# paroxetine (paxil) Alcohol and blackout



## il.robo (Mar 4, 2006)

I have been knnown to drink a lot in social occasions, but I feel the combination of paroxetine and alcohol is particulary bad, I'm blacking out every time I go out at this stage which is scary . What are your experiences?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

According to Paxil's label, in their trials combining Paxil with alcohol did not effect motor skills any more than alcohol alone. Though to provide legal cover, they official say don't mix them.

Why don't you just drink less? I'm 32 and I've never yet blacked out (nor vomited due to drinking).

Are you drinking to this very excessive level as a way to cope with the stress of the social situation?


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## il.robo (Mar 4, 2006)

Yes I do use alcohol as a way to cope and yes I know I shouldn't on thursday I went to a nightclub, but I really can't talk to women in nightclubs so I drank I wouldn't say exccessively though I remebred being sober enough till the memory loss Anyway apparently I was with a woman that night But I don't remeber her at all, which is a bit crap really :-(


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

il.robo said:


> I drank I wouldn't say exccessively though I remebred being sober enough till the memory loss Anyway apparently I was with a woman that night But I don't remeber her at all, which is a bit crap really :-(


If you were so drunk you don't even remember being with a woman, I'm not sure how you can say it wasn't drinking excessively.

We must have different definitions of excessive.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Il.Robo,

It is kind of bad to read that you are having to drink to meet women and then after all of that not even remember your triumph. 

I am on Paxil and have even had a few drinks (at my stepsister's wedding, I had a bottle of beer, a margarita, and I think two amaretto sours. To me that is a HUGE amount of alcohol - I have never had that much in my life then or since. I spaced it out, and didn't even have much of a buzz.

I would look into you particular fears here. It sounds as if they are overwhelming you to the point where you have to numb the "pain". :stu


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## il.robo (Mar 4, 2006)

alright alright
I had 8 bottles of beer over a 6 hourr period I have had way more than that and remebered, yes I know its not healthy and believe me I am actually working on it, I no longer drink shots, I have even stopped drinking pints now I drink just bottles and next time I go out I will have only 4 bottles maybe 5. But I recently went out with a girl twice whom I really liked, but once I told her I liked her I got shot down, which put me a bit off for a while, thanks for the support though appreciate it.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

il.robo said:


> I had 8 bottles of beer over a 6 hourr period


OK, I guess it is the Paxil then, since that's certainly not a stunning amount of alcohol over six hours. Still a bit much to drink, but I certainly wouldn't expect blacking out from that.


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## mousse (Oct 26, 2005)

same thing happens to me but only sometimes. ..my sis is working with me to try to figure out what are the main causes....it seems to be shots...I can not take shots, especially ones with red bull...seems to speed up the meds and cause be to get drunk faster and not remember things. You have to be careful. Good luck!


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## gettinfit (Feb 25, 2006)

I typically drink only on the weekend and that usually consists of about 4 to 5 drinks throughout the course of the day. I have not noticed any problems with alchohol while taking Paxil.


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## firedancer (Nov 14, 2003)

When I first started Paxil the first time, I was drinking at the office Christmas party. I really didn't drink more than usual and would only get a buzz. But this time I was wasted. I don't remember much. I never drank on Paxil again.


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## devin880 (Apr 30, 2011)

I only had 4 drinks last night (on Paxil and Risperidol) and I experienced some memory loss. I'll be avoiding drinking more than 1 beer in the future. I've been researching and apparently a lot of people have had blackouts from mixing Paxil and alcohol. Some people also get drunk faster while on Paxil, but I didn't feel the alcohol affects at all last night.


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

> Ethanol triggers sphingosine 1-phosphate elevation along with neuroapoptosis in the developing mouse brain.
> Chakraborty G, Saito M, Shah R, Mao RF, Vadasz C, Saito M.
> Source
> Division of Neurochemisty, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA.





> Sphingosine induces apoptosis in hippocampal neurons and astrocytes by activating caspase-3/-9 via a mitochondrial pathway linked to SDK/14-3-3 protein/Bax/cytochrome c.


How weird that so many people on here continue drinking when they have some mental issues. The very thing antidepressants do is countered by alcohol. Alcohol does the exact opposite. You will not win this battle against your illness if you continue to drink. Maybe in moderation once in a while but that's about it.

I'm convinced that the majority of people on here seem to not actually have a mental illness but caused their issues as a result of binge drinking. I read it all the time. It makes no sense.


