My shrink told me that i could drink a small amount of alcohol with my risperidone, so i had two light beers at my friend’s house last night. BIG MISTAKE. I honestly thought i was going to die. Im seriously surprised that i didnt.
I felt really tired but not unusual, then i went up the stairs to use the bathroom and i felt very, very wrong all at once. I was severely out of breath, i couldnt stand, and as i was making my way back downstairs everything was spinning around me, i was losing my vision, and the world was a blurry smudge. It may have been the closest to death that ive ever gotten.
Fortunately i felt ok after sitting down for about a minute. I think i made everyone worried and killed the vibe. I was planning on walking back to my place to sleep but after that incident i realized that was impossible so i stayed and slept on the sofa.
Im now terrified of my medicine, if it’s going to be this much of an impediment to my life. I dont ever want to go through that again. I cant believe such a small amount of alcohol was enough to bring me to such an extreme state. The psychiatrist made it sound like that amount would be within tolerance.
I would be more scared of alcohol than the meds. You could have developed an allergy to it.
Meds are far more important than drinking. I used to drink to relax and reward myself for a job well done. Just a glass or two of wine at the end of big projects. But, one time I drank right after taking my tramadol for pain and ended up super drunk and sick. Scared the crap out of my kids.
Did I stop taking my pain meds? NO. I stopped drinking on the days I took it. And with APs, I couldn’t get anything more than buzzed for about 30 minutes. Wasn’t worth it, so I rarely drink now. I’d much rather be sane than drunk.
I forgot to say that I’ve been on as much as 37.5 mg IM of Risperdal Consta and I could always drink a glass or two of a mixed drink on rare occasions without any problems @rhizome.
I don’t think it was the Risperdal or the alcohol that caused your problems @rhizome . Could someone have slipped something in your drink when you were not looking maybe?
I think the problem is that i was drinking right after i took my pill. It seems like that’s a bad idea. If i drink before i take it then im perfectly fine. There’s no chance that someone put anything in my drink because i was at someone’s house, surrounded only by trusted friends, and i was drinking out of cans.
How does the consta compare to the pills? My least favorite thing about risperidone so far is how much it sedates me during the first 12 hours after dosing. I get knocked out, sleep ten hours, and then feel useless until the afternoon. When i start taking a second pill in the morning like they want me to i can only imagine that it’ll be a lot worse.
People can react to the same med’s very differently. A med that can knock one person out for twenty hours might not do anything to another. I bet if you mixed beer with any other med’s you’d get sick too. So now you’ve learned - Don’t mix alcohol with any of your med’s. It’s not wise to do that under any circumstances, but it is much worse for you.
@rhizome, On the risperidone pills, I was able to play the piano like a virtuoso. On the Consta, I am all thumbs. In other words, I can barely play a note. And that’s no matter how long or how hard I practice. For instance, I have been practicing on Risperdal Consta for 14 years now and I still play very slowly and laboriously.
I am now in the process of lowering my Consta dose with the goal of eliminating it completely. I haven’t noticed more than a little improvement in my playing so far. It just seems a tad easier is all.
Not much change in me psychologically either thank goodness.
I see my doctor tomorrow. Hopefully she’ll feel confident enough to lower it some more.
Why did you commit to injections if it affects you that harshly? Why not just stay on the pills? If you cant even play piano, that sounds really debilitating.