Can you have a drink or two while taking Effexor XR?

Okay so like in my experience Effexor and alcohol DO NOT MIX. I had one and a half 16oz cans of Sex On The Beach. I began drinking at 5ish. I stopped drinking around 6ish. I kid you not, I stayed drunk for over eight hours. Before starting the medicine, I was a lightweight, but not that bad. I threw up a lot, and I never do that unless I drink way too much. I got so drunk off of 24oz of a 10% alcohol drink. Just stay away from alcohol if you can. It was the worst experience of my life. I thought I would never be sober again.

I have been taking Effexor since 2012. I just upped my dose from 75 mg to 150 mg last week. When I first began taking Effexor, I specifically asked my doctor (whose husband is on Effexor) if I could drink while on the medicine. She said yes, that is okay. The only problem is that it changes the way your body metabolizes the alcohol so you will get more drunk than you would off of the medicine. I would watch out for that. My fiancé says sometimes I go from fine to drunk really quickly. Just be aware and mix in a lot of water. Some people say just avoid alcohol but you don't want to take a drug that effects your quality of life so just be responsible. Eat while drinking alcohol and water, water, water! Hope that helps.

I would not consider drinking while taking the medications your on because you could have some side effects.

The others have made valid points. It is never a good idea to drink with any kind of medication that effects the brain. You can't know exactly what effect they are having if you are clouding it with the action of the alcohol. Is it necessary to have a drink when watching sports?

It is never a good idea to drink while on psych meds. Just because you think you are not experiencing any problems doesn't mean you are not having issues. One reason for sure is you are drinking and still pretty much confined to your house. You won't know how well any of these meds work while consuming alcohol.

In my experience and opinion... I'd say stay away from alcohol. All these meds come with warnings regarding alcohol on the paperwork they come with. It's just bad to really stress your liver with meds and alcohol at the same time. Also alcohol is horrible for anxiety. Just my 2 cents. If you could drink ONE drink then sure no big deal. But is this realistic.