Drug and Alcohol Interactions What to Avoid

The sedating effect of these drugs can be increased by alcohol, leading to slowed or impaired breathing, impaired motor control, abnormal behavior, memory loss, and fainting. In addition mixing alcohol and drugs causes an effect called to worsening the side effects of antidepressant medications, mixing these drugs with alcohol can also make symptoms of depression worse. In general, alcohol use has the potential to make symptoms of a mental health condition worse. In addition, there are hundreds of mental health medications that interact with alcohol.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

It can be harder to tell when you are drunk and how the alcohol is impacting your body and brain, causing you to drink more and to possibly suffer from alcohol poisoning. Dehydration, extreme strain on the heart, overheating, and possible cardiac arrest are possible consequences of mixing a stimulant drug with alcohol. The crash can also be worse after you come down from both alcohol and ecstasy. The effects of mixing cocaine and alcohol together produces an extremely toxic and dangerous substance called cocaethylene. Doctors have dubbed mixing these two widely used drugs together as a “deadly combination”. Fortunately, educating patients about the risks of combining medications with alcohol may help them avoid negative outcomes.

Cold and Allergy Medications

Marijuana is a depressant and a hallucinogen, which means that while it works to lower stress and anxiety, makes it harder to think straight, and interferes with memory and movement abilities. It can alter a person’s senses, making them to see colors more brightly, and interfere with their sense of time. In high doses, marijuana may cause psychosis and cause a person to see or hear things that aren’t really there and to suffer from delusions. Other mind-altering substances are classified in “schedules” by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) based on how likely they are to be abused, their medical use, and how addictive they might be. Schedule I drugs are those that are classified as illegal by the DEA, as they have no accepted medical use within the United States and are considered to have a high risk for abuse and for being potentially addictive.

Waiting Times Information

A stronger drug combined with a strong type of alcohol may lead to greater intoxication. Here are some commonly used drugs and their side effects when mixed with alcohol. People addicted to multiple substances — referred to as polysubstance use disorder — may be more likely than people addicted to a single substance to experience negative consequences.

Mixing Alcohol and Other Substances

Cravings and withdrawal symptoms can be difficult when alcohol wears off. Vomiting, seizures, breathing problems, kidney failure, liver damage, nausea, coma, and death are all possible side effects of amphetamine addiction treatment large doses of depressant drugs like GHB and methaqualone. Psychosis, anxiety, depression, insomnia, tremors, raised blood pressure and heart rate, and sweating are potential withdrawal symptoms. Depression medicine and alcohol can result in added drowsiness, dizziness and risk for injury. It is usually best to avoid the combination of alcohol and medications for depression. Ask your prescriber, as some antidepressants may increase drowsiness and make driving hazardous, especially if mixed with alcohol.

• Mixing alcohol with prescription drugs can cause the effects to be intensified and can pose serious health risks.
• Many people know that mixing alcohol with illicit drugs or prescription drugs is risky, but drinking after taking over-the-counter medicines or supplements can also cause health problems.

Professionals

Unintentional polysubstance use occurs when a person takes drugs that have been mixed or cut with other substances, like fentanyl, without their knowledge. At Greater Boston Addiction Centers, we offer compassionate, evidence-based treatment tailored to your unique needs. Whether you’re seeking alcohol rehab, drug treatment in Boston, or comprehensive substance abuse treatment, we’re here to support your journey to recovery. Detoxing from multiple substances is risky and should always be done under medical supervision.

Here, we describe briefly how alcohol and medications can interact, and we provide a few examples of common medications that could interact negatively with alcohol. We provide links to resources to help you mitigate these risks, including a consensus-developed list of potentially serious alcohol-medication interactions in older adults. Opioids were originally designed to be safer, less addictive versions of the original drug, opium, which are prescribed for acute and long-term pain. While over the counter drugs are medications you can buy easily, without a prescription, there are some drugs that are purposefully more difficult to obtain. These are drugs which are addictive, can be abused, or could otherwise be harmful to those who don’t need them. Controlled substances such as these are divided into Schedules, from Schedule I-IV (1-5).

Signs of Alcohol & Drug Abuse

You may need to host an intervention in order https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to get your loved one to agree to enter treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. A professional interventionist can plan and carry out the intervention, and help you get your loved into a treatment program. A person is more likely to drink too much and use more weed when they are mixing these substances.

OTC Medications

Whether intentional or not, mixing drugs is never safe because the effects from combining drugs may be stronger and more unpredictable than one drug alone, and even deadly. Intentional polysubstance use occurs when a person takes a drug to increase or decrease the effects of a different drug or wants to experience the effects of the combination. For individuals with co-occurring mental health conditions, we provide integrated care to address both addiction and mental health simultaneously.

• Mixing cocaine and alcohol can produce a variety of effects sought after by those that abuse drugs.
• They may not be able to remember things that happen while under its influence, which can then make a person vulnerable to sexual assault or other criminal behaviors, the DEA warns.
• Additionally, mixing alcohol with illegal drugs can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
• Alcohol is fairly cheap and often part of social interactions and situations.

The Development of a Substance Use Disorder and Issues with Polysubstance Abuse

Balance, coordination, reflexes, and reaction time are impacted, as is your ability to understand and care about possible consequences for your actions. Nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, slurred speech, and tremors are additional physical side effects of alcohol abuse. They can provide valuable information about the harmful effects of combining substances, including prescription medicines, illicit drugs, and alcohol. Communication is crucial to ensuring a safe and comprehensive understanding of healthcare providers. It’s essential to remember that combining any prescription drugs with alcohol can have adverse effects.