Question about alcohol whilst on anti-depressants

[Doodle.]

I started taking Citalopram about four months ago. I was very wary about alcohol. For the past week I've been drinking alcohol more like what I used to. I don't drink stupid amounts when out with friends, I know when to stop and just like being tipsy. I've been getting drunk a lot easier, Idk if it's due to the meds or if it's just because I haven't drank in a while. I got quite drunk after drinking two WKDs and a shot of vodka on Thursday :/ I stopped drinking after that as I didn't want to get so drunk where the walls started spinning.

It says on the leaflet in the Citalopram I'm not really meant to drink alcohol with these tablets :/ Why is this? What's the worst that could happen?

[bitesize]

I think it's probably because it might make you drunk faster, but what you've been experiencing could be down to a few things, especially like you said if you haven't been drinking much over the past while. I drank alcohol regularly while I was on my anti-depressants, although I was advised not to, and didn't notice an effect. My dose was quite low though, and it would probably be best to drink as little as you can while you're on them... :/

[PSY]

This website states that Citalopram may "impair judgement, thinking, motor skills, or cause drowsiness"... which is essentially what drinking excessive amounts of alcohol will do to you. So it looks like Citalopram would enhance the effects of alcohol... which could cause you to feel more drunk, more quickly. xD

[Thurineth]

Also it might stop the meds from working. Anybody, having drunk alcohol, their moods change, could this also happen more often or quickly too?

[*Jen*]

My doctor just told me to be careful and that I can drink whilst on citalopram. I am not sure if it makes me more drunk either because I haven't drunk as regularly recently and when I do drink I get more drunk.

[Doodle.]

Ohhh, it doesn't seem too worrying then. I'll just make sure I drink sensibly

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

Alcohol is a depressant so taking it with anti-depressants kind of defeats the purpose. I am not sure of the worst that could happen. I know you can get overly tired though.

[Aaron,]

I agree. I'm on lexapro...and had 10 shots of Vodka..I'm quite lightweight...and was hammered drunk. Making out with a dog drunk xD

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Citalopram is a SSRI and alcohol also affects this system so you end up getting even more serotonin than necessary so you get a double hit of that. Both of them are also "downers" so you get an extra hit of that. In turn, you intoxicate yourself and any effects of drinking alcohol get amplified. I think the biggest risk is it'd be much easier to knock yourself out or do incredibly stupid stuff without remembering it, either leading to nothing severe, something severe to someone else, something severe to you or death (depending on the amount of alcohol and what you do). If you want a fancier answer, alcohol affects CYP450 2E1 (as does paracetamol) and SSRI's would affect other CYP450's, either 2E1 or a similar one. The CYP450's are a group of enzymes that can be affected and do affect the substances (legal and illegal) that you ingest. There's other groups but CYP450's are the big ones.

Sometimes using SSRI's can help someone battle alcoholism because of the increased intolerance to the combination. It's kind of like a cheap version of disulfuram with alcohol, although with fewer of the nasty side-effects if you don't keep drinking a lot or drink only on occasion.

[darkinnocenteyes]

I really wouldn't advise drinking alcohol while taking any SSRIs. I used to do it, and yes it makes you drunk way faster, and makes you way MORE uninhibited. Then again I don't like antideppressants... I've tried Lexapro, Zoloft, and another that i can't remember and they all made me pretty much crazy... i quite caring about anything... i did a bunch of really dangerous things becuase antidepressants gave me more anxiety than I already had. maybe that's just me, but well you know, just keep an eyes on yourself if you are just starting them. Also I know other peoples horror stories about alcohol and antidepressants... so i mean if you are going to drink at all, I'd say to keep it to a minimum and go slow... maybe wait atleast a half an hour or so before getting another drink or whatever when your out... to make sure you are not getting too tipsy.