Celexa and alcohol

[aisha]

has anyone found that celexa inscreases the effects of liquor? as it seems most are discussing the next day.

[Maria]

I am at the point of wanting to quit drinking my 2-3 large glasses of wine every day, so I will keep you all posted on whether Celexa (which I started today, 10mg) is putting a kaibosh on my decision!!

[Zak]

If I drink several glasses the next morning I get a very awful wave of depression. So Celexa and alcohol do not go well.

[Wideawake]

Been reading this post for the very reason that I mixed Celexa with alcohol for the first time tonight. I've only been on C for 3 weeks and this was the first (and LAST I might add) time I have consumed alcohol since I started the medication. I do not have an alcohol problem, only drink on rare occasions, but this was a company party and after two glasses of wine - I was practically stumbling. I felt completely drunk. Then I made the horrible mistake of continuing to drink for the rest of the night. I passed out at home around midnight and woke up at 4am with my heart racing. My entire body was pulsing and I'm tempted to take myself to the hospital but wanted to read a bit about it all before I jumped to any conclusions. I don't see any others having this same result so I suppose it could just be me. Regardless - Celexa has helped me a great deal with depression but I will never mix with alcohol again.

[attina]

I had a smirnoff with dinner and a little bit of peach schnapps after. I rarely drink. I went to go and take a shower and almost fell on my face. I could feel myself blacking out. Now I have the shakes. My husband reminded me a few months ago I had a drink with dinner when we went out with friends and I had the same effect.

[Bill Pittsburgh PA]

I've only been on celexa for a little over a week. I drank a pint of vodka in two hours last night, totally blacked out and woke up 9 hours later with no recollection of what I'd done. No hangover, though. I do not recommend this to anyone! It's scary losing 9 hours of memory. I know I didn't drive because my wife had the car.

[Pat in FLorida]

I am on Wellbutrin for @ 6 weeks. The short term memory loss and easy crying jags are a big drag. I was in an auto accident several years ago and the memory loss was mild to moderate. Now it is very embarrassing and it is driving my spouse and co-workers crazy. I am not the person I was when starting the meds, and combining the accident- I am scared of my inability to remember so many things.

Any one else have this combination of events, and does anyone suggest discontinuing wellbutrin?

[Brian]

When I was on 10mg I would drink like a fish. No side effects during drinking. The next day however, my anxiety would be elevated.
Now that I've been on 20mg for three days, I'm not drinking. Maybe I will in a week or so but I need to settle into this dose.

[Crystal]

I just started taking Celexa about a week ago. My doctor started me off at 20mg but I was having really bad side effects and couldn't function at work due to the drowsiness. I like to go out and drink with me friends on the weekend but my sister who took another type of anti-depressent had a seizure on only two glasses of wine. Has anyone known of this happing on Celexa. I have had a couple of beers and I felt fine. I started taking Celexa at night now so hopefully the side effects won't effect me during the day. Any advice?

[cricket34]

My recent Celexa prescription came with red warning label not to drink alcohol while taking the medication. I've pretty much stopped drinking on Celexa because it seems to counteract the positive effects of the medication. And wouldn't excess drinking combined with Celexa be brutal on your liver?

[JAGQUEEN]

I STARTED CELEXA 1 MONTH AGO. QUIT SMOKING 1 YEAR AGO AND WAS CRAZY WITH CRAVINGS IN THE LAST 2 WEEKS. ALSO SOME PRETTY WICKED DIAHRREA HOPING THAT WILL STOP SOON. OTHERWISE CELEXA HAS BEEN PRETTY GOOD

[CrashTst FlyRat]

When I drink on 20 mg, the next morning I am fine. THE PROBLEM is when I then take my meds (I take 10 in morn, 10 at night). It's only when I take my morning meds that I feel fucked up during the day. Having a drink later in the day subdues that feeling. Weird.

Anyone else feel shittier post-drinking when they TAKE their meds?

[Meerkat]

Hi All,
As mentioned earlier in this thread and at the risk of boring everyone to tears and cause them to gnash their teeth in revulsion and misery, I will nevertheless repeat my findings.
I'm on 20mg Citalopram, the generic form of Celexa. I have never had real alcohol problems and have always been very casual in my consumption, but once I titrated (meaning, getting to the effective level at about 4 to 6 weeks) I noticed a couple of things.
1. I wanted to drink and I wanted it bad!
2. When I start drinking, I drink like a fish.
3. When drinking I hardly get drunk or impaired.
4. I have a clear recollection of what went on.
5. I don't get obnoxious, just a little drowsy.
6. Next morning: No hangover. Just a little dry in the mouth, but for the rest all clear and chipper.
7. All of this did not seem to impair my meds from working. I felt fine and dandy.

All of this sound very nice, but it is not!
You should see what it does to your liver enzymes. Not very pretty! Kidneys take a whallop too. I'm not sure what it does to the braincells, but it can't be good either.
For the rest, this can get spendy really quickly.

After I found myself guzzling a 2 liter bottle of 92proof Rum in three days, I decided that things were out of hand. I detoxed myself and have been sober ever since, although the cravings are fairly strong. Sometimes I feel as if my meds turned me into an alcoholic, but maybe that just my denial at word. Bottom line is: Be very careful with celexa/citalopram and alcohol.

