drinking and prescription drugs

ok, i know that they say that you are not supposed to take tylenol (or is it aspirin? one of those pain medications) when you have been drinking, because the combination of the medication and alcohol can do really serious bad stuff to your liver.

and i was looking on the little plastic pill bottle i have with some pain medication in it, and they have the ‘do not drink’ sticker on it, but when i tried to find out online exactly why (what damage it could do), all i could find was that it increased some of the medications side effects: dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, etc.

i know that certain prescription pills make the alcohol affect you a lot more than it normally does, but are there any dangerous physical (like the tylenol/liver one) side effects of mixing the two?

thanking you in advance,
sneeze

You gotta search for those references. Try here, or here or here

If a medicine says don’t take X, then don’t. It’s pretty straightforward.

Drug Possible effects when combined with alcohol

analgesics (pain killers)
increased depression of central nervous system

ASA (e.g. Aspirin©)
increased irritation of stomach lining

antidepressants
enhanced depression of central nervous system; impairment of motor skills

insulin
increased chance of hypoglycemia

antihistamines
increased depression of central nervous system

antihypertensive medications (blood pressure pills)
increased sedation; varies depending on type of drug

barbiturates (e.g. seconal, phenobarbitol)
increased depression of central nervous system; potentially lethal in high doses

tranquillizers (e.g. Valium©, Ativan©, Xanax©, Tranxene©, Halcion©)
considerable increase in depression of central nervous system; potentially lethal in high doses

anti-coagulants (e.g. Coumadin©)
increased anti-clotting effect; easy bruising

One thing to be aware of: alcohol is an organic solvent. This means that if you drink alcohol and take medication, you will probably absorb more of the medication faster, which will usually increase the side effects (and may not improve the desired action of the medicine)

and of course, when in doubt, ask your personal physician who proscibed the stuff for you. there may be some reason specifically for you that would be a good or bad idea.

I’ve had some of my patients refuse to take their antibiotics because they couldn’t drink with them! Arrrgghhh! The chief culprit is Metronidazole, used for many things, but most frequently for Trichomonal infections and bacterial vaginosis. In my estimation, if you won’t stop drinking long enough to take needed medications, you’ve got a drinking problem.