Misc Alcohol and lots of Antidepressants, liver damage?

[klbuds4u]

I apologize ahead of time if this is in the wrong section. I am brand new here so first and foremost, hello everyone.

SWIM takes a lot of antidepressants, a anti-psychotic off label for sleep, and a mood stabilizer including:

-wellbutrin (300mg)
-lexapro (10mg)
-seroquel (10mg or less, just as needed for sleep, not much anymore)
-lamictal (not sure on that one)

SWIM went to his doctor and asked about drinking, how often he could. The doctor said he probably shouldn't more than once a month. So he plans on drinking about once every month, to get drunk on a weekend on Friday and Saturday. He has only been drunk once and he loved it.

SWIM has "slightly elevated liver enzymes" "likely due to medication".

One time SWIM took 9 percocet when he was depressed, (2 years ago),
and about 9 seroquel (250mg or so) for the same reason.

250mg of seroquel (from what I've heard) is a normal dose for some, but the percocet was a recreational dose without a doubt.

The drug interactions sticky says that all of the drugs should be fine with Alcohol or GHB, but what he is worried about is liver damage.

The doctor says once a month or less, and without the medicine in the stomach at the time (don't mix at the same time).

Is this about right? SWIM's friends don't take meds but they drink every or every other weekend.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[King Hop Head]

Low level drinking, such as a pint of beer once or twice a week should be okay. Binge drinking or drinking more than 20 units a week may be harmful. Maybe you could take the herbal supplement Milk Thistle, which is meant to ease burden on the liver, but check if it badly interacts with your meds.

 

[mydrugbuddy]

I'm not sure, I'm no expert but Im a great believer in "listening to your body" as it sends out clear warning signals whenever anything isnt right. I would imagine that heavy occasional binge drinking would at the very least give your liver more work to do, on top of all those meds its already dealing with. Although it is very self denying it would probably be best to stick to the docs advice if you can, or try to drink as moderately as possible. Long term & regular & heavy binge drinking would almost certainly cause problems. Ive been taking 50 mg sertraline for ages now, the doctor only advised me that regular drinking would render the meds ineffective, he didnt mention anything about liver damage. I'm not a "big drinker " i rarely drink very large amounts, i am more of a moderate regular drinker right now, i have found that if i drink (semi- moderately - 0.5 - 1 bottle of wine a night or a few beers every day for more than about 5 days in a row, the only effect that i feel is that my mood worsens badly. I have never experienced any liver pains or warning signals atall. I did have some blood tests done a few years ago which said my Bilirubin levels werent quite right, but the docs said if i wasnt feeling anything bad then there was nothing to worry about.....

This may be terrible advice but at least its my hopefully at least semi-relevant experience for what ever it may be worth....

 

[klbuds4u]

I'm just wondering if SWIM takes certain precautions, perhaps he could drink more?

SWIM doesn't take seroquel ever anymore. SWIM is also trying to reduce his other meds slowly. SWIM is going to talk to his doctor soon again.

For example, SWIM could take liver supplements such as milk thistle, alpha lipoic acid, and n-acetyl cysteine.

Also, SWIM makes sure not to eat junk food. SWIM doesn't ingest any fructose either.

SWIM has been drinking coffee because it is also supposedly good for the liver.


Any other thoughts?