Lexapro and Alcohol

[CanuckGuy42]

Hi everyone... been a while since I was on here....this past weekend was visiting a friend and we had two nights of well... a bit too much to drink (something out of character for me) but nonetheless... aside from feeling generally crappy after that I also started to feel like my 15mg of Lexapro that I have been taking daily since mid july stopped working. Alot of the side effects I had while ramping up on it seemed to come back. I know the bottle says do not take alcohol on this drug but my psych told me a drink or two is OK just that it might amplify the effects of the alcohol so not to take too much. Unfortunately this past weekend I think I overdid that.

Can too much alcohol prevent the drug from working? and would that cause me to feel like I was going through withdrawal symptoms for two days cause I was taking it but it wasnt working? And now that i am not drinking anything anymore should it balance itself back out? Like I said I am not a drinker normally so if I need to cut down or cut it out its not a problem. Just wondering if I should expect to get back to feeling normal again in a few days?

[CanuckGuy42]

Thanks JF.... yeah I know but I could kick myself for being so stupid....I was doing well and completely stabilized and well now I know and will never make that mistake again.....live and learn....

[JGF25]

Turkee posted and asked about everyone and I said that you hadn't been on here for a long time and that was good!  And then here you are.  But this is really only just a bump in the road.  They are going to come and go.  The important thing to remember is that you got better and therefore even if it comes back a little, you will get better again.  The knowledge of that goes a long way.

[CanuckGuy42]

Just want to say to anyone contemplating drinking when on Lexapro.... be very careful and check with your doctor.

My experience was that 1 beer felt like 2 and by the time I had hit 6-7 beers (which is ALOT for me cause I don't drink that often) I literally blacked out. That has never happened to me before and fortunately I was with a good friend who got me home safely that night. Also ever since then it has been like my ramping up symptoms have come back a bit....told its because the alcohol basically stopped the lexapro from working so it was like stopping cold turkey until it cleared my system.....

Never going to do that again.... lesson well learned.....

[CanuckGuy42]

Oh ya....no worries there... never going to do that again.....

[mammo]

I think you should be feeling better, and never do this again because it is very dangerous.  If you're not feeling better within 3-4 days call your prescribing doctor, he'll understand and know what you need to do.  Chalk it up as a lesson learned!  Best wishes.