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The Effects of Combining Alcohol & Anti-Depressants

Anti-depressants are a type of drug used to treat depression. They are often safe and effective, but like any drug, they have certain unfavorable drug interactions and contraindications. One such interaction is that of anti-depressants and alcohol. Combining the two often leads to unfavorable side effects, some of which can be fatal.

  1. Increased Depression

    • Alcohol can have inhibiting effects on some kinds of anti-depressants.This causes the anti-depressants to not work as well, making you feel more depressed. Alcohol is also considered a depressant. It slows down the central nervous system. Some people feel more depressed when drinking or immediately afterward, most likely due to alcohol's effect on the brain. This combination can cause intense depression. A possible complication of this is suicidal thoughts and actions.

    Increased Anti-Depressant Side Effects

    • Some side effects, especially drowsiness, dizziness and slowed reaction times can be greatly increased when anti-depressants are combined with alcohol. A study published in the May 1975 "Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics" found that when anti-depressants were mixed with alcohol, participants experienced slowed reaction times and inaccuracy with reactions in certain psychomotor skills. Anti-depressants or alcohol by themselves did not cause this effect, suggesting the two are synergistic. The effect is increased if alcohol is consumed daily.

    Stroke

    • Drinking alcohol while on certain anti-depressants, specifically monoamine oxidase inhibitors, can cause a dangerously high increase in blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause a blood vessel in the brain to rupture, resulting in hemorrhagic stroke. People with high blood pressure are four to six times more likely to experience a stroke than the general population so if you drink you significantly increase your risk of stroke.

    Toxicity

    • Most anti-depressants have some toxic side effects. The dosage is usually adjusted to prevent toxicity. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver. This can result in increased toxicity because the liver is unable to handle the toxins from both the alcohol and the anti-depressants. This is especially true of newer classes of anti-depressants, such as venlafaxine, mianserin, moclobemide and mirtazapine. This kind of toxicity can be fatal. There were 284 deaths attributable to alcohol-induced drug toxicity from 1995 to 2002, according to a postmortem toxicology analysis published in the November 2005 issue of the "International Journal of Legal Medicine."

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