Paxil and Alcohol

You won't find any studies on the effects of combining paxil with alcohol. No surprise there. But you will read plenty of stories from those who feel an overwhelming urge to drink while taking paxil.

Many consider paxil to be a sneaky little weasel of a drug. Behind the slick ads with their seemingly carefree characters, lies a hidden world of broken dreams and false promises.

A private, lonely world of pain and suffering.

A world of betrayal.

Adding alcohol to paxil raises the stakes just that much higher. Everything can be intensified.

If you're looking for objective, definitive information on combining paxil and alcohol - the lack of honest and scientific facts should scare you.

Oh sure, you could already imagine the official word:

"Although paroxetine HCl has not been shown to increase the impairment of mental and motor skills caused by alcohol, patients should be advised to avoid alcohol while taking paroxetine HCl."

This statement is obviously designed to barricade against any paxil-alcohol lawsuits by victims of poly-drug abuse. Besides its value at being a legal disclaimer, however, it's worthless.

Doctors can advise until they're blue in the face, but many people are still going to stick their hand in the fire, to see if it really is hot.

Meaning, many people are just going to drink anyway.

Dangers of paxil and alcohol

The true danger of combining paxil and alcohol varies with each individual, of course.

• Some people are alcoholics, plain and simple.

• Some people only drink in social settings.

• Others drink to quell the anxiety.

• And still others drink just to numb the pain.

As far as anyone knows, the alcohol doesn't cause any more brain damage than just taking paxil by itself. Still, it would be a safe bet to say that you'll be impaired quicker and the hangovers will be worse, if you're on paxil.

Far more insidious, a Yale study from 1994 showed that an increase in brain levels of either serotonin or noradrenalin produces:

While far from the final word, this study shows the potential dangers of taking SSRI's - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for depression or any other malady.

There is also a lot of anecdotal evidence linking paxil (and other SSRI's) with the urge to drink. Many have called it 'an overwhelming compulsion to drink alcohol'.

Obviously, this urge to drink would vary widely from one person to the next. Nobody knows why some people are helped by paxil, while so many others are hurt, sometimes horribly so.

It's the same with drinking. Some people can have a drink or two in the evening, and it's no big deal. They relax and that's the end of it. For others, alcohol is a powerful demon that shows no mercy.

Where do you stand on the scale?

The answer to that question can go a long way in determining your own unique level of risk concerning the combination of paxil and alcohol.

In addition to learning of the dangers of combining paxil with alcohol, it's also important to understand the underlying causes that would lead you to such a painful place.

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