Turning 21

I'm turning 21 this year, and of course, I am planning on drinking. However, my medications make me want to fall asleep only two hours after I start drinking. That's not fun at all, and certainly not the game plan for my 21st birthday. I'm not a crazy drinker, but I at least want to have fun and not fall asleep before the party even starts. I don't want to be ****faced wasted, just a happy drunk.

I know it's not safe to quit meds cold turkey, but is there a way to get around the drowsiness? Any way to ease off the meds temporarily? I was thinking of drinking a Redline, which is one of the most powerful energy drinks, and normally it is supposed to be bad while drinking alcohol because it will keep you up, but that's kind of the point of taking it to keep me awake long enough to enjoy being 21 and being drunk.

What would you suggest to be a safe way to drink alcohol with my condition? And how could I stay awake?

There really isn't a safe way to drink alcohol, either with your condition or your meds. And as both a nurse and bipolar patient, I can't advise you to go off your medications even for one day.....the risk of destabilization is too great.

I understand about the whole turning-21 thing---it's an American tradition to get completely trashed and then not be able to even remember the big day. But people turn 21 every day without getting trashed. I celebrated my own with dinner and a couple of drinks at a nightclub I'd always wanted to go to. One of my kids was eight months pregnant on her 21st; another was in Iraq fighting al-Qaeda on his; still another turned 21 and drank only one drink that night.

Not to hold my family up as examples, just to show that it IS possible to enjoy one's 21st birthday without endangering themselves or risking their mental stability. I suggest you think long and hard about where your priorities are, but then, I've just come out of a year-and-a-half of real INstability and am not willing to risk it for anything. I'm also old enough to be your mother and then some.

I say drink, take that energy whatever, or even don't take your meds for one day. I forget mine often and one day isn't enough to wreak havoc, at least in my case. No, it's not responsible, but that's OK sometimes.

It's more important to keep yourself balanced and healthy than drinking and partying imo. How about virgin cocktails?

If you say your game plan is to just kind of cruise and not really get hammered, then I really see no harm. But that's just me. Take the energy drink before you go and check the nighttime meds you take for specific alcohol interactions.

I personally am a fan of the vitamin supplement that is the Super B Complex. Its the same thing that's in those energy drinks but without the sugar so you wont get jittery and the price of a bottle of 50 vitamins is the same as one or two energy drinks. Just throwing it out there.

Also, drink plenty of water before, during and after. In my personal opinion, it's ok to have some fun if you know your limitations and feel as though you could stop yourself before you get too wasted. Stick to what you know and don't let anyone buy you shots.

I turned 21 without drinking and don't remember it being a big deal.

I don't know you or your friends but one thing I'd think about - how many drinks are you planning on having to get happy drunk. Once you get to that place will your friends and other people accept you aren't having more to drink or kinda push you to drink more because you are turning 21?

ANd if you are "happy drunk" will you be able to say no and stay within a safe limit of drinking.

Because if you think you'll drink too much to the point it's going to be a health concern then you shouldn't do it.

Also if it does become an immediate issue will your friends be responsible and take care of you? I only ask because my brother had a situation where a combination of sunburn/dehydration and drinking landed him in the ER. He was out partying with friends after a day at the beach and started getting sick, instead of one of them taking him to the ER and staying with him, they called a cab, dumped him in it, and sent him to the ER by himself.

He was like 21 or 22 when this happened. I think Mom got called to pick him up and she livid. Not so much at him but at his friends who acted like jerks.

Virgin cocktails are a no. It's my 21st birthday, and for me the best part is flashing my ID, and drinking itself isn't really a big but when it's on my 21st it's kind of a big deal.

I'm planning on having two major parties: One with my mom going on a mini-vacation to Tahoe or the Snow Train in Reno or maybe even a night in a limo in San Francisco, and one with my cousin and relatives to a local casino. So they will definitely be looking out for me and I'd tell them ahead of time that I'm going to be limiting my drinking. My family wouldn't push me and they'd definitely take care of me.

I've missed taking my meds too with no problems, but since it's still in my system it probably won't affect the drowsiness. I'm planning on talking with my pdoc and see what she recommends.

Thank you everyone for the replies!

I know drinking is not a big deal, but turning 21 I want to celebrate it like everyone else and drink. You only turn 21 once.

In my opinion there are very few instances in your life that warrant a big party. When you turn 21, when you graduate college, your bachelorette party... seriously very few.

Going with family will definitely help I think. I hope you have fun!

My then pdoc told me to skip my meds. He knew I didn't make a habit of drinking and only really drink on New Year's Eve, so there was no fear of it being a pattern with me skipping meds.

Even if he didn't say so, logic dictates that its ok. How many people have skipped a dosage because they forgot and were fine? They even tell you when you're on Lithium to not take a double dosage if you forget, just to carry on as per normal when its time for the next dose... Not advocating stopping starting meds, just pointing out that what to do is documented when you do skip a dose for whatever reason.

Enjoy Dr Skipper!

Not everyone celebrates turning 21 by going to bars and drinking. A lot of people do but not everyone does. I didn't. I wasn't much of a drinker, I'm still not, it's never been a social thing in my life (well except for the time it was part of destructive social habits, but that was when I was in my mid 20s). My parents didn't drink in front of us, most of my family were Southern Baptists and so I never grew up around alcohol.

And I wasn't anticipating turning 21 so I could drink. Maybe get into a couple of bars but not drink. At this point (almost 20 years down the line) I can't even remember what I did when I turned 21.

I don't know what meds you are on, but my pdoc says as long as I haven't taken a benzo, I can have 2 drinks if I want.

Do you usually take your meds at night or morning or both? I'd just take your night dose late to go out if you wanted to. Go out, drink, come home, eat something and take your meds.

Here what I do.... Math geek warning (with a little bit of OCD and ED mixed in for good measure)...

Take the BAC calc., I can have 2 (shots) until I'm legally to drunk to drive. So I take 2 to begin with. Then around every hour I take another 1 shot. So legally I'm drunk for the whole time. I have to wait until 2.5 hours after my last drink to be okay to drive. I don't drive. Between and after I try to drink 8-12 oz of pedialyte/gatorade until the next morning. I do NOT take my medication that night.