Can it make you worse?

OK well I finally started taking Celexa, then doc increased it to 30mg.

I got really meh as in trying to take benzos and alcohols together for obviously reasons

and ever since ... even if i drink the tiniest amount of alcohol - (two glasses of wine with food, for example)

i end up %#@&#! up and emotional.

i dont go and drink heaps. but i like to have a wine with friends, as in tonight. when i got unreasonably upset over something minor.

last weekend i had three glasses and was off my chops to the extent that i had a massive fight with the guy i was seeing AT THE PARTY HE PUT ON AT A CLUB

and it was soooo embarrassing.

now these meds say LIMIT alcohol - i dont think having a glass of wine is that terribly bad, so I don't know if it is that. I've tried not drinking at all ... and I still get the same horrid mood swings.

I took 20mg for 3 months and the last month has been 30mg.

I dont really know what to do to be honest ... I thought i was doing the right thing by finally trying to be sensible with them but now i feel like ima worse ...

should i give it more time?

(((Drunksun))) I've had the same esperiences wiht alcohol lately, I don't drink much, maybe 2 to 3 glasses of wine per week, except when I feel like crap and entead of SI I choose alcohol to make me sleepy, but I got to the same emotional point that you describe. For personal choice I'm off meds right now, but alcohol stoped been fun for me to be soemtimes a nightmare.
The good thing about this is that you know the outcome, so maybe you amount should be really reduce to almost nothing.
I hope thing work out.
P.P.: I know about embarrasment, I hate that feeling...

I'm taking Wellbutrin, never had anything else, so I'm not sure how the drugs compare. But I had that same reaction a few weekends ago. I didn't used to be a crying, sobbing drunk but that's what happened last time. I don't drink till the point of drunkenness but once every couple years, and I never reacted like this before. It was like all the bad stuff in my head, about me, about why I thought no one wanted me around, about how bad a person I was... all kinds of stuff just spinning around and I couldn't stop it . I'm still a little embarrassed about it all.

So as far as my experience goes, yes I think you can make it worse for yourself. Maybe a drink or so is fine for me, I don't know yet. But I'm not going to try to find out for awhile, at least until I've let the embarassment of this one die down.

I don't know what to tell you to do for you. You know your system best and what you can handle. But maybe trying a little less for a bit might be worth a shot. Hope your feeling better.

The meds say don't drink at all, there's no "limit" anywhere on your prescription, it says "drinking (at all) not recommended." http://www.celexa.com/Celexa/faq.aspx Of course it can make you worse; alcohol alone can make one worse! Mixing Celexia and alcohol can undo (in addition to worse as you've experienced) everything you're trying to fix with the med. Tell your pdoc your experience and quit drinking! It's a choice; you can get well or get sicker.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...1112837AAwomUQ

The instructions in my box (generic) just say 'your doctor may suggest avoiding alcohol'.

maybe i'd rather stop the celexa and enjoy the odd social drink with my friends.

You could choose to stop the meds in order to have that occassional drink with friends, or you could choose not to drink. It is a choice of course. Alcohol is a depressant. You are taking an ANTI-depressant. They are working against each other, and in your case, it seems that the alcohol wins, by making you sad, mad, emotional etc. But, clearly it is your decision. Perhaps you could ask your prescribing Doctor whether he does or does not recommend consuming alcohol.......cause like Perna said, most meds for psychiatric conditions state "Do not consume alcohol." Might make your decision easier to ask your Doc about it. For me , personally, I dont have to make that choice - never was a drinker. But my medication says NO ALCOHOL and I cherish my "wellness", and wouldnt touch alcohol and chance not being well for anything. Good luck with YOUR decision!

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
enjoy the odd social drink with my friends.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

DSF, I think you know better than to think it's only the odd drink...

Please continue on your meds, and leave the alcohol for now. You're such a nice person when you aren't drinking...and you feel better too! (((hugs)))

I would really prefer you didn't comment on what you 'think' i do in my social life Sky.

Thanks.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Parker10 said:
You could choose to stop the meds in order to have that occassional drink with friends, or you could choose not to drink. It is a choice of course. Alcohol is a depressant. You are taking an ANTI-depressant. They are working against each other, and in your case, it seems that the alcohol wins, by making you sad, mad, emotional etc. But, clearly it is your decision. Perhaps you could ask your prescribing Doctor whether he does or does not recommend consuming alcohol.......cause like Perna said, most meds for psychiatric conditions state "Do not consume alcohol." Might make your decision easier to ask your Doc about it. For me , personally, I dont have to make that choice - never was a drinker. But my medication says NO ALCOHOL and I cherish my "wellness", and wouldnt touch alcohol and chance not being well for anything. Good luck with YOUR decision!

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Yea but going out and eating and drinking for pleasure is a big part of what my social circle does. we go out and spend a day wine tasting at vineyards, or go for cocktails, or a degustation menu (food and wine match).

it's not that we drink to get off our trees all the time. it's just that it's a fun thing to do.

who wants to go to a vineyard and drink water?

i cant really be bothered with the whole med thing anyway i always forget so meh prolly not much point anyway.

I've tried not drinking at all ... and I still get the same horrid mood swings.


</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

This is something you really should tell your pdoc. Celexa may not be the best or only med for you. Good luck!

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
drunksunflower said:
I've tried not drinking at all ... and I still get the same horrid mood swings.

I took 20mg for 3 months and the last month has been 30mg.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

You really should tell your pdoc about this. The mood swings suggest to me that celexa may not be the best or only med for you. I understand you not wanting to give up something that contributes to your quality of life. Good luck!

THANK you. I would understand if i was going out and getting smashed and flipping out but the reality is, my friends and i all work in reasonably demanding jobs and we love to go out and have a wine after work or at the end of the week.

i dont really get why a small increase in dose resulted in a big change in my tolerance i would almost rather be meh.

There is alot that could be going on here, but there is really no direct interaction between antidepressants and Etoh.

Dr.S.

hi,
as has already been said, alcohol w/anti-d's isn't a good idea and yeah it does counteract the effect of the anti-d so i personally don't drink. it's very common for anti-d's to also lower ur tolerance to alcohol, my friend reckons it's by about a third, but don't quote me on that lol, i dunno for sure!

but i know i couple of ppl who have the occasional drink on their meds, and it doesn't effect them like what u described...so probly indicates that celexa is not the best med for u, or that u would be better off on a lower dose.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
psisci said:
There is alot that could be going on here, but there is really no direct interaction between antidepressants and Etoh.

Dr.S.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Really?

Any suggestions about alternative explanations?

Could actually have a bipolar illness instead of unipolar depression??

Dr.S.

I don't go hugely up and down

just seem to be OK and on top of things then something little going wrong will reduce me to tears and a horrible mess

not very good when you have a high pressure job such as mine, i manage to keep it together at work but kinda dissolve at home.

i guess when i said mood swings i meant from trucking along nicely and normally into feeling like cat vomit.

i think drinking when taking a psych med is asking for trouble. most meds have the "caution" warning concerning alcohol, some say talk to your doctor and some say outright to not drink. why would you risk it? seems like a no-brainer to me. pat

Ez. No more meds

I don't drink a heap, just wine with friends occasionally (oh and cocktails at Suite where my friend DJs - excellent barman).

I don't know. Psisci has confused me. But I don't get extreme anything except down - normalish, drink, might be OK, might not be, or normalish, don't drink, might be OK might not be.

i've thought about my emotions over the past few weeks and maybe it's alcohol, maybe it's just me.

I don't know