[Batou]

Facial Flushing and Alcohol Use

http://dermatology.a...s/a/flush_3.htm

some people have this

[Bun]

When I started lamictal I would get punishing hangovers with severe gastrointestinal problems. We own a wine shop and I was concerned. After a year on the meds, however, and I'm up to 150 mgs, that side effect has gone away, and I have no bad reaction to alcohol. Other than the kind you get when you drink too much. Before I was afraid to go to a wine tasting.

[Dylan]

I drank quite a lot and quite often on Lamictin/lamictal when i was on 200mg ... no side effect whatsoever (maybe a lightened hangover, which is always a good thing)

But since we're on the topic, recently (today) started Trileptal at 600mg, not sure if I can drink on it without side effects .... anyone taking it with a couple of drinks that can help me?

[bxt227us]

Hi. An interesting range of responses here. I noticed, that for me, Lam.  seemed to interfere with the rewarding property of alcohol but only partially, such that one glass of wine felt like half, so I drank 2! I been on 200mg for a month and it seems to be working!! The longer I spend on it the more I think that it takes a Long time to truly get used it and past any weirdness. I guess I don't get as much of that breif warm fuzzy glowey feeling from alcohol but I'm carefull not to double it up now. More to your point, alcohol hasn't interfered with Lam's functioning; but too much drink can mess up anything if you try! Good luck.

chickiedisco, on Jan 25 2006, 12:14 AM, said:

Hey, I'm new here and just started a starter kit of Lamictal.  How does it interact with alcohol?  I know that I've been self-medicating over the years, but nonetheless I hope to still have your occasional glass of wine etc.  Will it work OK or do you find you have cut down with the booze??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[crazynotstupid]

herrfous, on Jan 24 2006, 10:49 PM, said:

Ashamedly, I get completely trashed several times a week (which takes 6+ drinks in less than an hour for me), and this has yet to have affected the pharmacokinetics or end effects of Lamictal.

6+ drinks in less than an hour? For you? To get completely trashed? I should damn well think so! For pretty much damn near anyone! That's like, um, hitting anout .15% for you. Dude...that's pretty fucked up. Even for a hard-core drinker like me, that's tuned.

If you're drinking that much, that often, I shouldn't think you ought to be talking about whtether or not it's affecting any of your meds--you can't know until you sober up. For, like, more than a day or two, y'know.

Drinking while on any med is always iffy. Most meds, ACs especially, are CNS (central nervous system) depressants. So is alcohol. Combine the two, and especially if (like a whole lot of us) if you're taking two or more of these meds, then you could be asking for a lot of trouble.

Anybody that knows me, well, knows I'm not above having a drink (or sometimes 12) with my meds. Whc=ich is why I try to know this shit. I like to know why I wake up in the night hardly breathing for instance (maybe, don't take so much seroquel?) or why everything starts spinning; hey, it didn't use to spin so much when i had so little to drink...

Now generally...a drink or two or three doean't hurt. Generally. But...if, say, you're taking lamictal for an antidepressant (as i am) then you have to remember that alohol can affect your moods and there may be a rebound tomorrow, even off one drink. And while a drink or two may not fuck you up or stop your breathing, you may feel like emotional shit tomorrow.

Oh, fun BAC info: http://en.wikipedia....alcohol_content

[nalgas]

freddydontsmoke, on Dec 9 2007, 12:43 AM, said:

Anne, on Jan 31 2006, 05:21 PM, said:

crazyethel, on Jan 29 2006, 09:29 AM, said:

I drink an occasional beer, one of those silly frozen things, a glass of wine and all I get are a flushed face, a hot feeling (temperature), and sleepiness. So it's not any fun at all. Why bother?

What's up with the wine and the flushing? I really enjoy wine. I belong to a wine club and enjoy reading about it but when I do have a glass now, my chest, cheeks, nose and ears get really red, hot and flushed. I wonder why?

Allergy to gluten most likely. Makes me a raving, insatiable madman.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over. Raving madman alert: Just for the record, wine is gluten-free...unless they started making it with something other than grapes while I wasn't looking. The vast majority of beer, on the other hand, is chock full o' gluten, but most "silly frozen things" have none. Same with anything distilled. I have a strange feeling that it's probably due to alcohol or sulfites or something else that's actually in wine.

[r.mcmurphy]

an inquiry here is in order."Just for the record, wine is gluten-free...unless they started making it with something other than grapes while I wasn't looking."
if a grape was even within miles of a thunderbird or wild irish rose manufacturing plant, i'd be struck silly. that sort of blend constituted "wine tasting" on a quantum scale.
you tasted it for days after brown bagging it. if one was unlucky, you tasted it for a brief second time while it exited with gusto.

