"Don't combine alcohol and medication, regardless of who you are, and regardless of what kind of medication"?

It is a game of Russian Roulette.

I cannot imagine any doctor giving advice other than that.

Sounds like good advice IMO.

Follow dr’s orders and the drug insert + talk to the pharmacist.

I’d say it’s responsible advice given by someone who knows there’ll always be people who believe they’re exceptionally special.

I agree, of course that is the only thing a responsible doctor would say esp. in public.
Someone was quoting a doctor not having said that. He said things like “I wouldn’t encourage it. ” That is lame statement for a doctor.

Makes sense to me. Alcohol and drugs and YOUR body become an unpredictable outcome.

Why would you question it?

I always questioned it about things that occur naturally in your body like melatonin. I don’t see why alcohol would make a bad mix if you’re not taking anything too altering.

My husband was lamenting to a doctor about his mother using alcohol with many prescription meds. The doctor said, “at her age she is not going to change. Do you really want to spend her final years fighting with her?”

Fact is some medications come in tincture form with alcohol in them. Many others work as well with alcohol in moderation as without. Others interact with alcohol and the two should not be taken together. The specific medication should include a warning about interaction with alcohol if it is such a medication.

That said, if I were a doctor, which I am not; or even if I just played a doctor on TV, which I do not; if I had to make a sweeping statement in public, which I am now doing; I’d say don’t mix medications and alcohol. Anything more nuanced than that is going to be misunderstood by too many listeners.

Most drugs get removed from the body via the liver, and alcohol just throws a big ol’ monkey wrench into that. It’ll make either the drug itself, or more potent versions of the drug (metabolites) hang out for an unpredictable amount of time, varying based on genetics, how much you drank, what drug, etc. Bottom line: you don’t want to be the cauldron bubbling, that’s Double, double toil and trouble.
@ETpro the amount of alcohol in tintures are very small compared to a standard alcoholic bevarge.

I know several people that say ” i’ve been on every anti-depressant under the sun, and they don’t work on me”. Each of these people are heavy, heavy drinkers. Surprise.

Well…a Xanax and a double bloody mary always sets me up for a long flight. lol
Still here after 1000’s of miles riding “high” in the sky. haha

It is a good blanket statement because you can’t leave it up to the average person to know when it is ok and when it isn’t ok to drink with a med. Take the example of alcohol and Tylenol. People pop that combination all the time, but it is said over and over again how that combination can kill your liver. It probably has a warning on the bottle, but I don’t have a bottle to check it right now. Too many people think OTC pain killers are like eating candy, they don’t consider a serious medicine. Then there are drugs like bensos and narcotics and some others that when combined with alcohol cam kill you within hours of ingesting them.

@Coloma A lot of people are winding up dead from accidental overdose. They don’t understand the combination of those types of drugs can surpress respiration so much they die in their sleep. Brain just forgets to breath. Sanjay Gupta recently did a report on it because President Clinton asked him to do somethng after two young men, sons of friends of his, died within a few months of each other from accident overdose.

I knew a woman who mixed Primatene with a cold beer in the summer and ended up walking around the house like a spider, clinging to the walls and counters.
Be smart-don’t mix any type of medication with alcohol. And also be cautious with mixing medication with other medications. I found out the reason I was sleepwalking was because I was taking a Zyrtec (allergy med) with my Flexiril (muscle relaxer) at night. I created an amazing tomato provencale dish and ended up ruining the leftovers by thinking I was putting bread crumbs in the leftover container. I got up the next morning thinking that something wasn’t right and found that I crushed some dog biscuits and dog treats in with the bread crumbs. Since I did that, I don’t take the two together anymore and have not sleepwalked since. That reminds me, I should mention that little fact to the dr and pharmacist next time I go to see them.

@JLeslie Well of course, mixing drugs and alcohol is a big no no, obviously.
However….there is a big dif. between one low dose .05 xanax and one cocktail vs. 2,3,4, 5, Xanax and 5 cocktails. My own doctor just laughed at me and said he does the same thing when he flies. I’m not advocating potentially lethal drug and alcohol combos.

@Coloma Not a lecture mind you, just some information on the matter. As far as your doctor saying it is ok; well, you know me, I think doctors all too often don’t know what they’re talking about (which makes me a nervous wreck half the time, so I am not recommending that line of thought) but if your doc does it himself, he would definitely want to believe it is ok. Cognitive dissonance and all that. Plus, you are a woman and he is a man. Another thing to keep in mind, as you get older your metabolism might change. But, I am not an alcohol and drug person, so I am more skiddish on the topic. Maybe you are taking the xanax before the flight (are you nervous about flying?) so by the time you are drinking that is wearing off. That would be less of a problem.

I take xanax when I fly (my husband thanks me for doing this) but I am also not a drinker. I don’t ever remember drinking while I was taking meds. I get hangovers WHILE I drink, and they are not for me. I wouldn’t want to take that chance. Life is too short as it is.

Why exactly would someone have a problem with him saying this, in public or otherwise?

@JLeslie

I only take a xanax and have a cocktail when I am on extended, international, flights.
I have done this a few times to help me sleep, not because I have a fear of flying. My doctor is about my age, and while I totally agree with not recklessly combining medications and cocktails..( obviously a no brainer ) all I am saying is that ONE low dose Xanax and ONE cocktail carries a near zero risk for the vast majority of people, unless they have other heath issues or are taking many other medications..

ONE of anything mixed with ONE cocktail would be an extreme rarity to result in serious complications or death for the majority. The last time I did this was in 2010, so hardly a “problem” for me. haha

@Coloma It probably is no big deal having one double cocktail and a .5 Xanax. But, for the point of the Q, and others reading this, I thought it worthwhile to give more information about it.

By the way xanax comes as low as .25 with a score for splitting.

@JLeslie Agreed, and yes, actually I think mine are .25.
If you really wanted to pass out you’d need to take about 6 of them. haha
Not advocating a Whitney Houston moment.
I think the problem is people who DO abuse medications with alcohol and they build a tolerance that leads to accidental overdoes. Sad it is.

@Coloma Xanax never makes me sleepy. But, I never take more than .25 when I was taking it. It is not a sleeping pill. I assume you know that, but a lot ofmpeople take it to sleep, and I think it is important people know. Of course, since it reduces anxiety, people are able to fall asleep easier. Ambien would be the jet lag drug.

@JLeslie Yes, it is only to relax, not go into a sleep coma. haha
Just enough to be able to doze and sleep on 13 hour flights.

Its probably the safest advice but it isn’t necessarily correct. Alcohol with some medications can be dangerous. With others it just reduces the efficiency of the medication (which may or may not be dangerous, depending on what you’re taking the meds for). And sometimes there’s no effect whatsoever.

I always thought that you should never have alcohol with antibiotics but when I had a UTI earlier in the year, the informaton leaflet in the antibiotics I was given didn’t mention it. I actually asked my doctor about it, he just shrugged and said that alcohol wouldn’t affect it, he just warned me to drink in moderation (which I do anyway).

Thanks all.

To all who thought I was questioning it, it is understandble. See my response after the first few answers. I was floored that the doctor was being wishy washy about it, in the media. He wasn’t responding to one person who he happens to be his patient or anything like that.

It depends on the substance and the dosage. It’s safer to drink a glass of wine and take 5mg of Valium, than to drink half a bottle of wodka.