Paxil and Alcohol

Paxil has an active ingredient of paroxetine, which helps to stabilize mood disorders, so consequently paroxetine and alcohol are not a winning combination because alcohol has the opposite effect. Physicians prescribe Paxil for a variety of medical conditions of social anxiety disorders where fluctuations of emotion and mood are a common resulting problem. Examples might include posttraumatic stress syndrome, chronic depression, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

The treatment program is designed to help the brain to stabilize the production levels of serotonin in the brain. This will lead to the patient's ability to curb fluctuations in mood more naturally as the drug begins to take effect. By mixing paroxetine and alcohol, you are reducing the medication's ability to regulate these chemicals, which might enhance the potential side effects of the drug to alarming levels.

Alcohol's Effects on Mood

Alcohol has a stimulating effect on the body and brain. We often imbibe alcohol as a method of stress management because the initial reaction in the body is one of relaxation and enjoyment, but once the effects of alcohol subside, the stimulating effect is now increasing those anxiety levels to higher levels than before we ingested the alcohol. Paxil is meant to stabilize these stress factors, and the mixture of paroxetine and alcohol will only lead to more inconsistencies in mood fluctuations as the treatment program progresses.

Fatigue, Paroxetine and Alcohol

Since alcohol has a stimulating effect which usually occurs the next day, any of the possible side effects of the prescribed Paxil can be exacerbated, not only stress and anxiety. For example, one possible side effect of this medication is fatigue. Mixing paroxetine and alcohol will increase this likelihood, perhaps turning fatigue into severe drowsiness. This could prove deadly to the patient or to others while operating machinery or drive an automobile.

Irritability, Paroxetine and Alcohol

Another possible negative side effect resulting from a prescription of Paxil is irritability. Since alcohol tends to enhance our emotions due to the resulting stimulation, any of these changes in mood can become exponentially increased. Irritability can become aggression. Sadness can lead to suicidal thoughts.

Long Term Affects

The long term affects of the medical treatment program for the social anxiety disorder can potentially be derailed or even made worse by combining paroxetine and alcohol. The prescribing physician will typically make this very clear at the beginning of treatment, but the patient should always communicate any difficulties that my develop as a result of alcohol intake with Paxil so that alterations in the treatment program may occur at the discretion of the prescribing doctor.