Why is it usually so dangerous to mix prescription medication and alcohol?
In: Biology
Because both are having effects on your body.
For one, alcohol is a depressant, it’s slows down your nervous system. And 99% of prescription pain medication has the same effect, a depressant that slows down your nervous system.
If you drink alcohol then take prescription pain killers even if you take the amount you were prescribed, the extra depressant effects from the alcohol might be enough to make you pass out/OD.
For other drugs like anti-depressants it can mess with your brain chemistry in unexpected or bad ways. Anti-depressants are already changing up your Brain chemistry, so if that brain is also full of alcohol too, it could cause problems.
Generally it isn’t recommended out of an abundance of caution, not that something is guaranteed to go bad, but just that something might go bad so better to just avoid it all together.
It’s the same reason why there are some medicines you’re not supposed to take together, or why you can’t eat or drink grapefruit and take some medicines at the same time.
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