Diananan

Diananan
Newbie


Posts: 1
From:
Registered: Mar 2003
posted 03-03-2003 07:44 PM
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I am 51 years old and enjoy red wine every evening. I drank on the average of a bottle a night, beginning with dinner and then finishing it up while attending to evening at-home activities. I have been on 20 to 40mg of Paxil for two years this month. ( I am raising a young teenage son as a single parent).
For the first four months, there were NO effects from drinking and taking Paxil. As time progressed however, the daily combination of the two caused "bizarre" thoughts and behaviors. Nothing out of my possible regular behaviors, but inappropriate at that time. One example is I would think I had to go pick up my son somewhere, get in my car to pick him up, find out it was 3:00am, and he was home asleep. All weird behaviors revolved around thinking about my son. Probably my most dominant conscious and subconscious. I didn't make the connection between the Paxil and the alcohol until I found myself in my van, up against a tree, with the airbags inflated. I don't remember the impact, but I probably fell asleep at the wheel. I remember popping out of the van telling onlookers that I was fine, and also answering questions from a Police Officer, totally coherent. I had no idea, and nor did they, that I was "drugged".
I behaved totally normally, just embarrassed that I had hit a tree. No ticket, no accusations of being drunk/on drugs. However the scary thing was that one of these weird thoughts came into my mind in the middle of the night, I got dressed and thought I had to go get my son's friend and father.
I stopped taking Paxil for several months, and reported this effect to my doctor and then, through him, to the FDA. I wanted everyone to know that this was a possible side effect.
I have been back on Paxil for a year, and still drink, but only two glasses of white wine a day.

SO...to answer your question, PAXIL and ALCOHOL can mix
and quantity of either does not alter the effect of either. You do not feel "high", or any different. Moderation is the key. I definitely feel you CAN drink and take PAXIL, but not to excess on a regular basis. IF it is an occasional indulgence you should be absolutely fine.
A small amount of alcohol daily and PAXIL, seem to be fine also. AS with everything, over-use and abuse of substances IS dangerous. I could have been killed in that crash. Moderation is the key.


ALSO LOOK FOR OTHER RESPONSES ON HEALTHCAREBOARDS UNDER PANIC DISORDERS... THIS ADDRESSES PAXIL AND ALCOHOL TOO. IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT EASILY, USE "GOOGLE" TYPE IN PAXIL AND ALCOHOL and IT WILL SHOW YOU THE HEALTHBOARD WEBSITE. CLICK ON IT.