SSRIs and Alcohol Cravings

Hi there

I have been on citalopram for 4 years, during which time my drinking has gone from a bit excessive to compulsive...during the last two years I have attended AA, contributed to sobriety websites, and worked very very hard indeed to stop drinking. After a 3 month period of sobriety this year I have been feeling very well, although the cravings have been almost unbearable, and I have been eating cake and chocolate in industrial quantities. With the advent of spring I decided to cut my medication from 20mg to 10mg about 2 weeks ago, and I soon noticed a massive reduction in my cravings, to the point where being in control of my drinking suddenly seems quite feasible to me. An internet search on SSRIS and alcohol cravings brought me here.
Today I have cut down to 5 mg, and will come off entirely in 12 days. If this is for real, then I feel somewhat annoyed that I have been struggling with alcoholism caused by my medication. Of course the advice is to not drink when on it, but if a side effect is to get unmanageable cravings then this is not terribly helpful advice.
I do remember that I really wanted to drink like a fish from the moment I went on this medication, but just put it down to feeling less anxious, and I really did not care about doing so at all, until I started getting ill on a regular basis with it.
I am upset to have dragged my family through this, perhaps unnecessarily. Of course for a sufferer from depression, these issues sometimes get confused, and I strongly suspect that my observations may well be viewed with skepticism by the medical profession- craving is quite a subjective concept, after all. And of course the alcoholic buddies I now have think I am just looking for an excuse to drink again!! My periods of total sobriety have taught me that drinking excessively is a waste of time, and a depressant, so I suppose that is a very useful insight. But I certainly hope to be able to share a bottle of wine with my husband occasionally without feeling compelled to go on a binge.

I will report back on how I feel after I stop taking the meds completely.
Loobs

I had the same experience on Celexa and like you had to find my own information. There is a lot of science out there documenting that ADs that raise serotonin in the brain cause alcohol cravings in some people, but it's mostly focused on people who were already alcohol dependent.

There's also evidence that Prozac and Remeron are two ADs that have had the opposite effect in alcoholics. Seems to be because they act on a particular receptor (5-HT3) related to alcohol's effect on the reward system.

I just got off the stuff and already feel different. The P-doc just gave me BusPar, an antianxiety med that also works on another receptor that has also been shown to deal with alcohol.

You can add me to the list! My drinking spun out of control when I was on Zoloft. Combining the two yielded such an incredible high. Continued to drink excessively on Celexa, though the hangovers were sheer torture. My recklessness eventually led to a fall injury and a DUI. When I finally weaned off the SSRIs, things calmed down, though I still drink more than I should.

This was definitely the case with me. However I was on Mirtazapine (Remeron/Avanza) and went from a person who had to force myself to eat breakfast to someone who woke up with an intense need for porridge and loads of brown sugar. I put on so much weight and asked to be transferred to Zoloft, as I have a friend who takes that and he is very thin and describes it as being a life saver for him.

Within a couple of weeks of taking it I was relieved to feel the weight slipping off - I actually had quite intense diarrohea and my cravings for sugar had disappeared. However, I began to want a little drink at lunch time, at first it was a fun cheeky feeling that I associated with wanting to be more sociable and coming out of my shell. But very rapidly I began to CRAVE ALCOHOL! At my lowest point, I was drinking wine in the shower (in the morning) to hide it from my partner.

Yet, I didn't want to give up the Zoloft. It really did help enormously with the anxiety and it actually took away the guilt I felt at drinking. I know I was upsetting people and neglecting my work/household duties etc but I felt wonderful.

I've suffered for years with anxiety and depression, had anorexia as a young woman, and social anxiety/extreme shyness all my life. I have a high IQ which hasn't translated into any success in life. My relationships never last. I have 7 year old son who was diagnosed as on the Autism Spectrum. He is also extremely bright but suffers from a lack of social awareness, inability to make friends and I can see him growing up with the consequences of that.

I recognise these traits, to varying degrees, in family members. None of us really quite know how to socialize or do the things that a 'normal' family are supposed to be interested in doing. Perhaps my brother and I would have been diagnosed with Aspergers if it had been as recognised as it is today. Our parents are also both quite eccentric, so they may not have accepted such a diagnosis anyway. They are very lucky that they have each other, however neither my brother nor myself have been able to find a partner who really 'gets' us.

There is a strong link between high IQ, social anxiety and alcoholism. However it is usually thought of as environmental rather than biological. I genuinely believe that Zoloft has 'switched on' that part of my brain that had a genetic susceptibility to alcoholism. Even though I am no longer taking any antidepressant (which is very difficult and I am open to trying a new one), the cravings and constant desire to drink has not gone away. I have tried Naltrexone, Campral, Topiramate and am now starting Baclofen, but it's the most intense craving and I don't know if it will ever go away.

Michelle