I’ve googled it, got the professional advice, but looking for some reassurance. I’m going out for lunch tomorrow with a friend, this will only be the second time I’ve been out socially in the last 9-10 months, following an overdose. I’ve been taking mirtazipine for the last couple of months (previously on Sertraline). I’m thinking about having a couple of drinks, but, given the last time I did I took an overdose I feel kinda weird about it. I had a problem stopping once I started, previously. Am I mad for even thinking about taking a couple of drinks? Given it breaks the longest break I’ve had from alcohol in my adult life.
I think this quote says it all. You said you googled it and talked to a doctor about it. Then you should know that this is REALLY BAD IDEA. Even if you weren't on Mirtazapine, having a drink would still be a REALLY BAD IDEA.
I didn’t talk to my doctor about it, but my community psychiatric nurse did say on a couple of occasions that I could allow myself a drink or two, and was aware of my full history when saying so. That said, I do feel it’s a bad idea to break the good habit right now. Maybe I need to wait a bit longer.
I'm no expert, but mixing alcohol with any type of medication, especially mood-altering medications is a big NO-NO! I would strongly advise against drinking alcohol, especially since you took it too far previously. Problems like that don't just disappear into thin air, and a relapse is inevitable if you keep going back to what caused the problem in the first place. Keep up the good work you're doing with refraining from drinking. It's for your own wellbeing. The way my psychiatrist explained it to me is, alcohol tends to bring the mood down, and antidepressants lift the mood. So at the end of the day they cancel each other out, and it'd be like you're not on any medication whatsoever, which is obviously not good. Don't give in to temptation. It's not worth it. You will thank yourself later, trust me
Thanks for the replies. I guess I knew the answer even before I asked the question. Sadly, although I made it past yesterday and today (I went out to watch some football today) without taking any alcohol, I see little to no chance of keeping my circle of friends and keeping my sobriety. Its not that they have put pressure on me to drink, they have not, but just being in the same place where we all spent so much time getting drunk together makes it seem like it would only be a matter of time. I was so close to taking a couple of drinks today, then a wave of tiredness washed over me and I thought better of it, knowing that one of the side effects of mirtazapine is drowsiness. I didn't want to be going to bed at 17:30 once I got home. I'm at a loss as to where my life goes from here (That sounds overly dramatic but I don't mean it in that way) because in theory I am in a better spot than I was a year ago but I have absolutely no idea how I improve things socially (Where a lot of my anxieties lie) and I am currently off sick from work (I don't plan on going back to that job and I went down to half pay yesterday) and not sure if my employer will find me a new position and office or whether I will end up unemployed. If it is the latter, I plan on improving my qualifications by doing an access course (Path to University) full time, if the former then I will do it part time as I don't see the 9-5 office job keeping my happy for too long. It was at least part of the reason I ended up where I was last May. Got a lot of little things on my mind right now.
Are you taking any other meds besides Mirtazpine? Define " a couple of drinks." I did take Remeron(Mirtazpine) in the past plus Klonopin at one time and Atarax(Hydroxyzine) prior to that. I would say that you do fee a bit sedated a bit and the drinks will hit you a bit. I wouldn't recommend drinking heavy because you may black out or get close to blacking out if you are planning to drink a lot. I'm a recovering alcoholic and had experiences of drinking while taking my psych meds and had nearly had some black outs or close calls a bit a few times. Just letting you know
No, just mirtazipine 30mg, and the sedative effect they have on me is something special without any drink. The two days I have been out I have come home very tired and slept through the 10 hour mark where I used to sleep about 3-4 hours a night. If I had taken a drink yesterday, the intention was for it literally to be a couple of drinks, and I truly believe I would have left after those drinks. My real worry is that once I have taken a couple of drinks one day, the next time I go out I will be thinking that I have already gone 'back on the drink' and I will slowly relapse into drinking more seriously again. Not that I think I was an alcoholic, I was a binge drinker. A bright, positive future just seems so far away at the moment and while I am getting help via psychological therapy, because my therapist is a trainee the appointments aren't as regular as they could be either. I've had 3 appointments across about seven weeks. I've an appointment tomorrow which because it will have been three weeks since the last one I feel pretty distanced from the process now.
So among the actions of mirtazipine, it mimics sedative-hypnotic drugs. It also impacts availability of dopamine. Both of these functions interact with alcohol; in other words, in the same way that sedative-hypnotics significantly increase the effect (toxicity) of alcohol, mirtazipine does something very similar. Also, since both mirtazipine and alcohol act on the dopamine system, it is going to amplify that effect as well, In other words, there is absolutely an interaction between the two wherein mirtazipine essentially increases the effect and toxicity of alcohol. Thus, mixing them, even in small amounts, isn't wise. This is the clearest indicator you could have that drinking again would be a terrible idea, especially if you are taking a drug that is an alcohol agonist. One of the biggest causes of relapse in alcohol abuse or dependence is the idea that "Oh well, I used to have a dependency problem, but I haven't consumed alcohol for a while, so I'm sure it will be OK." This almost always results in relapse. If it were me, knowing what I know about addiction, and working with that population, I would never take the risk, especially when there's no need to do so and no significant reward, but there is a huge downside risk.
@Chip Thank you for that reply. It gives some much needed insight into how I’ve been feeling, and why it would be a really bad idea to mix the two things, that’s not to say I won’t still end up doing it at some point but it will be fully informed. I honestly don’t want to ever drink again.
That's awesome. And one of the best gifts you can give yourself is to keep your focus on today, so that every day you get up and say "Just for today, I'm choosing not to drink." Then it doesn't sound quite so permanent. Of course, when that answer starts to change... that's where you have to look at what changing that choice will do. You have your own history as well as the history of others who have been in your shoes, and for most people, they take a look at where changing their decision will likely take them... and decide that maintaining the current decision, to not drink, is the better one.