Meerkat

[Bangalee]

Each of the 7 points Meerkat indicates above also applies to me, except #4 - sometimes I have trouble remembering what I did the evening before.

I'm taking Celexa 30 mg/day and Wellbutrin 300 mg/day, plus 3 different pills for high blood pressure. I can also down 1/2 a litre of rum per day and have no ill effects the next day other than dry mouth and thirst.

Curious that Meerkat and I both gravitated toward rum. In my case, Bacardi white, no other kind of rum or hard liquor appeals to me (and I've tried all kinds - scotch, rye, gin, vodka, vermouth, brandy, cognac, dark rum, white rum). Could also be that rum doesn't make you smell all boozy the next day like whisky and vodka do.

The cost of my meds is bad enough, but my alcohol habit alone costs me about $100 per week. And the liquor is not exactly good for your blood pressure, either!

[bret]

i've been on celexa for 3 weeks. i drank heavily and didn't eat one night and fainted the next day, hit my head and had a massive concussion. very scary. i feel like the benefits of celexa are good, drinking is not an option.

[crashtst flyrat]

Meerkat: Glad you enjoy the moniker.

So I've been on 20 mg Celexa (10 in morn, 10 at night) for the past month. Which has been better than 25 mg, AND/OR 20 mg all at once. NOW, splitting the morning dose (5 when I wake, 5 three hours later, 10 before bed)

My 'problem' is that I keep convincing myself I need to lower my dosage. WHY?

1) After a night of drinking 4+ drinks, I wake up feeling GREAT, at ease, relaxed, etc. THEN, after taking my meds I immediately feel more uptight, stressed, and subsequently anxious. And this continues throughout the day until I have another drink to call my nerves.

CALM MY NERVES FROM THE DRUGS....WTF, RIGHT?

2) On nights when I don't drink, I wake up next morning feel fine. Very pro-active, which is cool, but also very unconversational/quick with people/like the 'mind is squeezed' etc. which sucks.

SO DAMNIT if I don't decide to lower my dosage to 15, which as far as I know, doesn't do anything.----> This is the same game I played last time I was on meds, dwindled down from 20 of Lex to nothing because at every dosage shit bothered me.

-HypoCondriac in Training-

[Rambler]

I've been on citalopram since May. Currently 20mg, for a while 40mg.

I've found that:
(1) two beers (or glasses of wine) feel like four.
(2) four beers feel like four.
(3) six, eight beers feel like four.

That is, I don't feel drunk. HOWEVER, I get a massive headache while drinking and it lasts through the next day. Also, although I don't feel drunk -- just hungover WHILE drinking -- others notice it. I can't recall all that much the next day, either.

So, for me, drinking is not "fun" on citalopram, it just brings on an early headache and loss of memory. It is just not worth it.

[shalini]

ih8celexa wrote:

I had a couple beers one night, ended up blacking out for 2 hours. falling down a long flight of stairs, and did substantial damage to my back and arm. I could barely walk or use my arm. DO NOT DRINK ON CELEXA!! NO RECREATIONAL DRUGS EITHER!!!

i drank for the first time on it last night and blacked out too! and that was only two drinks.

[Luca]

I have been tapering off Celexa for 6 months and stopped completely one month ago. Today I had an argument with my b.f. because I got very drunk last night on the same number of drinks I would normally have, i.e. wine with dinner and three stiff shots at the bar. I realize now that until today I've been drinking the same amount as when I was on Celexa but that it is 'way too much. I guess I was just drinking more and more as time went on because Celexa was nullifying the effects. I wonder what I did to my liver during the 4 years I was on it, and I wonder if I will have trouble cutting back now that I know what's going on.

Today I googled Celexa Alcohol and found this site. I am off Celexa because of the side effects, and I am very angry that my doctor recommended it without mentioning the side effects or monitoring them. I had so many when I was on it, and they got worse as I was trying to kick my addiction to Celexa. The alcohol issue is just one more thing to add to my list of complaints about what Celexa has done to me.
Luca

[Meerkat]

Actually, I gravitated towards spiced rum and sometimes towards vodka. The vodka gave me more of a problem (stomach issues and excessive burping) but where it came to the alcohol effects they were identical.
Take care.

Bangalee wrote:

Each of the 7 points Meerkat indicates above also applies to me, except #4 - sometimes I have trouble remembering what I did the evening before.
I'm taking Celexa 30 mg/day and Wellbutrin 300 mg/day, plus 3 different pills for high blood pressure. I can also down 1/2 a litre of rum per day and have no ill effects the next day other than dry mouth and thirst.
Curious that Meerkat and I both gravitated toward rum. In my case, Bacardi white, no other kind of rum or hard liquor appeals to me (and I've tried all kinds - scotch, rye, gin, vodka, vermouth, brandy, cognac, dark rum, white rum). Could also be that rum doesn't make you smell all boozy the next day like whisky and vodka do.
The cost of my meds is bad enough, but my alcohol habit alone costs me about $100 per week. And the liquor is not exactly good for your blood pressure, either!