Celexa & Alcohol

Hello,

I was inquiring about drinking alcohol with Celexa.  I'm currently on 40 mg of celexa and have been on that for about 5 months now.  I'm currently taking it for anxiety, and it has been working quite well.  I was taking Zoloft for a couple years and it seemed to wear off.  I had no problems with alcohol and Zoloft.  I have a few questions regarding Celexa and alcohol consumption.

1.  Is it safe to drink alcohol in moderation with Celexa?  I'm worried about some bad interaction with the two.  From my research online, Celexa seems to be the SSRI that reacts more heavily to alcohol consumption....or is that not true?

2.  If Celexa is working well with me, should I talk to my doctor about switching to Lexapro or just stick with the Celexa?

Thank you for your time.

R

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

It is always recommended that you be very careful with alchohol and these medications.  Everyone responds differently so you can not generalize about specific medications so the best you can do is abstain or drink very likely, and when you do,monitor the effect on you.   You are much better off increasing the dose of the medication and stopping the alcohol if you are using alchohol as a stop gap medication for anxiety.

[Jaquta]

It is always advisable to use cation when consuming alcohol while on medication.
Alcohol, I think, can add to the effect of the medication.  It may depress your CNS (that could be to dangerous levels in some people, where they stop breathing, etc).

If celexa is working for you I wouldn't change.  It would be best to have this discussion with your doctor though.

I was just wondering if the alcohol may be a way to medicate against some of the anxiety.  

J

[birdie0907]

A doc on this forum a few years ago said drinking and Celexa can cause a seizure, so I hope that scares you enough not to combine those 2. Call your pharmacist or the manufacturer to be sure.

[birdie0907]

You made a bit of a typo but I think everyone will understand "likely" meant "lightly".
"the best you can do is abstain or drink very likely"