[AirMarshall]

* point of order: Remember this thread is TWO YEARS OLD *

for what it's worth: some people have a genetic sensitivity to alcohol that causes them to flush red on their face neck and chest. This is very common among the Japanese.

a.m.

[nalgas]

AirMarshall, on Dec 9 2007, 08:18 PM, said:

* point of order: Remember this thread is TWO YEARS OLD *

That's right. It won't be able to legally drink for another 19 years.

AirMarshall, on Dec 9 2007, 08:18 PM, said:

for what it's worth: some people have a genetic sensitivity to alcohol that causes them to flush red on their face neck and chest. This is very common among the Japanese.

Where by Japanese, I believe you mean a whole lot of Asians in general. Part of it is also that they metabolize it differently.

[Silver]

THe flushing is usually blamed on sulfites - but check this and this out.

I learned about this last year and lo and behold, many things fell into place... like my lack of sulfite allergy and my bright red/flushed face with certain wines.

(It's not always an alcohol dehydrogenase thing.)

This post has been edited by Silver: 03 June 2008 - 05:35 PM

[Reborn]

heh, you revived a really old thread.

So, it turns out I really can't get drunk on Lamictal/bupropion. I still display physiological effects (trouble walking straight), but it doesn't affect me cognitively. I feel no different, and my friends can't tell either. Alcohol isn't really any fun anymore because of it, so I've pretty much stopped drinking.

For the record, bupriopion's seizure warning is overrated. The likelyhood of having a seizure on the standard does of bupropion (300mg) is roughly the same as the seizure risk of sertraline. (.2%) Neither of my doctors seemed concerned about alcohol consumption; I admitted drinking to both of them.

[nalgas]

Reborn, on Jun 4 2008, 07:48 PM, said:

For the record, bupriopion's seizure warning is overrated. The likelyhood of having a seizure on the standard does of bupropion (300mg) is roughly the same as the seizure risk of sertraline. (.2%)

The thing is, the risk goes up exponentially, not linearly. It's substantially more than 50% higher at 450, the current approved max, and at 600 (which used to be approved but isn't anymore, for this specific reason), it's much, much higher. At low to medium doses, it's actually pretty comparable to most ADs in general, as you say, but once you get higher than that, it gets much worse (over 2% in some situations) much faster than most seem to (although things like amitriptyline are similar, with a .1% chance at normal doses and absurdly high at toxic levels; the same page also says that sertraline is .2%, but buproprion is "as low as .4%", not .2%).

[Reborn]

Yea, I heard the seizure risk was high after 450mg.

Also, disregard what I said about not feeling the effects of alcohol. It's hit and miss.

[openembrace]

Bummer. I turn 21 this month, am on both Lamitcal and Seroqual, and it looks like I can't drink on my birthday.

[meg]

openembrace, on Jun 8 2008, 01:45 PM, said:

Bummer. I turn 21 this month, am on both Lamitcal and Seroqual, and it looks like I can't drink on my birthday.

hey oe,
I just turned 21 less than a month ago and had the same dilemma, except my cocktail is lamical, wellbutrin xl, zoloft and adderall. I decided that I'd have one or two drinks over the course of the evening when out with my friends (they insisted that I *must* get carded at least once on my birthday) and it turned out just fine with those plans in place. I wouldn't worry too too much about getting a token drink because of the occasion, as long as you know that you can stick to nursing one over the course of the evening and not get carried away, you know?
I don't want to sound like I'm encouraging drinking on meds-- by no means do I think it is a good idea to go do shots, down beer and get drunk (or plastered. or comatose.) on meds, even if you have some pressure from over-eager friends because "hey, you're 21 now!!"-- but I don't think that you need to forgo a nice champagne toast or small umbrella drink in celebration if you feel like it. Drink water, eat well, sip slowly and take a 'raincheck' for those who offer to buy you a drink and have a nice mellow birthday, you know?

moderation, baby

happy early birthday, congrats on making it to 21 (I know I feel like I accomplished something after all the tough patches I made it through!),
m

[fluffybirdie]

Happy birthday openembrace. I totally agree with Meg that a drink or 2 should be fine. I took Lamictal for a year an a half and it didn't change and of the effect that alcohol had on me. Seroquel, I don't know. Now, I will cop to being a problem drinker that's another story.
With a good dinner in your belly, you can nurse a drink for a while or have beer it's high water content.
I hope you have a good one, and buy something nice for yourself with all the money you won't be dropping in bars