Harmful Interactions National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA

Ask your pharmacist if you have any questions about how alcohol might interact with a drug you are taking. Illegal drug use includes street drugs like heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine. It also includes prescription drugs used without a prescription or just for the high they cause. Do not come in contact with or breathe the fumes of paint, paint thinner, varnish, shellac, and other products containing alcohol. Exercise caution when applying alcohol-containing products (e.g., aftershave lotions, colognes, and rubbing alcohol) to your skin. These products, in combination with disulfiram, may cause headache, nausea, local redness, or itching.

Antidepressants taken with alcohol lowers the effectiveness of the prescription. MAOI antidepressants combined with alcohol can cause an increased risk of blood clots, and heart attack. The hormones in birth control may affect your body water distribution which can change the rate the alcohol you drink is eliminated. This could lead to higher blood alcohol levels and may increase your level of intoxication if you’re on the pill.

What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication?

Other things, such as having low self-esteem or being impulsive, may raise the risk of alcohol use disorder. It is easy to use and generally regulates periods and reduces menstrual cramping. The same report states that men who have been drinking alcohol are responsible for 50 percent of sexual assaults. A publication released by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) states that approximately 50 percent of people who report sexual assault say that they were drinking at the time of the assault. When someone mixes drugs with alcohol, they can experience many different side effects,  which can vary in intensity and danger. In 2014, it was reported that just over 16 percent of American women ages 15 to 44 years use a birth control pill.

SAMHSA’s mission is to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring pills and alcohol effects equitable access and better outcomes. Your doctor may suggest a medicine to help treat your alcohol use disorder. Medicines are usually used together with talk therapy and support groups.

Anti-Nausea Medications

Many people struggling with alcoholism will meet the criteria for a drug use disorder at some point in their lifetime. Combining alcohol with antibiotics can cause many dangerous symptoms, including increased blood pressure, heart rate, stomach upset, headache, and liver damage. And if you are among the 18.1% of Americans living with an anxiety disorder, holiday-induced stress may feel unbearable at times. However, if you take a benzodiazepine, like Xanax (alprazolam) or Ativan (lorazepam), to help manage your anxiety, you are going to want to steer clear of alcohol while it is in your system—the combination can lead to a fatal overdose. Signs of trouble include drowsiness, dizziness, difficulty breathing, and behavioral problems, says Michaelene Kedzierski, R.Ph., a clinical professor and substance abuse consultant at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy. To keep yourself safe, plan to wait at least 24 hours between taking your medication and having that drink (and vice versa).

The list gives the brand name by which each medicine is commonly known (for example, Benadryl®) and its generic name or active ingredient (in Benadryl®, this is diphenhydramine). The list presented here does not include all the medicines that may interact harmfully with alcohol. Most important, the list does not include all the ingredients in every medication. Therefore, patients should always be cautioned to avoid alcohol consumption during, and for several days after, antibiotic regimens known to interact with alcohol.

University Health Service

John C. Umhau, MD, MPH, CPE is board-certified in addiction medicine and preventative medicine. For over 20 years Dr. Umhau was a senior clinical investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• This might seem like an odd question, but it’s easy to forget that alcohol, while used socially for centuries, is a drug and can lead to side effects, drug interactions, alcoholism, and organ damage, such as cirrhosis of the liver.
• This is especially true if you are taking a medication that makes you sleepy or causes sedation.
• It is important to always read the labels on prescription medications and adhere to the warnings about alcohol intake.
• Alcohol and cholesterol-lowering medications can lead to liver damage, internal bleeding, and itching.
• Alcohol affects judgment, which in turn can lead to risky sexual behavior.

If you take prescription medication or use a specific medication every day, ask your doctor if it is okay for you to drink alcohol. You may be able to consume a limited amount safely, as long as you follow certain rules (for example, waiting at least four hours after taking your daily dose before having an alcoholic drink). Here is what you need to know about the possible unsafe interactions between alcohol and common prescription and over-the-counter medications. Depressants (Xanax, Valium) combined with alcohol have a synergistic effect, with potential for dangerous and even lethal consequences, with rapid onset of dizziness, stumbling, loss of sphincter control, memory loss and potential death. Some medications—including many popular painkillers and cough, cold, and allergy remedies—contain more than one ingredient that can react with alcohol. Read the label on the medication bottle to find out exactly what ingredients a medicine contains.

Hepatitis B and C can be spread in the same ways as HIV, so people with HIV in the U.S. are often also affected by chronic viral hepatitis. It is manufactured through hydration of ethylene or by brewing via fermentation of sugars with yeast (most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The sugars are commonly obtained from sources like steeped cereal grains (e.g., barley), grape juice, and sugarcane products (e.g., molasses, sugarcane juice). It also tells what researchers have found about how well the medicines work to treat alcohol dependence and alcohol use disorder. However, a person must take the pill every day, and it can cause side effects, such as reduced sexual desire.

Alcohol can cause nausea and vomiting in sufficiently high amounts (varying by person). This summary was prepared by the John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. It was written by Amelia Williamson Smith, M.S., Thomas Kosten, M.D., and Michael Fordis, M.D. People with alcohol use disorder reviewed this summary.