Alcohol is a familiar sight at holiday celebrations. But if you're taking one or more medications a day, is it safe to raise a glass or two, or should you avoid drinking altogether?
In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can be dangerous, Fox News reports.
For example, consuming alcohol can reduce blood-sugar levels, leading to poor control of diabetes.
Older people are at a particularly high risk for drug-alcohol interactions because they often take more medications than younger adults do, and are more susceptible to alcohol's effects on thinking and motor skills, which may result in falls and other injuries.
Knowing which of the eight common medication classes below may interact harmfully with alcohol, and what side effects may occur as a result, could go a long way toward helping you to enjoy a happier and healthier holiday season.
Antidepressants
With antidepressants, the concern with drinking alcohol is that they both slow down the central nervous system, affecting the brain and impairing thinking skills and alertness. This combination can also make people feel sleepier and decrease their judgment abilities, coordination and reaction time.
Birth-control pills
While alcohol does not reduce the effectiveness of birth-control pills, drinking can have other negative consequences for women, said Stacy Elder, an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. If she gets drunk, a woman may forget to take the pill or neglect to tell her partner to wear a condom.
Blood-pressure and heart medications
Alcohol is thought to decrease the effect of beta-blockers, medications taken by people who have had heart attacks or are being treated for heart failure, chest pain or an abnormal heart rhythm. Therefore, experts recommend that people using beta-blockers avoid drinking alcohol.
For those taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE inhibitors) to control hypertension or treat heart attack and strokes, alcohol can actually cause blood pressure to drop too much, Elder said.
Because alcohol compounds the blood-pressure reduction effects of ACE inhibitors, it's best to avoid drinking while taking them, Elder said.
Cholesterol-lowering medications
Moderate drinking: one drink a day for women and up to two daily for men.
Diabetes medications
People who have diabetes should be aware that alcohol can cause low blood-sugar levels not only right after drinking, but also up to 24 hours afterward, Elder said. Because of this, she advised eating a snack before or while you're drinking, to keep blood-sugar levels steady.
Some diabetes medications may not mix well with alcohol because they lower blood sugar and could lead to dangerous side effects.
One of these medications is metformin.
Gastro esophageal reflux and ulcer drugs
Though Elder said it may be OK to have one drink if you have heartburn, larger amounts of alcohol can relax the muscle between the stomach and the esophagus, increasing acid reflux.
Alcohol can irritate and erode the lining of the stomach and esophagus, and also increase the amount of stomach acid produced, thus worsening acid reflux as well as ulcer symptoms.
Painkillers
It's generally safe to drink in small amounts.
Drinking should be avoided when taking prescription pain medications, including opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin. Alcohol can enhance the sedative side effects of these narcotics, thus increasing fatigue and causing blood pressure to drop. Combining alcohol and narcotics can also impair thinking and motor skills, and lead to breathing problems.
Sleeping pills
It's generally recommended to steer clear of alcohol if you're taking sleeping pills, said Danya Qato, a practicing pharmacist and doctoral candidate in health services research at Brown University in Providence, R.I Alcohol can increase the sedative effects of sleep medications, depressing parts of the brain and causing severe drowsiness and dizziness, which may increase the risk of falls, injuries and car accidents.
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