Increase in NEGATIVE and DEPRESSIVE Feelings After Drinking ALCOHOL with BIPOLAR II?
I was recently diagnosed with Bipolar II and I’m taking Lamictal. My psychiatrist told me not to frequently drink while taking Lamictal. I rarely drink, but last night I had a margarita (one shot Jose Cuervo). I’ve been feeling wonderful lately, but today I’m feeling like my old depressed self. Could it possibly be from the alcohol even though I’m taking Lamictal? I heard alcohol may induce rapid cycling, meaning it might have caused me to become depressed again. Does this make sense or does anyone have any information about Bipolar II and alcohol?
Tagged with: after • alcohol • Bipolar • depressive • drinking • Feelings • Increase • Negative
Filed under: Bipolar Disorder and Alcoholism
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Based on my experience with a family member who is bipolar, I know you should never mix ANY alcohol with your medications. It messes with the chemical make up of the drug that is supposed to be helping you. YES, the alcohol CAN do that to you. My family member stopped drinking all together because it messed with the medications.
I’m Bipolar. I don’t drink because when a do, I loose all my inhibitions and will go to bed with anybody. It’s pretty stupid.
Alcohol is a depressant. Not a good idea. Really if you’re bipolar leave the mood altering substances alone! I have sent myself into manias with diet pills and depressions w/ alcohol. I have learned to avoid these things. If alcohol is causing your depression it should pass soon just hang in there and take your meds i would say if you don’t see improvement in 24-48 hrs contact your dr and fess up. Good luck.
(please be careful I spent a week in ACU after some Smirnoffs last year)
PS if you have any thoughts about self harm ignore this and just call your doc
Ok. i’m an alcoholic, I’m diagnosed with bipolar disorder NOS, and I take Lamictal. So to answer your question, 1 shot of alcohol shouldn’t interact with your meds, but it is a central nervous system depressant, and since you have more lows than highs, alcohol isn’t a good idea period. I wish you would of specified your dosage(i’m on 200 mg) Either way Alcohol will screw you up emotionally. I don’t know how long you have been on Lamictal, but it take s a month to start working properly. 25mg for 2 weeks, 50 for 1 week, 100 for 1 week. Then they go from there. I would abstain from any mind altering substances because that just interferes with how the the medication works.
Alcohol is similar to a group of drugs called Barbiturates. And like other Barbiturate drugs, alcohol is a depressant of the central nervous system. That’s why people pass out, when they drink too much alcohol.
But in your case, consumption of alcohol can counteract the effects of Lamictal and trigger depression.
Ditto to others comments on not drinking! Yes, it could be the alcohol, and if so you should feel better in a day or two. Some people (most?) can’t drink on stabilizers. I don’t. Nasty hang overs from one drink are known to happen.
If it doesn’t pass by Monday, call your pdoc. Regardless of reason, you don’t want to destabilize.
Oh, alcohol can do that to you even if you don’t take medications and would interact with your medications. I wouldn’t say I’m bipolar, but I certainly do have have reoccuring depressive episodes and alcohol does odd things to my mood. Sometimes for even a week after a night binge drinking, I find myself feeling like death.
Your psychiatrist said, don’t frequently drink, not to avoid alcohol all together, so you didn’t do anything wrong by having a drink. If you don’t feel better within a day or two, call up your doctor.
Don’t drink alcohol. If your taking Lamictal and your drinking, don’t you think your defeating the purpose of the treatment your doctor is providing? Are people who drink happy? If your choosing to drink, then why take your meds at all? One drink or ten, doesn’t really matter, you’ll still be depressed, edgy, moody, tempermental the next day. You’ll be in a funk and it will take a couple days to get over. Not a hangover funk but rather more of an “I don’t like how I feel, I don’t want to deal with anything or anyone, and I just don’t care” type-of-funk.
You heard alcohol may induce rapid cycling with the Lamictal now you were able to experience it first hand.
Realize this now, either save your money, don’t see the doctor, don’t take the meds, drink it up and be your depressed unhappy self, or see your doctor, don’t drink, take your meds, and learn to be who you truely are (and you’ll be okay with that).
Picture this (hopefully this makes sense):
* Take Lamictal to help stabalize yourself (two steps forward in the right direction).
* Add alcohol (five steps backwards, not a good thing).
* Now, you are three steps behind where you originally started and you feel depressed again, you don’t have the peaceful, contentment you did prior to the one drink.
* Alcohol took you back to where you were before taking Lamictal. Now, you feel the same as you did prior to the treatment.
And you wonder if the alcohol has something to do with it…..I would say so, your now three feet back further then when you started. The good thing is, is that you have the opportunity to realize/learn you should not drink at all because it will not make you feel good in the long run, it put’s you right back at square one, it is defeating the purpose and it’s not who you really want to be.
Good luck.
let’s just say
1. alcohol acts like a depressants so DONT DRINK!!!!
2. drinking alcohol and taking pills are very dangerous.
and yes ur guess is right.
alcholl is a depressant and for some wired reason people with bipolar are more sensitive to it I would steer clear of the alcholl until you have been stable for at least a year then keep it t a minimum