Mixing percocets with alcohol. Effects?

Mixing alcohol with any medication can cause deadly effects.

Why would you want to do this, anyway?

@john65pennington I don’t. A family member did. We found her yesterday passed out on the floor. Had a hard time waking her.

Someone should advise her doctor of this situation.

And, thank you for caring.

There are many medications that should not be taken with alcohol and this medication just about heads the list.

Depends on how much she took/drank. It’s definitely going to knock you the hell out, but she’s going to feel very sick when she wakes up. It’s absolutely horrible for the liver.

Was she just trying to get really wasted? Or was this a possible suicide attempt?

Both are depressants, and metabolism of both results in abnormal amounts of toxins (hard on the liver, correct @KateTheGreat) and when you have a system full of toxins, and depressed, functions slowed downed, you have a recipe for toxic shock, sepsis… it can cause suspension of normal waste product elimination in all the tissues of the body (including the brain and nervous system) and… egad !

It should say on the side of the prescription bottle “do not use with alcohol”.

Drinking alcohol with any drug like this is not responsible. Death is a permanent side effect and if comes along is most of the time inescapable.

I think @john65pennington is right in that someone should talk to this persons doctor. Hopefully the worst case scenario is that the person never talks to you again because you ratted them out.

A family member found her. She takes meds for pain and is secretly drinking. She mixed the two (not sure if she purposely tried to OD or she just got carried away with the pills and alcohol) and blacked out.

Potential death! Don’t ever do this! Even if she doesn’t die, she may end up in a vegetative state, or with brain damage.

I think it’s a lot like Russian Roulette. One time you get by unscathed and another time it might kill you.

Alcohol and percocet will make you very sleepy but that’s not the reason I’d be worried here Percocet contains acetaminophen. It does not take that much acetaminophen to overdose and it can take 2 or 3 days before the full effect of the overdose will take effect. You often feel fine 24 hours after overdosing on paracetamol so many people don’t seek medical attention until its too late. Medical intervention soon enough will prevent liver damage but left too long and acute liver failure is almost guaranteed. Bottom line if there is any doubt over the number of tablets taken go to the ER.

It would be like ODing on either one, with possible interaction complications. Really bad idea. With alcohol if someone drinks a lot over time usually the body kicks in and start throwing it up before they get fatal blood poisoning, but when someone chugs down a bunch at once sometimes the persons blood alcohol content shoots up faster than the body can react and the person can die or suffer very bad damage. Pills have an increased chance of this because someone can easily take a handful and OD fast. The two together are not good for basically the same reasons.

Never have I seen on any prescription bottle mentioning they be taken with alcohol. Do not take on an empty stomach doesn’t mean put alcohol in it so it won’t be empty. Alcohol and weed don’t mix well with pain meds or they mix very well depending on what you are trying to do, but still a bad idea.

It depends on quantities. I have a permanent vein injury that causes a good deal of pain especially after standing for long periods or extreme exercise. I used to take percocet but found that I am sensitive to acetaminophen. Now I find that a straight dose of oxycodone that is part of the percocet works pretty well. If I have a real problem a beer helps. I never take more than 5 mg. of oxycodone or a single beer. Everything in moderation and don’t do this on a daily basis.

I am careful with pain killers, not because I am frightened about becoming addicted but because you can get to the point where larger and larger doses are necessary. I am afraid of my pain killers becoming ineffective. I’ve been in that position before and lost two weeks with intractable pain before the doctors found something that would work. I never want to be in that position again.

Everyone who uses pain meds for a chronic condition is addicted whether they know it or not. No way that is not going to happen. If the condition is expected to be permanent, then addiction is the par for the course.