guys we occasionally drink alcohol? what are its effects on relapse rate and antipsychotics medication?can it trigger relapse?
If your meds say don’t use alcohol it’s not a good idea to use alcohol. I notice that a lot of the people here on APs that prohibit alcohol yet use it anyhow aren’t exactly the highest functioning. There’s probably a reason for that.
Pixel.
1 Like
I’ve been on meds for 17 years and I probably drank for 13 years or so while taking them. I never had a relapse from drinking and it never caused me too many problems. I only drank 3 or 4 times a month but when I drank I got plastered.
One medication you do have to worry about drinking on is benzodiazepines like Klonopin Xanax Ativan and Valium. It can kill you if you combine alcohol and benzos.
Antipsychotics can effect your liver over the long term and drinking too much can cause damage to your liver.
I’ve talked my doctor about it and he said in moderation alcohol is ok. He’s an MD at a hospital.
I went to a regular doctor and had some blood work done. She advised me to quit drinking because my liver enzymes were all out of wack.
Technically almost any doctor is going to tell you not to drink but from my experience it wasn’t that harmful. Just if your going to do it don’t make a habit out of it. Once a week and you should be fine.
4 Likes
For me alcohol is a no-no.
I’ve drank heavily on the medications before - 4 or 5 nights a week, getting plastered. I don’t know what kind of damage it did to my liver. I’m 56 years old, soon to be 57, and I have no health problems as far as I know. Lately I’ve been getting drunk about once a month. I’m giving some thought to quitting all together.
Mixing Alcohol and Psych Meds is not recommended.
It can damage the body even more, especially your liver.
Maybe alcohol can make sz worse
I think the smartest thing to do is avoid it. As a recovering addict who also used to drink I do not endorse it.
People with schizophrenia are very prone to having addictions and alcoholism. And it all starts with a beer or two on weekends or an occasional drink at the bar. It just snowballs and pretty soon you are an alcoholic with the most severe mental illness there is.
BUT…I will contradict myself here and even though I don’t endorse alcohol or drugs due to the very real chance of becoming an alcoholic or a heavy drinker, I will say that when I was in my twenties I used to have a few beers with my neighbor and it did me no harm. You know the risks and you are an adult. If you want to risk drinking than that is your decision and you have to live with that decision.