and since many of them have drinks in the morning, this interaction can be dangerous.
The benzodiazepine Ativan is used for anxiolytic and sedative effects. The combination of alcohol and Ativan can result in depressed cardiac and respiratory functions.
Acute alcohol consumption increases the potency of barbiturates in the bloodstream, prolonging the sedative effect. Furthermore, acute or chronic alcohol consumption increases the sedative effect of barbiturates at their site of action in the brain, sometimes leading to coma or even fatal respiratory depression.
Anticoagulants
Coumadin is prescribed to slow the blood’s ability to clot. Acute alcohol consumption along with taking the anticoagulant increases the user’s risk of life-threatening bleeding. And chronic alcohol consumption reduces the benefits of Coumadin, thus lowering the patient’s protection against the consequences of blood coagulation disorders.
anesthetics
As we all know, anesthetics are administered before surgery to render the patient unconscious and oblivious to pain. Chronic alcohol consumption increases the dose of anesthetics needed to induce unconsciousness. Chronic alcohol use also increases the risk of liver damage that can be caused by anesthetic gases.
If you have a drinking problem and are having surgery in the near future, this would be the time when being completely honest with your doctor about your drinking habits will really pay off.