# Drank on lexapro and now i feel like it does not work anymore for me



## tonyg1 (May 26, 2011)

Hello everyone,

I went to the doctor about two weeks ago and talked to him about depression as I was not sure if I had it 100%. He said lets try Lexapro so he gave me a bunch of the 10mg trial packs and to come back in a month.

So I started taking it the next day in the morning on a thursday. So today is the first full week I have been taking Lexapro. I noticed it right away the first day i took it. I was loving it, I felt like myself again that I have not felt in about 10 years.

Now I do drink and have been trying to stop. At first when i took Lexapro I did not want to drink anymore but then one night I was ticked off and had drank like 4 beers the next day I felt like Lexapro was not working anymore. I had two drinks the next night and same thing next morning it felt like lexapro did not work anymore. I tried this one more time and again today i feel like it is not working. Though today i do have the yawns again and feel tired but i just dont feel the lexapro like i did at first.

Does alcohol make lexapro not work or make it stop working on you? I will stop drinking for sure now as i want the lexapro to work but is it too late will it not work for me anymore? Do i need to have the dosage increased as I am on 10mg now? thank you


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## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

it could have been a placebo effect


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## FairleighCalm (May 20, 2007)

For me a drink on the weekends was no big deal when i was on meds. But you've only been on this med for a week or two so the effect is not surprising. Give it a month to be fully potent and then if drinking is not a problem have one and enjoy it!


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

I've been on SSRIs a lot, and alcohol always seemed to knock the effects out for about 2 days. But it always came back.


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## crayzyMed (Nov 2, 2006)

euphoria said:


> I've been on SSRIs a lot, and alcohol always seemed to knock the effects out for about 2 days. But it always came back.


I wonder what causes that.


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## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

euphoria said:


> I've been on SSRIs a lot, and alcohol always seemed to knock the effects out for about 2 days. But it always came back.


I had a friend who was on Lexapro and he said the same thing

What causes it ? Who knows....I had a Pdoc tell me Alcohol stops AD's from working because it flushes all the good **** out


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

tonyg1 said:


> I had two drinks the next night and same thing next morning it felt like lexapro did not work anymore. I tried this one more time and again today i feel like it is not working. Though today i do have the yawns again and feel tired but i just dont feel the lexapro like i did at first.


My mate is on sertraline. He now avoids alcohol except for special occasions and particular events.
I remember him saying alcohol would make him feel pretty dirty for a few days after a substantial drink and as a result his mood would be lower.

I could imagine that there is a similar more mild form of that happening with you. Try staying dry for a week and see if it improves again?


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## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

Drinking a few or nights shouldn't have a long-term effect on how the lexapro works. Just stay dry for a while and see if that helps. 

It is somewhat common for people to get a really good immediate effect from SSRI's and then a poop-out effect - where it still works but not quite as well (this happened to me with Lexapro as well). A lot of people will chalk it up to placeo but I think it is more than that. I think some people get an inital hypomanic response that fades very quickly. Don't ask me why this is from a pharmacological standpoint - but I know it happens to some people who aren't even bipolar (maybe they have a "touch" of it or something, who knows, I don't know how these drugs work)


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## Eilys Close (Feb 20, 2013)

"Lexapro and Alcohol are both processed by the liver. So, when you drink alcohol, your liver is too busy processing your drinks to process the Lexapro.

Also, alcohol is a 'depressant' in the way it acts upon the body, hence it can cancel out the stimulating properties of Lexapro.

So not only do you get the beer blues, you don't have as much lexapro in your brain to fight back.

I've found that the more I drink in one sitting, the longer it takes for the Lexapro to kick back full force. For example, about two weeks after NYE (a binge session) I attempted suicide after two weeks of taking lexapro in vain - I was convinced I had somehow become immune to it and would feel rotten for the rest of my life. My docs immediately upped me to 20mg (10mg is an extremely low dose - if you plan to use it for a while, perhaps discuss with your doctor about going to a higher dose). While it helps in the long run, I've found my reaction to alcohol more obvious now that I'm on a higher dose.

The two week time period of Lexapro not having it's full effect makes sense as well - Lexapro can take that long to accumulate in the brain, and that is when it works best- what is done by drinking was effectively stop the 'flow' of lexapro for a day or two as my body processed the alcohol, and as we know, the first fortnight of going on lexapro or changing the dose can be the hardest. In order to be scientific, I tested my theory that drinking had contributed to my low that resulted ins suicide attempt. I've found that one drink approximately equals one day of misery for me. I think this is dependant on your tolerance for alcohol and disease of lexapro. Before meds, I was a 3 drink average gal (6+ is a heavy night for me). So an average night with friends can often ruin the rest of my week.

Some people can handle alcohol and SSRIs. I'm obviously one of those who can't; I've basically been forced to choose whether to have a beer to relax in social situations and risk the consequences, or take the social anxiety for one night in exchange for my health and even possibly my life. 

Work out what your boundaries are. How long are you willing to sacrifice for how many drinks? And stick to them. 

Also, I found that when I first went on lexapro /upped a dose there was an extreme mood shift for the first week or so. It averages out in the long term.


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