Zoloft and Alcohol

Zoloft and Alcohol


Zoloft and alcohol have not been studied together by the manufacturer but they do not recommend the use of Zoloft and alcohol together.  The Zoloft and alcohol interaction has only been discovered later when people who were on Zoloft took alcohol at the same time.  Most manufacturers do not study the effects of alcohol on the taking of their medication and the manufacturers of Zoloft were no exception.  Even so, you should always ask your doctor about the dangers of Zoloft and alcohol when taken together.  Using the party line, the doctor may say that, while a Zoloft alcohol interaction has not been studied excessively, you should not drink Zoloft and alcohol together.  The doctor, on the other hand, may have some personal experience with other patients who have taken Zoloft and alcohol together and may have more information on the subject.

 

What would happen when you take Zoloft and alcohol together?

Zoloft and AlcoholThe truth is that Zoloft affects the serotonin levels of the brain and alcohol also affects the serotonin levels of the brain so the combination can produce unexpected consequences.  Zoloft can potentiate the effects of alcohol so you can feel drunker faster on alcohol when you take Zoloft at the same time.  In some cases, the taking of one drink can cause you to feel as though you are taking two drinks.  Zoloft and alcohol together can cause slow reflexes, cloudy judgment, fatigue or drowsiness and these symptoms can come on suddenly, without any warning.  You might feel more depressed after taking alcohol than normal.  Remember that alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that can make you feel depressed even without Zoloft.

Zoloft produces sedative effects in some people with or without alcohol but the sedation is worse than the taking of Zoloft and alcohol together.  You can have bodily depression, such as slower heart beat and a lowering of the blood pressure.  The more alcohol taken with Zoloft, the more are the chances of dangerous changes in your vital signs.  Headaches and sexual difficulty are worse with Zoloft and alcohol taken together and the chances of having these symptoms increases when you take the two substances at the same time.

Some patients who take Zoloft have an unmistakable craving for more alcohol.  Zoloft appears to reduce the self-imposed barriers to drinking alcohol so they can become addicted to alcohol.  Zoloft, while it reduces depression, can actually create an alcoholic out of you due to an increased craving for alcohol.

Those who are recovering alcoholics have the greatest risk of developing alcohol cravings but it can happen to anyone who drinks alcohol.  It is believed that taking Zoloft affects the insula of the brain, which is a part of the limbic system that controls addictions and addictive behavior.

It is also possible that, because Zoloft and alcohol both affect the pancreas, the combination causes a lowered blood sugar.  Because drinking alcohol quickly raises the blood sugar, it may be that you crave alcohol in order to bring up the blood pressure.  This then drops the blood sugar and the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

 

Zoloft and alcohol depression


Let’s look at the Zoloft alcohol interactions you can find. Most people feel more drunk when drinking alcohol while on Zoloft.  An increase in Zoloft dosage can make the symptoms worse.  You can feel more irritable and crabby because of alcohol cravings and because your blood sugar is getting too low and is fluctuating more wildly.  You can be very tired on both Zoloft and alcohol, worse than if you take just one of the substances alone.  With Zoloft and alcohol, depression can actually get worse so that you feel just as bad as if you didn’t take the medication at all. The dosage is usually then increased but with Zoloft and alcohol, the symptoms only get worse.

The other adverse side effects of drinking alcohol and taking Zoloft at the same time is that you can drink just one drink and think you are okay to drive when the effects of Zoloft and alcohol at the same time can make you drunk on just one drink and can suffer a crash or get a DWI or DUI from drinking an amount of alcohol you think is safe.

Drinking alcohol along with Zoloft is definitely not a good idea.  You can get drunker than you plan to and pass out on very little alcohol.  You can pass out from a combination of Zoloft and alcohol without having drunk very much alcohol.  You can have cravings for alcohol that you never had before you started taking Zoloft.

 

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Zoloft and Alcohol | Zoloft and Alcohol Depression | Zoloft Alcohol Interaction

 

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