It seems like there are a lot of people that are on medication these days, mostly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) for anxiety and depression. These medications include PROZAC, ZOLOFT, PAXIL and EFFEXOR. Some interesting studies have surfaced recently which suggest that these drugs cause a craving for alcohol. You can read more about this here and here. The studies are not sure exactly what it is causing this, but it is obviously and unintended and unwelcomed consequence of trying to help people deal with other mood or behavioral disorders. Some reformed alcoholics who have not consumed alcohol for years are finding themselves driven to drinking alcohol by an irrestible compulsion that kicks in shortly after beginning SSRI meds, and some people who never really drank before began guzzling massive quantities of alcohol on a daily basis after beginning the medication. Not only is the drinking alcohol a problem, but drinking alcohol while taking these medications can cause severe intoxication as well as a host of other health problems.
It was widely reported last year that prescription sleeping drugs, like Ambien, were causing people to compulsively eat and drink alcohol in their sleep and, sometimes, get into their cars and begin driving. These people were often found in wrecked vehicles with no knowledge as to how they got there and no memory of ever driving.
So, pharmaceuticals and alcohol are proving to be a big problem. People who are on these types of medication owe it to themselves, and everyone on the road, to take a good hard look at whether their alcohol consumption has changed since they began using a certain medication. Alcohol and these drugs are a dangerous combination, so please be careful.