SSRIs and Alcohol Cravings

I found out something recently that I'd never considered and that is a possible connection between antidepressants and cravings for alcohol and/or sugar.

I've been taking antidepressants for several years, starting with Cymbalta and shortly thereafter moving to Celexa as the Cymbalta gave me pretty bad insomnia.

About the time I started on the Celexa I also began to drink more. I'd lost my job at the time and thought that was the reason but the drinking continued although I did get another, although crappy, job.

I experienced cravings for alcohol that I'd never experienced before although being a social drinker for most of my life. Went to meetings which never helped as the 12 step programs always seemed like an unlikely answer to the problem.

Recently my wife suggested that I look into changing to a different antidepressant so I began researching Celexa only to find that it, and it's little brother Lexapro are considered to be the most effective of all the meds.

However, in doing the research, I came across more than a few forum posts from people who said that they went from light or moderate drinkers to heavy drinkers after starting on the medication.

I then Googled ssri+alcohol cravings and was astonished at the number of posts, articles, etc. which seemed to support the idea. The working hypothesis is that, over time, the medication can cause a drop in blood sugar levels. For those of us who drink, this can cause an overwhelming compulsion to drink and for those with a sweet tooth, an overwhelming compulsion for sugar. This could go a long ways towards explaining the weight gains that many people experience while on these medications.

I decided to go cold turkey off my Celexa and, although I haven't stopped drinking completely, the overwhelming urge and compulsion that I felt to do so have disappeared.

Not suggesting this is the answer for everyone but it might be worth looking into further.

TM

wow! thanks for the info! I gained a lot of weight and went through a heavy drinking phase while on Celexa/Lexapro. that makes a lot of sense now. oh, and funny, my pnurse won't give me Xanax now, even though I quit drinking. she said it could cause me to want to drink which I've never heard. I'm going to look that up now. thanks for the heads up!

Antidepressants can cause mania or hypomania which will make you want to drink to "come down" especially if you are undiagnosed bipolar.

When they started me on SSRI's 6 years ago my addiction went from manageable to the moon. 2 years ago I was diagnosed bipolar, never taken off the SSRI's/SNRI's until 2 months ago. After being taken off them my desire to use drugs has been cut drastically.

i'm thinking this info should be discussed with your doc. if he is assuming you're still on celexa and u're not you could spiral down into depression. there are many effective antidepressants that may work for you. obviously the pdoc felt an anti-d was needed to stabilize you, texas man.
i noticed a craving for sweets upon taking some of my meds. i complained to my doc. he answered, would you rather be happy and chubbier or thin and depressed? well that was all i needed to hear to stay on the meds he prescribed.
alcohol is mostly sugar. when we don't drink the body thinks it is supposed to have the same level of sugar. what i did was not drink and resort to fruits especially when i was early sober and still find fruits work and i can eliminate the weight gain. as for celexa per se a common side effect is weight loss. in clinical trials only 1% of the population on celexa report weight gain. you may be in that catagory.
as for the increase of drinking perhaps you have crossed the line and are becoming more reliant on the alcohol.
i've researched celexa at medical/pharma sites and do not find the craving for sugar/weight gain as a common side effect, justme. http://www.drugs.com/sfx/celexa-side-effects.html
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-8603...l&pagenumber=6
http://depression.emedtv.com/celexa/...e-effects.html
just my experience.

I had intense cravings for alcohol on SSRIS which got me into all sort of problems, I lost my job, my home and ended up in prison, I had never been in trouble in my life. I told my story on Dr David Healys website "david healy out of my mind driven to drink"
Be very very careful with drinking on any SSRIS, if you do feel your getting alcohol cravings then you should take this as a serious side effect and let your doctor know and think about an alternative medication. Its a real side effect with disastrous and sometimes very dagerous consequences.

I think that everyone is different and reacts differently. Many drugs have known side effects not listed in the manufacturer's literature.

What surprised me were the number of individual experiences I found very similar to mine just by Googling "ssri+alcohol craving".

Try it for yourself.

overall your not drinking as much is certainly positive. glad you found the source of your cravings to overcome them.
i referenced a post you made on may 4th. excerpt do you find that has been helpful with your drinking habits? i know many ppl have had good results taking it.

OMG. I wonder if it's the same with zoloft. I always had to have sugar or beer. I quit drinking 70 some days ago and the sugar has been ridiculous. I even get up to eat sweets in the night. I've gained 20 lbs in that time which depresses me somewhat. Well now that I know it may be caused by this, hopefully I can adjust my diet accordingly. We'll see. At least I don't have to think of myself as a completly weak soul. Thank You

from one of my posts. in early sobriety craving sweets is very common. also http://talkrehab.org/sugar-craving-r...ng-alcoholics/

Honestly, I didn't feel much different on the naltrexone but the protocol for that is that it takes around six months to notice a difference.

