Is it safe take alcohol with these meds?

[scatterbrain 28]

I take 400 mg Tegretol after breakfast and again after dinner and 200 mg at night (a lot I know, but I'm managing fine) and a 100 mg Vimpat. Is that safe to take alcohol with?

 

[valeriedl]

Drinking alcohol and taking meds together isn't a yes or no advice question. What medicine you are on doesn't give you much of an answer either. It more or less depends on the person.

Some people can drink alcohol along with taking meds with no problems and others can't.

I take a good bit more meds than you do, Tegretol being one of them, and I can drink some alcohol. I've never went out and got drunk since I've started taking meds but I'm ok with one or two drinks. I usually only drink around 3 times a year too. Just because this works for me doesn't mean it's going to work like this for you though.

You can try drinking but you also run the chance that you may end up having a seizure. Is it a risk that you want to take, you need to ask yourself?

 

[epileric]

Also, a side-effect of tegretol is that it increases the effects of alcohol so be careful.

 

[Cint]

Seizure meds can lower one's tolerance for alcohol, causing one to become drunk much quicker. Be very careful.

http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/alcohol

Alcohol and seizures – some facts

~In small amounts, alcohol does not cause seizures. A drink or two now and then does not increase seizure activity.
~Small amounts of alcohol doesn’t change the amounts of seizure medicines in your blood or change findings on EEG studies.
~When alcohol is related to seizures, it is often the state of alcohol withdrawal that causes the seizures, not the drinking itself. Your risk of seizures may be much higher after having three or more alcoholic beverages.
~Binge drinking and alcohol withdrawal can even lead to status epilepticus, a life-threatening and potentially fatal problem!

~Seizure medicines can lower your tolerance for alcohol, so the immediate effects of alcohol consumption are greater. In other words, people get drunk faster. Rapid intoxication is a big problem because many of the side effects of these medicines are similar to the acute effects of alcohol itself. If you are sensitive to alcohol or seizure medicines, you may find the combination even worse.

~Some studies have shown that alcoholism, or chronic abuse of alcohol, is linked with the development of epilepsy in some people. This research suggests that repeated alcohol withdrawal seizures may make the brain more excitable. Thus, people who have experienced seizures provoked by binge drinking may begin to experience unprovoked epilepsy seizures regardless of alcohol use.

 

[N Sperlo]

Take it easy on the alcohol and learn how the medicine effects you differently from before you were on the medicine. I for instance get dizzy a lot quicker than I did when I was not on my medicine.

 

[marika853]

I agree with Valariedl, alcohol consumption is a personal situation. Since everyone is different you may have to test yourself. Try drinking at home.
I have one beer in the afternoon. I'm on 1000 mg. generic Keppra daily. I manage fine but I do notice that if I have more then 2 drinks I will have a terrible headache the next day and sometimes I can't go to sleep. I've also noticed that wine is more intoxicating, to me. Maybe because I rarely drink it and my body doesn't really care for it.
Like I said, experiment at home.
Good Luck!
M

 

[valeriedl]

When I go out to a bar with friends all of them usually order a beer and I'll get a soda. At some of the bars the bartender will assume that I'm the driver so I'll get free soda or refills all night long. I guess you can say that's a good thing about not being able to or not wanting to drink!

(We always do have a driver however but they will only have one drink.)

 

[Belinda5000]

I wouldn't suggest you drink alcohol with your meds.
I once had a neuro say if its been 4 hours since your last dose than don't drink much.

 

[Nakamova]

I'm okay with having a drink or two -- it doesn't seem to bother me. I'm careful to drink plenty of water at the same time, and to make sure I have food in my stomach too. But if you have any doubts at all, play it safe and skip the alcohol.