Alcohol and Antidressants.
I see a great many clients about the challenges of managing their alcohol intake. For some it is about moderation - for other cessation is the only option. The therapies I provide can either reduce or eliminate their use of alcohol.
A disturbing trend over recent months has been developing. I see an increasing number of people who are by any definition alcoholic and who have been prescribed antidepressants by their doctors. Some antidepressants come with a warning against using alcohol while on antidepressants, though by no means all. Nonetheless, there is widespread knowledge and reports of interaction between most SSRI antidepressants and alcohol; and yet medical professionals still prescribe them to patients who make no secret of the fact that they are alcoholic.
These patients are not going to simply not drink. They often drink because they are unable to stop. Simply being on antidepressants is not by any stretch of the imagination going to change this. And yet the known interactions are not merely mildly harmful, they can be massively damaging.
I have had clients in my office, unable to walk because their doctor has prescribed them antidepressants while they've been drinking. In some cases they are completely incapable. One particular doctor on the North Shore has several patients that have ended up coming to me for help because they are so hopelessly unable to function - and yet that doctor continues to prescribe dangerous quantities of antidepressants to alcoholic patients. They become a danger to themselves and anyone around them.
Cipralex carries a gently worded notation in the inserted documentation provided with it: "No pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic interactions are expected between Cipralex and alcohol." It continues:
"As with other psychotropic pharmaceutical products, combination with alcohol is not advisable. When co-administered with alcohol in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, volunteer study, Cipralex did not further impair performance compared with alcohol alone; paradoxically, it significantly improved performance in some tests."
Reality is rather different. Firstly, not everyone responds the same to alcohol; secondly not everyone responds the same to Cipralex. Judging from direct experience of my own client base this is so ludicrously at odds with the reality of alcoholism that it is wildly irresponsible.
Much the same is true of Celexa. Some clients have had dreadful experiences on alcohol/celexa combinations.
In the end, the pharmaceutical companies simply do not know how you will respond to some pharmacy. Everyone is a little different - and some times not just 'a little'. When combined with another drug - such as alcohol - to even pretend to know is arrogant and irresponsible. If you are using antidepressants and experience an unusual reaction to alcohol don't be surprised. More importantly, be smart enough to steer clear of either the antidepressant or the alcohol, regardless of what a doctor tells you about how safe it is.
After all, for some people something as benign as sugar can be deadly.
Rob Hadley CHt.
http://www.vancouverhypnotherapy.org/
A disturbing trend over recent months has been developing. I see an increasing number of people who are by any definition alcoholic and who have been prescribed antidepressants by their doctors. Some antidepressants come with a warning against using alcohol while on antidepressants, though by no means all. Nonetheless, there is widespread knowledge and reports of interaction between most SSRI antidepressants and alcohol; and yet medical professionals still prescribe them to patients who make no secret of the fact that they are alcoholic.
These patients are not going to simply not drink. They often drink because they are unable to stop. Simply being on antidepressants is not by any stretch of the imagination going to change this. And yet the known interactions are not merely mildly harmful, they can be massively damaging.
I have had clients in my office, unable to walk because their doctor has prescribed them antidepressants while they've been drinking. In some cases they are completely incapable. One particular doctor on the North Shore has several patients that have ended up coming to me for help because they are so hopelessly unable to function - and yet that doctor continues to prescribe dangerous quantities of antidepressants to alcoholic patients. They become a danger to themselves and anyone around them.
Cipralex carries a gently worded notation in the inserted documentation provided with it: "No pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic interactions are expected between Cipralex and alcohol." It continues:
"As with other psychotropic pharmaceutical products, combination with alcohol is not advisable. When co-administered with alcohol in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, volunteer study, Cipralex did not further impair performance compared with alcohol alone; paradoxically, it significantly improved performance in some tests."
Reality is rather different. Firstly, not everyone responds the same to alcohol; secondly not everyone responds the same to Cipralex. Judging from direct experience of my own client base this is so ludicrously at odds with the reality of alcoholism that it is wildly irresponsible.
Much the same is true of Celexa. Some clients have had dreadful experiences on alcohol/celexa combinations.
In the end, the pharmaceutical companies simply do not know how you will respond to some pharmacy. Everyone is a little different - and some times not just 'a little'. When combined with another drug - such as alcohol - to even pretend to know is arrogant and irresponsible. If you are using antidepressants and experience an unusual reaction to alcohol don't be surprised. More importantly, be smart enough to steer clear of either the antidepressant or the alcohol, regardless of what a doctor tells you about how safe it is.
After all, for some people something as benign as sugar can be deadly.
Rob Hadley CHt.
http://www.vancouverhypnotherapy.org/
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