Hello I Am Wondering If I Can Drink Alcohol The

Posted on Mon, 20 Jan 2020

Question: hello

i am wondering if i can drink alcohol the day after taking my medication which i normally take everyday 3 times a day but lately cut fown to one a day it is bromezepam i take it for anxiety
i will be getting drunk as its new years not drank in few months i went saw my psychiatrist and he said 100 percent i could drink is okay ? i thougjt the half life was long of bromazepam 6mg
my psuchiatrist said there will be hardly any left in my system to do anything bad and i can drink as much as i want ?

Answered by Dr. Saddiq Ulabidin (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes you can take alcohol and miss the dose of the drug meanwhile

Detailed Answer:
Hi! Welcome to Ask A Doctor service. Thanks for sharing your concerns with us. We will try to help you in best way possible. First of all it's sad to know what you had been going through lately.

Based on the history you have shared, yes you are right that half life is longer than that, and compared to some other commonly used sleep medications however the drug levels to cause enough sedation or therapeutic dose of the drug falls in the blood, so much so that it may not cause any further sleep.

Also that such long term use of bromazepam or any other benzodiazepine leads to decreased clinical effects or less likely to cause that much sedation as initial doses have caused primarily.

So you can continue with alcohol in this event, but you should not use the medication during and after the drinking till the hang over isn't completely over. Wishing you a healthy life ahead. Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Saddiq Ulabidin (55 minutes later)

so it will be safe to drink as much as I want without worrying ?
my psychiatrist said to even take one 6mg tablet in the morning and still can drink as much as I like he said by the time its night Time I will have hardly any left in system , im going to miss my dose tomorrow I think just to be on the safe side.
I take this medication everyday now for 2 months and before that I was on oxazepam
will that mean there is more in my blood ?
am I going to die of respiratory depression?
I keep googling and its giving me bad anxiety from doing so but my psychiatrist was so adamant that I would be perfectly fine ?
could you give me some reassurance so I can enjoy my new year measured and not panic im going to die, its been a long time since I've been out with friends.
thank you doctor

Follow up: Dr. Saddiq Ulabidin (0 minute later)

im male just turned 23 by the way

Answered by Dr. Saddiq Ulabidin (58 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Yes you can take it safely

Detailed Answer:
Hi! I can understand your concerns. However clinical effects of the drug will be evident by the sleep time you have had after the drug. If you are up and fresh after completing the dose that means that drug effects have already seared off else you would have remained drowsy or sedated for on and on but that is never the case.

So that alone can tell you that ,though time taken to completely flush drug out of your system, may be longer but l, that amount which could have caused any side effects is no longer present. So you can take the alcohol and I suggest not taking fresh dose simultaneously or on the same day. Regards

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj