This is for a novel im writing. For a point in the story, a girl is taking meds and is convinced by friends to go and drink and she has a negative reaction and wakes go the next day remembering nothing.
But Im not a medic so I dont know how realistic this is. What would happen if a person takes meds like anti depresants, and afterna few hours drink alcohol? What would happen to them?
Doesn’t seem very realistic for anti-depressant meds to cause what you are describing. Drinking alcohol while on most of the commonly prescribed anti-depressants just makes them less effective and more likely to cause liver damage or trigger epilepsy.
I know people with bi-polar manic depression who stop taking their mood-stabilizer meds because they think they don’t need it anymore, and then they go out and do a ton of crazy stuff while blackout drunk and remember none of it.
I’ve only really got experience with my own medications which is a combo of effexor and mirtazapine. For me when I drink alcohol, it feels like the effect is intensified. For example on one standard drink, i feel as drunk as if I had two standard drinks, if I drink two, I usually stop after 2 because I feel like I’ve had four and I’m ready to fall asleep. I’ve never experienced memory loss from alcohol but, I’ve never pushed myself past that limit, even before I went on antidepressiants. I think these drugs and combinations can be a very complex thing, and everyone can have different reactions.
Alprazolam is a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety disorders, and it causes exactly what you’re talking about if you take it with alcohol. It’s not an antidepressant but it’s sometimes used for people with depression, at least at first.
Thank you. Very useful.
