cns depressant
10 interactions related to cns depressant
alcohol + venlafaxine
Venlafaxine (Effexor) is an SNRI that, like other antidepressants, has additive CNS-depressant effects with alcohol. The FDA-approved label warns patients to avoid alcohol because of worsening drowsiness, dizziness, impaired judgment, and the potential to aggravate the underlying mood or anxiety disorder.
alcohol + amitriptyline
Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant with strong sedating, anticholinergic, and antihistaminic effects. Combining it with alcohol — also a CNS depressant — produces marked additive sedation, impaired psychomotor performance, and increased risk of falls, accidents, and respiratory depression in overdose.
alcohol + pregabalin
Pregabalin (Lyrica) and alcohol are both central nervous system depressants with additive effects on sedation, coordination, and respiratory drive. The FDA's 2019 Drug Safety Communication warned that pregabalin can cause life-threatening respiratory depression when combined with CNS depressants such as alcohol, particularly with opioids or in patients with lung disease.
alcohol + tramadol
Tramadol combined with alcohol produces additive CNS and respiratory depression, and the combination significantly lowers the seizure threshold, increasing the risk of convulsions, serotonin syndrome, and overdose death. Tramadol has unique serotonergic and noradrenergic activity that compounds alcohol's effects beyond what occurs with pure opioids.
alcohol + codeine
Codeine combined with alcohol produces additive CNS and respiratory depression, with risk of fatal overdose particularly elevated in CYP2D6 ultra-rapid metabolizers who convert codeine to morphine rapidly. The combination also increases sedation, impaired judgment, and the risk of accidents.
thc + alcohol
Co-administration of alcohol with THC significantly increases peak blood THC and 11-OH-THC concentrations versus cannabis alone, and produces additive impairment of psychomotor performance, judgment, and reaction time.
alcohol + sertraline
Sertraline (Zoloft) and alcohol are both central nervous system depressants. Although controlled studies in healthy subjects showed sertraline did not potentiate alcohol's psychomotor impairment, the FDA label still advises against concurrent use because alcohol can worsen depression, anxiety, drowsiness, and judgment in patients being treated for mood disorders.
alcohol + fluoxetine
Fluoxetine (Prozac) and alcohol both depress the central nervous system, increasing drowsiness, dizziness, and impaired judgment. Fluoxetine and its active metabolite norfluoxetine have unusually long half-lives (1 to 4 days and 4 to 16 days), so alcohol effects can be amplified even when the drink and dose are taken hours apart.
alcohol + gabapentin
Gabapentin and alcohol are both central nervous system depressants. The FDA issued a 2019 Drug Safety Communication warning that gabapentin can cause serious, potentially fatal respiratory depression when combined with CNS depressants including alcohol, particularly in older adults and patients with respiratory disease.
alcohol + oxycodone
Combining alcohol with oxycodone causes additive central nervous system and respiratory depression, dramatically increasing the risk of fatal overdose, sedation, and impaired breathing. Alcohol can also accelerate the release of oxycodone from extended-release formulations, causing dangerous spikes in blood levels.