[NextToNormal]

So after a 5 month wait to see the pdoc I'm being started on 50mg Sertraline. The question I have for you folks though is this... my pdoc knows I'm a heavy drinker and said that I should be fine to continue drinking on Sertraline but that I should cut back on it and try to wean myself off. However the pharmacist said absolutely no drinking on Sertraline. I understand that alcohol = depressant and Sertraline = antidepressant so they shouldn't really be combined...but I've been a heavy drinker for what... almost two years now? I can't just quit...

Thoughts? Opinions? Anyone been on Sertraline before that has any advice/warnings?

[IndieVisible]

I take Zoloft and drink, does nothing. There is a warning for seizures taking zoloft and alcohol increases that. Also they have to tell you no alcohol because if some thing happens to you your family can blame them. The worse that has happened to me is I get drunk faster. I'm also taking wellbutrin too. And that gets the same warning too. It's just that alcohol intensifies what ever the drug does supposedly.

[BlackEagleFox]

Originally Posted by IndieVisible

I take Zoloft and drink, does nothing. There is a warning for seizures taking zoloft and alcohol increases that. Also they have to tell you no alcohol because if some thing happens to you your family can blame them. The worse that has happened to me is I get drunk faster. I'm also taking wellbutrin too. And that gets the same warning too. It's just that alcohol intensifies what ever the drug does supposedly.

This is what we call anecdotal information. Every drug out there pretty much... Is affected by alcohol and it's effects vary from person to person, just as the effects of any chemical compound vary from person to person (chemicals including but not limited to alcohol itself). Typically what you see in most cases is either the drugs effects will be magnified by alcohol or vice versa... The drug will magnify the effects of the alcohol. Many people have died of overdose due to drugs with alcohol.

The purpose of Zoloft is to inhibit your brain’s ability to reabsorb serotonin. This is what sends nerve impulses and influences your mood. However, alcohol also affects your serotonin levels.

Zoloft can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Some patients report that taking Zoloft can actually cause them to crave more alcohol. This could be extremely dangerous when you combine the effects of both of these substances.

When starting a medication, it’s always important to find out how you are going to react to a certain medication before adding anything else to the mix.

[sewerrats]

I drank a lot I don't now take a look at my avatar, it takes the depression away when drunk , but comes back twice has bad when sober, if you had gone to an English shrink and told him your a heavy drinker you would not get any antidepressant only shown the door. This is how it can work // your drunk and you have a bottle of pills ???????? NOW YOUR DEAD

[atomicc]

I drink on Zoloft and I haven't had problems. It doesn't help though, I don't feel any better. You should work on getting your alcohol use under control if you truly want to be well.

[sewerrats]

Zoloft is a great med it turns you brain down a notch , but its nick name is (SOUL OFF) Zoloft get it. So booze is a depressant and you brain in turned down a notch don't sound a good combo . Why take anti depressant on the booze anyway just drink more if you looking for blot out. I used booze has a self medication with no meds but shorts not beer. if you want to get drunk 3ltr bottle frosty jack cider for a few dollars will do it. But I wanted to Obliterate my brain from pain so I drank ltr of vodka straight back it one. Did the job perfect Russian roulette you wake up later or you don't but at least I got an hour of pleasure. THIS was fine till my body gave in, and I am missing several body parts now that died in the pickling process , plus I cannot drink again, my kidneys not my liver witch is strange are f++++d

[-jimi-]

Usually you can drink on those meds, but of course it is better not to. You might need to know that in some rare cases people on SSRIs have reacted very odd to alcohol, so be careful, don't drink to get too intoxicated and have someone watching you before you know how you will react. Some people have blacked out and done really weird things. So take it easy and try to stay safe. I have drunk on most my meds though and nothing happened but I'm a different person, doesn't hurt to be a little careful.

[wushuduck]

I drink and I'm on Zoloft and it doesn't negatively effect me. Though the Zoloft hasn't been particularly helpful to me, maybe that's a result of drinking so much.

[sewerrats]

COME ON GUYS we all know we don't drink on meds but we all do , you can say I don't do this or it don't do that but the 2 dont go togeather now do they. Hangovers twice has bad on meds, talking like a a child of 3 , dizzy and punchy. My buddies would say have you had a drink before you came out , because after 2 drinks I was on a level of 5 drinks with meds, so you become a light weight on the bar crawl flaking spark out at about 6 pints and talking like Donald duck. After all my gut ops and hospital stays with booze I still drink 2 pint now and then that cool the doc says. but I must admit I have gone off booze when I look at the bottles of gut protection pills i take, pancreitis eats your gut lining from the inside ,once it breaks through that all the poison is released into your body and your DEAD, My lining is that thin I have meds to line it like a mini force field ., I have to take them every day plus I had my gall bladder taken out because it caused a gall stone build up , they could have just cleared the stone but didn't want another build up so took it out. but the dumb nob ruptured my bile trak and I had to have major surgery to mend it .5 hours, then they put it back like a bent hose pipe. ALL THIS IS BOOZE RELATED I dont want stop you drinking I did it many more will, its self medication . Sometimes its all we have got to stay alive on night. I can at least tell you a bad sign to look for. if you start to get flushed red when drinking on meds , like a patchy red blotches and a glowing face, your kidneys cannot process you blood alcohol fast enough and it comes to the surface and you find it hard to breath, not a nice look is it and dangerous it settles when they finally sort them self out . I drank heavy for 30 years so you will have time to catch up before