Texasman, are you familiar with baclofen? i know many have taken it to reduce craving with alcohol and cocaine use. there's other info posted here at pc and those that have taken it found it quite helpful. i'm aware all of us on meds have different successes. (perhaps someone can find the articles and post if u're interested.) just a consideration.

Ive put a link here to my story and another similar story, I hope this will be of some help to anyone experienceing alcohol cravings whilst on SSRIS.
http://davidhealy.org/out-of-my-mind-driven-to-drink/


http://davidhealy.org/every-drink-spiked/

Madisgram,

Thanks for the heads up but I am familiar with baclofan. My doctor prescribed it for me but during the period of taking it I experienced a couple of episodes where I became very faint and discontinued usage of it. The faintness went away immediately so I can clearly tie it to the baclofan.

Zebb,

Thanks for posting the link. Yours was one of the many stories I encountered during my looking into this.

I'm happy to report that I'm no longer experiencing any cravings for alcohol. I can now come home, have a beer or two, and stop drinking without a problem.

What I find worrying is that many people are increasing their drinking but aren't aware that it could be their medication doing it, also the combination can be dangerous for some people like myself. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and was out of control, this is why its so important for people to report this side effect if only to help prevent other people from getting into this mess. Im glad to hear you've sorted yourself out TexasMan thanks for shareing your experience.

I know this is a pretty old topic, however I found this thread today and it really hit me hard. Every since my doctor put me on Zoloft, my drinking went from moderate to large quantities of wine and liquor. At first I thought I was just building up a tolerance. Then I realized I was okay if I did not have the first drink...if I had 1 then I would not be able to stop. I truly believe that Zoloft is responsible. I have NEVER craved alcohol, now I can't drink at all or else it takes over. For the first time in my life I have had nights at parties where I can't remember what I did the night before. First of all I am going to tapper off the Z because I don't think I need it, now that the crisis is over...that caused me to start taking it in the first place. I am not one to play the victim or place blame on other people or circumstances, however I believe Zoloft can turn a casual drinking into an alcoholic overnight. I am so glad that I have the information that you all have posted. It makes me realize that it is the meds talking. Thank you all for the info on this! Truly invaluable.

Hspindler,

Please make any changes to your medication with the support of your doctors. Please stay safe.

TM

I know there are several medications I cant take, Zoloft being one of them and Wellabutrin. On Zoloft I couldn't think straight and definitely drank more on it. I drank on all my meds, I finally got sick of it and quite the drinking. I take three medications now and dont have any desire to drink at all. Well everybody is different.

First Post. Must say that this forum is a life saver. I thought I was the only one on Zoloft that craved alcohol. I am not alone. I also think that it is strange that my sex drive has gone though the roof! I mean, all doctor literature preaches dysfunction, no one hits on an INCREASED need for sex and a lowered inhibition level. This could be a problem. I have tried Lexapro, however it made me nuts. SSRI'S (Zoloft) effects everyone in a different way. That is the important thing to realize. Thanks for this board. Sometimes I feel alone without others to talk to about this. I know it is really a chemical imbalance, before i would have said that is bunk, now I am a believer, in how powerful the drugs are. I can also see a direct correlation of my increased drinking and being put on Zoloft, now that I look back at it.
HS

Texasman and Layla 11
Thanks. Have been tapering off the drinking in hopes that this will help. These drugs are interesting to say the lest. Also on Lamictal for seizures.

38 female. Was on Prozac for two years. Quit cold turkey *people, please never do this!*. Anyways, never cares about drinking until prozac. I think it created anxiety. My cravings were so high, I could drink a bottle of wine every night.

Now, have not been on ssris for 9 months. Very low cravings if ever and one glass is enough.....

Hey Tex, I feel the same way about SSRIs/SNRIs. Before I took SNRIs or SSRIs, I was a social drinker and barely even a social drinker at that (even if I went out with friends or was at a function, it would be a lot if I drank 1 beer the entire time). After the antidepressants, I noticed that my "thirst" began to rise. I expressed the correlation to my doc at the time, and the 3 after him, and they all looked at me like I lost my mind. I have done my fair share of googling about my theory and it is still open to debate.

I feel very strongly that the psychiatric medications were the catalyst to alcoholism and substance abuse in me. I have a feeling this theory will be proven in years to come...

I'm not telling anyone to stop taking their medication, only sharing my opinion.

So it's not just me then. I've had that same problem, although alcoholism runs heavily through my family. I joined AA, but I still think about booze all the time. It's a day to day thing. But I've been sober for just over a month now.

Since I've been on LEXAPRO I have literally craved alcohol!

At first I thought it was the 'null' in anxiety, the relaxed, low anxiety, the pure enjoyment of the moment...

Now it's an addiction. Perhaps prone to me, but an addiction I can't control.

Anyone else?

X

I have that problem now on Celexa. It appears all serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as ours, can cause increased alcohol cravings in some people. There's a lot of posts about it, but it's hard to find scientific studies. I have found a few that support the increased cravings in certain alcohol dependant people. I haven't found anything to explain why the meds seem to turn some social drinkers into raging alcoholics.