Alcohol and Medication: The Fatal Mix
The Ill Effects of Drinking Alcohol While Taking Medication
Aug 15, 2009
Nowadays, the category “alcohol drinker” has stretched out its reach from including mostly men to including men, women, and most under-aged, immature adolescents. While drinking within the Government’s suggested guidelines has minimal damaging effect on health, too much alcohol does the obvious “otherwise”. Either way, drinking alcohol damages health - it does not need a genius to see that.
Read the Signs
Drinking alcohol is associated with a lot of excuses – or “problems” as drinkers fondly call them: anxiety, depression, stress, anti-anxiety treatments, whatever fits. A lot of medications, deal with the exact same issues too. Most people may think that by taking a dose of both, they are giving themselves a free ride to both worlds. They are actually giving themselves a “free ride” to the “other world”. Apparently, what most people do not know is that most medications, if not all, do not go with alcohol. And by mixing the two remedies to their so-called problems, they are actually causing themselves a bigger one – or several big ones.
Imperfect Combination
Researchers have found that there are just too many disadvantages to drinking alcohol and taking medication at the same time. These include anxiety, slowed breathing and heartbeat, impaired judgment, loss of consciousness, and potentially fatal alcohol poisoning.
The very common and the most subtle combination that exhibits side effect is the alcohol and antibiotic formula, which equates to dizziness and drowsiness. But we all know, it does not really end there – drowsiness means clumsiness; clumsiness is actually loss of correct judgment; and impaired judgment is almost a synonym of accident.
More than doing entirely embarrassing things to suffocation through choking on your own vomit, there are several worse things that can happen by intake of this anti-stress-social-drink. Take the combination of alcohol and narcotics which is actually one that sets off the far from “subtle” effects. As previously mentioned, depression, among others, is one of the leading causes of drinking alcohol. This is the same thing that narcotics address. And while people may think that by taking both, they would get faster and better relief, the real upshot is no way near that. Both alcohol and narcotics work on the nervous system. Taking a combo increases the sedative effect of both, probably the desired effect amongst people with pain, but in significant quantities the combination could lead to irreversible health problems as respiratory depression.
Most medications, like alcohol, may seem good as they suppress depression, but in fact, that is an absolute distortion of reality. The cons more than obviously outweigh the pros. “Victims” of depression that take such measures may experience severe health problems like seizures and out of character acts.
While most drinkers of both medication and alcohol tell quite a different story to back up their behavior, most of their life stories have a similar ending. Heavy drinking can lead to work and family problems, which in turn can lead to isolation and depression. Clearly, there are innumerable facts to back up the point.
Have What It Takes
Awareness is fundamental to addressing this drawback – both for the producer and the consumer. It would actually be more than helpful if people would be made aware of this essential information, for every one’s good. With such a mass of problems coupled with excessive drinking, the need to manage your consumption is vitally important. To illustrate, although a bartender may exert effort to control a customer’s drinking, in the long run, the consumer still holds the key.
The good news is that for most people who know more, using simple techniques such as “days off” and avoiding buying rounds are essentially effective. In simpler terms, it is always better to know when to stop than to reach a point where your body tells you it’s had enough.
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