Citalopram and alcohol

Posted , 4 users are following.

I've been on citalopram for 7 weeks now, and it took about 6 weeks or so for me to start feeling really good, and then this past week I've felt really nice, so last night I stupidly decided to have a few beers and a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate.

Then this morning I woke up, not much of a hangover (yay), and felt alright, just a bit tired.  But as the day has worn on, this afternoon and this evening I've felt really low again, depressed, and like I'm back to square one again.

Just wanted to know if anyone else had experienced this, and if so, is it just a one day event where you're paying for drinking the night before, or does it set the recovery back days, maybe even weeks?

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • Posted

    It won't start you back to square one as I understand it, but alcohol is actually a depressant so it will wear off and you will get back on track. It is recommended that you never have alcohol with anti-depressants and now you see why.

    • Posted

      I absolutely do see why. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be better.  Thanks.

    • Posted

      Keep thinking positive that it will be and that helps me.
    • Posted

      I hadn't had a drink since December either so aswell as the alcohol making me feel depressed, I'm also rather angry with myself for having alcohol again so it's a double hit.  Thanks.

  • Posted

    Sometimes after a night of drinking I will feel low the next day. However, this happened to me even when I was not on citalopram. If you haven't had an alcoholic drink in a while your body almost takes it as a "shock"

    From what I have learned is that this is called an "emotional hangover" if you want to look it up.

    people with depression or anxiety are more likely to experience this after a night of drinking. Therefore will drink more to avoid feeling that way. Which then becomes abuse. Not saying this will happen every time you drink though. I take citalopram daily and have had a very good experience on it I used to be a heavy drinker and now I will maybe have a few drinks on a random Friday where as before i was drinking daily.

    Good luck.

  • Posted

    I'm not a drinker so don't have your experience to comment really but I do know any blip is usually short lived.  I think that once the medication stabilises itself without the alcohol you will feel good again. 

  • Posted

    Thanks everyone. As it happened I was back to my good self again the day after and am now carrying on as normal.. But huge lesson learned.

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.