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## devin880 (Apr 30, 2011)

kehcorpz said:


> How weird that so many people on here continue drinking when they have some mental issues. The very thing antidepressants do is countered by alcohol. Alcohol does the exact opposite. You will not win this battle against your illness if you continue to drink. Maybe in moderation once in a while but that's about it.


Old habits die hard. Also the effects of mixing alcohol and anti-depressants are not specified very well. I saw on the Paxil website that mixing alcohol and paxil could cause drowsiness and potentiation of the alcohol effects. I didn't see anything about blackouts or memory loss.



> I'm convinced that the majority of people on here seem to not actually have a mental illness but caused their issues as a result of binge drinking. I read it all the time. It makes no sense.


That's a bit arrogrant, considering you don't know most, if any, of the people on here :roll


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## riptide991 (Feb 1, 2012)

devin880 said:


> Old habits die hard. Also the effects of mixing alcohol and anti-depressants are not specified very well. I saw on the Paxil website that mixing alcohol and paxil could cause drowsiness and potentiation of the alcohol effects. I didn't see anything about blackouts or memory loss.
> 
> That's a bit arrogrant, considering you don't know most, if any, of the people on here :roll


It's not about mixing them, i'm sure most of the time you could be fine. Simply that alcohol is more powerful and it causes neuroapoptosis. And to cure depression/anxiety you need neurogenesis. So... you know... seems weird.

And i'm basing it on the fact that people here are constantly talking about drinking. You think you're the only one? Man go through the threads.

The people who drink think that these pills are this magic answer to their horrible lifestyle choices. And when the pills don't work, god forbid they blame their alcohol habits. If you are serious about fixing a problem, you have to go all in.

And trust me, this is coming from someone who developed quite the alcohol habit as it gave me this temporary relief. I knew I had to drop it.


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## devin880 (Apr 30, 2011)

kehcorpz said:


> It's not about mixing them, i'm sure most of the time you could be fine. Simply that alcohol is more powerful and it causes neuroapoptosis. And to cure depression/anxiety you need neurogenesis. So... you know... seems weird.
> 
> And i'm basing it on the fact that people here are constantly talking about drinking. You think you're the only one? Man go through the threads.
> 
> ...


It's true that some people think alcohol will make all their problems go away. I would also say that excessive alcohol consumption is not good for a mental disorder. However, how does that lead you to assume that most people on this forum have no underlying anxiety or depression disorders? 
chronic alcohol consumption + Mental disorder = Self Medication

Also, it is about mixing them, because this thread is about the combination of Paxil and alcohol. The drunkenness is intensified for many (or nullified), blackouts are more likely to happen, and the effects of the Paxil are increased as well. The medication also passes out of the person's system much faster. It would be nice if these things were stated on the Paxil website.

Also I would hardly call 4 beers a drinking problem. Those were the first alcoholic drinks I had in a month and the first I had since starting Paxil two weeks ago. It is not normal for me to experience a black out after 4 beers (or at all), and to not feel the alcohol effects, at all. That is why I posted on this thread. Paxil changed how the alcohol affected me, and I wanted to warn others that it can do this if they do choose to drink.


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## DeeDee5176 (Aug 10, 2014)

*Recovering from Friday night drinking. Not been well*



mousse said:


> same thing happens to me but only sometimes. ..my sis is working with me to try to figure out what are the main causes....it seems to be shots...I can not take shots, especially ones with red bull...seems to speed up the meds and cause be to get drunk faster and not remember things. You have to be careful. Good luck!


I normally can drink on paroxateine , but I made a few mistakes Friday night
1) took my meds just before I went out
2) had a couple of shots with red bull along with my normal G & T

Woke up early hours feeling so sick, and was vomiting sweating shaking thought I was dieing. It's now Sunday , I feel drained.

But I can't work out if it was the drink? Or have I had a bug? Only because I didn't feel sick when I went to sleep?

But it's certainly taught me a few lessons

Been on paroxateine for 16 years


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

Drink some water with Salt/sodium before you go to bed, an some water on that, and B-vitamins, u pee them out, and alcohol is dehydratin and make you pee more...

And for the op it was a couple of years ago but yeah drink less, avoid shots.


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## tatormae (May 25, 2015)

I just recently started taking paxil a monto ago. I'm new to this stuff. I was on prozac and celexa before and they were awful! But I take my pill at night before bed (to help with sleep), but if I drink, no matter how much my husband has all of these crazy stories about me in the morning.


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## sadness (May 9, 2006)

I quit drinking and have been having sweats. It's only on my neck shoulders and above to my face. I don't know wtf it is? 

For a long time I was drinking with Nardil. Shots will make you black out real f'n quick.


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