Creator: Ritesh Kukreja
Published: 2023-01-08T12:55:00Z

Introduction

When you reach the age of 21 years, you become eligible for drinking alcohol legally. Apart from that, alcohol has become one of the most popular beverages in any celebration. Whatever event, celebration, or function you go to, it will be with alcohol. A huge number of people in America are suffering from alcohol addiction and its harmful effects. Any type of addiction is harmful to both mental and physical health. The same way, alcohol leaves bad effects on your body.

Mixing Prescription Drugs With Alcohol Is Dangerous

Many people in this country are struggling with AUD or alcohol use disorder. The other name of this is alcoholism. Many more are suffering from other types of drinking problems. It includes drinking alcohol till the time detoxification requires. If you are also looking for some professional help for detoxification, you can visit https://www.vsmdetoxaustin.com/. Apart from alcohol, the overuse and misuse of prescription drugs also cause dangerous effects to the human body. Prescription drug misuse is really common. Whether it is using more drugs than required or mixing prescription drugs along with some other dangerous drugs, everything takes a serious toll on your body. Accidentally mixing prescription drugs with alcohol potentially invites severe health issues. Here, in this article, we will talk about that. Here are some common side effects of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol intentionally or accidentally.

Headache.
Dizziness or fainting.
Fatigue, drowsiness, or excessive sleep.
Nausea, vomiting, stomach upset.
Changes in behavior.
Heart damage and blood pressure changes.
Loss of coordination causes accidents.
Changes in mental state or emotions.

Several chronic health issues also can be the result of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. They are -

Brain damage.
Internal bleeding.
Liver damage, failure, cancer.
Heart problems, heart attack, stroke.
Anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.

Some people end up mixing prescription drugs with alcohol accidentally however, some intentionally do that in order to get high. Here are some types of prescription drugs which dangerously harm the human body when mixed with alcohol.

Antibiotics.
Epilepsy medication and anti-anxiety.
Allergy medications, cold, flu, and cough supplements.
Angina medications.
Prescription sleep aids.
Antidepressants.
Blood thinners.
Prescriptions for arthritis.
Antidepressants.
Narcotic pain medications.
Cholesterol-lowering medications.
Muscle relaxers.
Prescriptions for heartburn.
Diabetes prescriptions.
High blood pressure prescriptions.
Antipsychotic medications.

Dangers Of Mixing Prescription Drugs With Alcohol

Some particular types of prescription drugs interact directly with the CNS or central nervous system. At the same time, alcohol also leaves its effect on the CNS. While both of them are taken simultaneously or together, it can harm the nervous system in a severe way.There are both long-term and short-term effects present for mixing prescription drugs with alcohol. Here are some particular prescription drugs and how they interact with alcohol.

Opioid painkillers

In the United States of America, analgesic or prescription narcotic painkillers belong to the most abused drugs. It is the reason behind the opioid addiction epidemic. As per the CDC, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a significant number of people are dying from an opioid overdose on a daily basis. This particular group of addictive drugs includes the following.

Codeine,
Hydrocodone.
Oxycodone.
Methadone.
Morphine and heroin.

All these narcotic prescription painkillers are extremely dangerous on their own. However, when they are mixed with alcohol, it increases the drowsy, relaxing effects and also radically increases the risk of overdose.

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are those fast-acting anti-anxiety medications that react with GABA or gamma-aminobutyric acid. It leads to a complete sense of calmness, which eventually helps in relieving insomnia, panic attacks, anxiety, and even epilepsy, or other seizure disorders. On the other hand, alcohol also interacts with these GABA receptors. This is why experts say supervised dosage of Benzodiazepines for the people who are already dealing with alcoholism. Some increased harmful effects of this prescription drug while mixing with alcohol includes the following.

Liver damage.
Memory problems or blackouts.
Unusual behavior.
Impaired motor control results in accidents.
Slowed or difficulty breathing.
Drowsiness.
Dizziness.
Prescription stimulants

People with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, benefit only from proper prescription doses of stimulant medications, such as Vyvanse, Adderall, and Ritalin. All these medications damaged the level of neurotransmitters in the brain. This way those people, suffering from ADHD get the necessary help for staying focused in their tanks. However, the overdose of these drugs can affect the brain in a different way. When mixed with alcohol, these particular types of drugs can come with several other health conditions. Here are the side effects of mixing ADHD prescription drugs with other sedatives like alcohol.

Liver damage.
Increased risk of heart problems or heart damage.
Problems in concentrating.
Dizziness and drowsiness.
Antidepressants

In the treatment of anxiety, depression, and related mental health issues, antidepressant drugs, particularly some selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, are indeed very crucial developments. Without going to any therapy sessions, these types of drugs should not be taken alone. Any type of abuse of antidepressants is rare. However, it happens especially in the form of prescription misuse. When they are mixed with alcohol, they become less effective. Mixing antidepressants with alcohol can result in several harmful damages, which might include the following.

Liver damage.
Drowsiness or dizziness.
Impaired motor control, which can result in accidents.
Increased feeling of hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and depression.
Increased risk of overdose or poisoning.
Antipsychotics

People who are taking antipsychotics, for example, Zyprexa or Seroquel, need ongoing treatment, as all these drugs are usually not prescribed unless the individual is suffering from a condition like schizophrenia. This particular mental illness can effectively be managed and treated so that the individual has a healthy, happy life for the people who are struggling with schizophrenia or other similar psychoses. However, they tend to misuse any type of substance, most particularly marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol. When these types of medicines get mixed with alcohol, their effectiveness gets hampered.

Get Help!

We hope now you get an understanding of how dangerous it can be when prescription drugs are mixed with alcohol. In case any accidents happen and one ends up mixing prescriptions drugs with alcohol, they should opt for some professional help as soon as possible.

Reviewed by

Ritesh Kukreja

Health & Food Blogger

GenderMale

CountryIndia

JoinedJul 2021

Wrote165 posts

Ritesh Kukreja, a medical writer, collaborates with health researchers, physicians, and other healthcare experts to create health blogs and online medical content for instructional and informational purposes.View Profile