Alcohol and Fluoxetine

[EvianBaby]

Is it ok to drink alcohol whilst taking fluoxetine?

[lcg]

yes....but the effects of alcohol/antidepressant will be amplified....entirely different to each person. i take venlafaxine and quetiapine (high doses) and drink like a fish when i feel like it. go gently would be my advice and see what effect it has. i promise you won't explode if you have a little drinky! x

[lcg]

btw...i'm a psych nurse, so i know my drugs. there are very few drugs that you absolutely cannot drink alcohol with, but fluoxetine isn't one of those. it won't make you feel sick if you do (unless you drink sh!t loads) but just more tipsy more quickly. enjoy a tipple or two, make sure you are with someone sensible and see how it goes x

[Sqad]

Fluoxetine and alcohol.................no problem.

[EvianBaby]

Thanks and Sqad for confirming. Like i say, i dont know about these things so was a bit worried. As I don't drink often it doesn't take much to get me drunk anyway so I'll just go easy. I told my friend I was skint so we don't have to go out drinking.

[lcg]

squad - you are wrong in saying no problem. evian, i refer you to my two posts above for the correct psychiatric and medical opinion on the matter.

[EvianBaby]

Sorry Lcg, I missed your name from my previous answer. Could have sworn I typed it cos autocorrect changed it to LCD. Lol.

Thanks for both informative answers. I'll take your advice.

[Sqad]

Icg....evidence shows that Fluoxetine does not react with alcohol or increase it's effect.Similarly with Sertraline, Citaloprim and escitaloprim.

These are SSRI's and the manufacturers still advice to avoid alcohol despite the lack of medical evidence of interaction.

We will have to agree to differ in our opinions.

[ladyalex]

It depends on how much alcohol you take.
A little will make no difference.
Drinking daily can block the antidepressant effects.
Also, I am led to believe that most people taking SSRIs tend to avoid alcohol as the hangovers are much much worse than normal even with modest amounts.