Alcohol and medication

I am eighteen years old, and like most eighteen year old's we want to have a bit of fun.
I don't agree with my BP diagnoses and I'm attempting to challenge it but there is that chance I will fail. Should this happen, it will be clear to me that I can never have fun.

That is because I'd be medicated, well... For the rest of my life. This stops me from drinking. I asked my Doctor about drinking alcohol on my birthday. He said one beverage on my 18th at the most. So I'm almost nineteen and I've had one drink, that's it. Most people here in Australia start before their even 16. Around my age, their drinking several times a week. Now I don't want to drink several times a week but like I said above. I'm young and curious. So my question is how can I get drunk without overdoing it and harming myself? And what are the things to look out for so the people I'm drinking with know when to stop me / call an ambulance? It isn't like I'm asking for the safest drug to use. I'm asking how to do something safely so that I still have a good time. Just remember this isn't something I intend to do often. I'm simply asking this question as all my medications say to avoid alcohol. It does say the same to caffeine, but I drink about 7-10 coffees a day, so surely it won't kill me.

I'm on three different types of medication that I will list as it might help you determine how much is safe.

- Luvox 50MG
- Lithum 500MG
- Quilonum 450MG

The thing about alcohol is that they have to warn you about it because everyone reacts differently to it. And by it, I mean being drunk. Getting drunk is the real danger. Like your doctor said, a little isn't going to kill you but how many people stop at one? If you pile on the beers to a point of drunkeness you could really harm yourself. Plus there is the chance you can get addicted to it and the last thing any of us needs is an addiction. So they have their reasons to tell you to avoid it.

The truth is you need to put your mental health first over your curiosity. Trust me, I have suffered mood disorders since childhood and by letting it go and abusing substances I made things a lot worse. I know you're young, I know you are going to do what you're going to do and it is true a rational amount of alcohol won't kill you. But do consider their advice, they have your best interest in mind.

I was never quite clear on what the danger was when mixing meds with alcohol. Is because it will mess with your mental health? Physical health? Or you get drunk faster and thus you could easily over-do it?

I'm not a big drinker, but when I do it doesn't take much to make me feel it. But other than that, I never felt any ill effects. But I've never drank a whole lot to get drunk, so maybe that's why.

- EGD.

In my opinion, having been to rehab for alcohol already, DON'T GO THERE. I don't drink nearly as much as I used to, but when I do, everything goes sideways. Mainly, I sink into a huge depression and there go my meds again - up up up! It's no fun. I haven't had any physical issues with combining alcohol and my meds, yet...I know I'm playing with fire every time I drink, and it's coming to the point where I'm almost ready to quit drinking altogether.

If you can manage one or two at a time, and keep it at that, I don't see any issue. It's when you get into the threes and fours and more that it becomes an issue. Believe me, it's no fun taking meds and being told you can't drink. I actually had an anxiety attack when they told me I could never drink again in rehab.

I'm not going to tell you how much is "safe" because I have no idea. I know what I can handle. You know yourself better than anyone. My psychiatrist advises me not to drink at all because she knows what it does to me mentally. I'll advise you to trust and follow what your psychiatrist says, but if you decide to deviate, you need to decide what is safe for you.

Take care and be safe!

Nupy

Wait...
if a doctor says you are bipolar you have to be on meds for the rest of your life in Australia? Anyway.... dangerous question to ask on a forum, probably against forum rules to give you an answer.. That's a doctors only thing.

Just because you have bipolar disorder and are on medication doesn't meant that you can't have any fun. I don't remember where I heard/read this from (I think it was on one of the information packets they give you with your prescription), but I do remember hearing that certain BP medications when mixed with alcohol can increase the chance that you could have a seizure. I've also heard that it makes the medications less effective. That being said, I typically have 1-2 drinks probably 3-5 days a week. Like others on here have said, going much past that is when things become a problem for me. I get really agitated and angry at the slightest thing (not always, but a decent amount of the time) Also, as Anyone said, just because you have a diagnosis of bipolar, doesn't mean that you have to be on medication for the rest of your life. Only you can decide if being on medication is beneficial to you. It is best to work with your doctor on this vs stopping any medication cold turkey as that can cause severe withdrawals with some medications.

I would learn to just live without alcohol. Been ther done that already. Drinking may also might make a person think that they dont dneed meds anymore, and just self medicate with alcohol or other drugs. been there done that. Besides not safe in my opinion to mix legal intoxicants or llegal with mental meds.

the other me wrote:I would learn to just live without alcohol. Been ther done that already. Drinking may also might make a person think that they dont dneed meds anymore, and just self medicate with alcohol or other drugs. been there done that. Besides not safe in my opinion to mix legal intoxicants or llegal with mental meds.

True.. I do that,... I skip my meds hungover sometimes and that gets me on a string of "I don't need meds" because I skip them and go slightly manic or spiritual or something and then I skip more, go more manic, drink more..... had to make an agreement that if I stopped meds then I can't drink/ self medicate, and considering not medicating or drinking is scarier than words can describe.

Not touched a drop for a year and a half and oddly enough, I don't miss it. I haven't touched caffiene either for a similar amount of time and it's no big deal (ok I miss a coke now and again.)

All that said please be careful, meds plus alchohol mix not well and I've been violently ill mixing both (a pint and a half).

Bondi wrote:I am eighteen years old, and like most eighteen year old's we want to have a bit of fun.
I don't agree with my BP diagnoses and I'm attempting to challenge it but there is that chance I will fail. Should this happen, it will be clear to me that I can never have fun.

That is because I'd be medicated, well... For the rest of my life.

Science does not have proof of what causes mental and emotional problems. There is no lab test or x-rays for any of these conditions. Also, none of the theories are able to explain how many people with mental and emotional problems recover completely.

Problems that arise upon quitting medications are often medication withdrawal effects, and can be minimized by tapering down slowly. Also, if you have been relying on medications to solve emotional problems, you may need to learn effective alternative solutions to these problems in order to accomplish a successful withdrawal.

It's your choice. It is important not to stop taking medication before you are ready. But for at least some people, getting off medication, even against a prescriber's advice, may be the best solution. For example, long term studies show high rates of recovery among people diagnosed with bipolar who have gotten off medication successfully. I am one of them.

I quit drinking also though.