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Alcohol

My husband is bipolar and goes through mostly manic attacks.  Recently he says he feels as if he is fading away or disappearing and everything is falling apart.  He is on Sodium Valproate 1 g and Risperdal 3mg. I would like to know how much alcohol is permissible for a person with bipolar.  He says he wants to have two drinks a week on Sundays.  Is that harmful? He never used to drink before but recently he has been having alcohol every weekend.
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your input.  We will speak to his doc and see what he says. My husband has a high stress job and has managed to hold on to it for 15 years now but he hardly ever relaxes or wants to go out or do anything relaxing.  He just comes back home and lies down or sits on a chair for hours doing nothing.  Is it too much stress for someone with bipolar to hold on to a job?  I am doing my best to help him cope but I dont feel married to him at all, we do not have a relationship.  I feel I am just looking after him and helping him cope.  Do all caretakers feel this way?
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Avatar universal
As LCC has commented, alcohol is not recommended when on these types of medications.  If he is only looking at 2 drinks one day a week I shouldn't think this would do him any harm, HOWEVER, its still worth checking with his Dr that this is ok.

I would be more concerned about how he is feeling at the moment.  It sounds as if the meds are not working as well as they should.  He could be seeing his 2 drinks a week as a way to compensate for the meds not working.  This is not a good situation to get into.

Definitely something that needs further discussion with his psych.
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Avatar universal
It's really not recommended for someone to drink on any of these drugs at all. Depression can be triggered as well be drinking, alcohol is a depressant to the system. If he can stop drinking I really recommend it. If not he needs to seek treatment. He may also need a med switch. Most importantly he needs to get into his psychiatrist to talk about these issues.
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