Posted by chemist on August 1, 2004, at 20:02:17
In reply to Alcohol, celexa, lamitcal -- bad news? chemist?, posted by AMD on August 1, 2004, at 19:15:42
> Folks,
>
> I've been on Celexa 80mg and Lamictal 200 mg for about two weeks now, and have for the first time started to feel a return to normal.
>
> Last night I went to a bar and had a couple sips (maybe a fourth) of glass of vodka and Coke. I also smoked on cigarette.
>
> Today I am very depressed. I feel guilty about fooling with my medicines in this way, and especially bad that I completely brought this on myself.
>
> Can alcohol, even a relatively small amount, interact with the medicines in such a way to bring one back into a depression. Can I expect, by abstaining, to return to feeling back to normal, or will these permanently screw up my body's response to the medication? Why am I feeling a bit depressed now?
>
> Thanks,
> ahello amd, chemist here...i think your post will generate a lot of responses....my personal take is that your guilt and feeling that you may have ``undone'' some good by ingesting (very small) amounts of things on the ``forbidden'' list is at work here. if you drank a quarter of a standard u.s.-poured vodka/coke at a bar, you're talking about roughly 0.5 oz of alcohol, which i do not think would derail your course of medication. a cigarette is what you'd get in secondhand smoke from being in a bar for a few hours: smoking one, along with a bit of spiced-up caffeinated sugar water, ought not trigger a relapse, in my opinion...you don't have a hangover, didn't wreck the car, or end up in the hospital or in a brawl: you had a smoke and a sip of a drink. if you skipped the drink and had a few slugs of OTC cough syrup instead, you'd be in a similar (if not worse) situation. not what the doctor orders or recommends, but you didn't really push the envelope. i think you've got a case of the ``guilts'' and by tomorrow you'll be fine. by not having any benzos or other sedatives on-board, you're more in the clear, as a little booze can go a long way with those drugs. again, in my opinion, you've got a mild case of remorse. be well, and all the best, chemist
poster:chemist
thread:372959
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040730/msgs/372971.html