Are There Any Interactions Between Effexor And Alcohol?

Posted on Tue, 27 Oct 2015

Question: Hi I am a 59 yr old female who is taking 112 mg of effexor, was on 37.5 for 8 yrs and felt fine..personal problems last year increased effexor to 75mg last march.This fall had a couple panic attacks and increased anxiety, seems to hit me in the fall.Increased to 112 mg 3.5 weeks ago.and taking a quarter pill .5 rivortril each a.m. until effexor kicks in.( hope soon).Still quite anxious better some days then others.Had birthday this week..had 2 glasses of wine was unreal next day.. super anxious, almost odd could hardly function..I know rivotril and alcohol reallydon't mix but why so terrible next day on 2 small glasses? On 75 mg of exffexor could have a coulpe glasses of wine if we went out on the weekend with no problems next day. Is the increased exffesor the problem or the quartet tablet of .5 mg rivotril or combo/ Will I be able to have a glass of wine on 112mg when it kicks in ? We socialize a fair amount?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
not due to effexor, wine is likely responsible

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us. I can understand your concern.

There is no significant drug interaction between effexor and alcohol or effexor and clonazepam. Your symptoms after taking wine are likely due to wine itself or mixture of alcohol and rivotril. As you mentioned that even with 0.5 mg rivodril you feel dopey means combination with wine can create more problems as both are CNS depressants.

If you have taken alcohol in social manner in past with 75 mg effexor safely you can take the same on 112 mg also. Just keep in mind that don’t take when you have taken clonazepam.

If you are on effexor 112 mg since 4 weeks and still no complete improvement is there dose can be increased. In anxiety disorder it can be used up to 225 mg per day in divided doses. I understand that most of the patients do not like increment in dose but it can be reduced again after complete improvement.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (29 hours later)

Hi,
Thank you so much for information.I just came back from my doctor told him its been 4 weeks on 112mg a day and I'm still feeling a lot of anxiety.(especially in the a.m.) he suggested I go back down to 75 mg a day to see if increase is even helping? He said that maybe the extra 37.5 mg is making me more anxious? I said isn't that only in first 5-7 days he said "no some people cant handle an increase and always feel more stressed." He told me to go back to the 75mg for 2 weeks and see if there's a difference. I'm scared I'm still quite anxious (really don't want it to get much worse) are we postponing the inevitable? ..I've been on increase for 4 weeks .Should I get second opinion? Have to go away in 3 weeks would like to feel better.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (11 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Either drug is nor working or still more dose is needed

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for follow up.

From your history I do not feel reduction in dose. If at all your anxiety had worsened after increasing the dose then only need of reduction to previous dose. That is not the case I think. Rather dose was increased as you had not feeling sufficient improvement.
At this stage if your status same means drug is not working up to required level or dose is relatively less.
If I were your treating doctor considering this situation I would like to increase the dose of effexor or would like to add an SSRI like sertraline or paroxetine to effexor. For a while you can be given rivotril round the clock for short duration for fast relief.

You can get second opinion if you feel.

Do not hesitate to discuss further.

All the best.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar