Individually, drug overdose and excessive alcohol consumption are already dangerous and can produce adverse effects. If you consume alcohol with other substances, the effects can get worse and even fatal. This article details some of the worst combinations of drugs and alcohol.
Common Effects of Combining Drugs and Alcohol
Technically speaking, alcohol is a drug. In fact, it’s one of the most widely used drugs worldwide. It falls under the depressant drug category. There’s no irony in that, however. Taking two drugs at the same time increases the possibility of them interacting and having unexpected results.
Some medications, whether herbal or over-the-counter, may cause harmful reactions when taken with alcohol. For instance, medicines that cause drowsiness, insomnia, and light-headedness will have their side effects amplified when consumed together with alcohol. As a result, you may have more difficulty concentrating, which is especially dangerous when doing high-risk mechanical tasks like driving.
Other harmful effects of taking drugs and alcohol at the same time include headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fainting. Drug and alcohol combinations may also increase your risk of experiencing more serious conditions like breathing difficulties, internal bleeding, and cardiac issues. Alcohol does not usually help with the efficacy of medicines either. On the contrary, the substance may render drugs ineffective or increase their toxic effects.
Furthermore, some drugs and alcohol combinations can put your long-term health at risk. This is particularly true for the elderly because people aged 65 and older are more vulnerable to the effects of this harmful combination. Extreme health conditions like being in a coma, severe confusion, dangerous mood swings, cardiac arrest, and dehydration can also result from it.
3 Worst Combinations of Drugs and Alcohol
Combinations of drugs and alcohol can have effects that range from trivial to potentially fatal. However, we should look not only at the potency of their effects but also how common they can occur.
The following are some of the worst drug and alcohol combinations you should know about:
Painkillers and Alcohol
Opiates and opioids, such as Demerol and Vicodin, are commonly used as painkillers, but they can be addictive. In 2022, over 70,000 overdose deaths were linked to synthetic opioids in the U.S. This makes these painkillers the primary cause of the drug overdose crisis in the country.
Painkillers already cause numerous problems when taken separately. When painkillers and alcohol are combined, they amplify each other’s sedative effects. Both alcohol and opiates depress the central nervous system, which causes breathing to slow down. With their effect on suppressing the coughing reflex, respiratory arrest becomes particularly common with this combination.
Alcohol and painkiller’s synergistic effect can also have potentially harmful and even fatal effects. This includes over-sedation, memory loss, lowered pulse and blood pressure, impaired motor control, anoxic brain injury, stumbling, violence, bodily injury, and loss of consciousness. You are also more likely to suffer from other complications like liver disease.
Dose dumping is another possible effect of taking alcohol and painkillers simultaneously. This is when alcohol causes the opioids to enter the body rapidly instead of gradually as intended. The inadvertent release of all or most of the medications into the body can potentially result in a fatal overdose.
Stimulants and Alcohol
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A class of medications known as stimulants accelerates messages from the brain to the body, increasing arousal, alertness, confidence, and vigour. Caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, Adderall, Ritaline, and synthetic cathinones are among the most widely used stimulants.
If the combination of alcohol and painkillers can intensify each other’s effects, then combining stimulants with alcohol may have the opposite result. Alcohol lessens the “edge” of stimulants, while stimulants conceal the depressive effects of alcohol, increasing the possibility of consuming more than your body can handle.
Stimulants make it difficult to determine the level of intoxication when drinking alcohol, which can lead to overindulgence. This may result in a blackout, passing out, serious impairment of judgment and coordination, and even death. Meanwhile, overdosing on stimulants can result in tremors, seizures, coma, anxiety, and death.
The combination of alcohol and stimulants in your body can also produce adverse effects on your heart and circulatory system. For example, it can increase your heart rate and blood pressure and may even lead to heart attack or cardiac arrhythmia. Cardiovascular toxicity is one of the worst heart dysfunctions you may get after taking alcohol and stimulants simultaneously.
Alcohol and stimulants combination is dangerous because, in addition to negative effects, they can occur more frequently and, sometimes, unintentionally. For instance, a study once reported that 46.4% of undergraduate students use non-medical prescription stimulants simultaneously with alcohol. Meanwhile, 53.6% reported the concurrent use of two substances.
Other Depressants and Alcohol
Depressant drugs, or downers, slow down signals from the brain to the body, lowering arousal and stimulation by acting on the central nervous system. A few typical examples are barbiturates, benzodiazepines, Valium, Xanax, and Restoril.
It’s hardly surprising that combining alcohol with other depressants can have compounding effects that intensify both drugs and increase the risk of toxicity and death. For example, combining benzodiazepines and alcohol will cause the user to get drunk faster. This may result in accidents involving falls from precarious positions, being the target of crimes like assault, or overdosing.
Additionally, the risk of parasomnias, like sleep-driving, sleep paralysis, or sleep terrors, increases when alcohol is combined with other sedative-hypnotics. Other side effects of mixing depressants and alcohol include low blood pressure, fatigue, seizures, slowed heart rate and breathing, slurred speech, and vomiting. It can also lead to more serious conditions like unconsciousness, coma, and death.
As with other combinations on this list, the chances of tragedies increase by unintentionally combining alcohol and other depressants. A report from the Global Information Network About Drugs (GINAD) says that 58% of deaths involving barbiturate overdoses have to do with accidental poisoning from mixing alcohol with other depressants.
Professional Treatment for Drugs and Alcohol Addiction
Immediately call for medical service if you catch a loved one taking any of the aforementioned drug and alcohol combinations. After all, issues related to simultaneous drugs and alcohol consumption should not be self-treated. It’s best to seek the assistance of a specialised alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre to guide you properly through every stage of the recovery process.
You can find a reliable and professional rehabilitation team at Hills & Ranges Private. The facility employs an integrated approach that combines therapeutic, clinical, and educational methods. No matter how bad of an addiction you or your loved one has, we can provide professional and effective treatment that is tailored to meet your needs.
Seek professional treatment today. Talk to a HARP professional.
