Alcohol and meds

[loop78]

I've had this on my mind for quite a while, but never got around to ask you about it.

Ok, so I don't usually drink alcohol, but every once while it's fun to go out, have some drinks, and lose yourself to dance.

However, ever since I started meds, it's like I've been vaccinated against alcohol. I can have 3 or 4 gins & tonic, and it's as if I had 3 or 4 cups of warm milk. No effect whatsoever.

Usually by the time my friends are a little drunk, and I give up and end up coming back home early cause I get bored and don't get in the mood.

I'm on atripla, and by the way, though it never gave me mind trips or depression, I feel it's more difficult for me to connect on a emotional level with other people... May be myself getting older, though.

[ratcat]

I'd like to hear some responses as well as I'm going to start Atripla soon.  I don't want to become an anti-social tea toteler lol.

[Fisher]

Been on Atripla for about 9 months. Still drink beer. One suggestion, though. If you have a cell phone set your alarm for pill taking. It's easy to forget when distracted. And taking meds an hour late or the next morning creates unnecessary anxiety.

[Buckmark]

More often, I've heard the opposite:  people become more sensitive to alcohol when taking Atripla.  You would find threads on these forums if you did a search.

I really don't have any idea what to make of this.  Maybe Atripla is the new cure / preventative for hangovers?  Personally, the older I get the less tolerance I have for alcohol. 

[loop78]

More often, I've heard the opposite:  people become more sensitive to alcohol when taking Atripla.  You would find threads on these forums if you did a search.

Yeah, I have found them. That's why precisely why I ask, couldn't find a similar case. Don't know why, but somethings seems to have change in the way I metabolize alcohol since I started meds...

[loop78]

By the way, I've had a quite high GGT level ever since I started meds.

I drink very little, tops 3 gins & tonic a month... Could this elevated GGT level be related to the way I metabolize alcohol?

[Ann]

What does your doctor say about your elevated GGT levels?

Have you been screened for hep B and hep C?

[loop78]

They seemed concerned at first. But after screening me for hep of all kinds and even having a liver ultrasound, and all the results coming back negative, they blamed it on the meds and told me not worry, as it was the only elevated liver enzyme.

I have a theory with no basis whatsoever. Last month I was prescribed oral antifungals for a nails and hands infection (I've been having the dreaded white tongue, for quite a long time, too... though it was largely a cosmetic issue I solved using a tongue scraper every morning, when I seroconverted, my tongue and my throat hurt like hell). I don't really know for sure if it's candida, but if it was, I may've had a low level systemic candida overgrowth for quite a long time, and it may've been taxing my liver without creating any other visible symptoms. Other than that, I'm at a loss.

[bill33]

I was on Atripla for years and enjoyed the head trips and dreams. The Atripla fueled dreams were blue ray type stuff instead of the old boring black and white pre Atripla dreams. Alcohol however, has changed for me too. Unfortunately, I can no longer drink the wide assortment I enjoyed years ago. Now I drink red wine to boost my HDL and lower my LDL. Yup that's right, red wine is now medication and right up there with Crestor. Heck even my fishing drink of Moosehead beer and spicy V8 juice has taken a back seat to red wine. So if age or hiv meds effect my ability to slam a few, who cares cause I have my bottle of medicinal red wine! Happy, happy, happy!

[Ann]

I have my bottle of medicinal red wine!

Just curious - how much red wine are you drinking to achieve the cholesterol-lowering effect?

my fishing drink of Moosehead beer and spicy V8 juice

Um, ew, you mix them together? Beer and V8? ~shudder~

[Tool man]

I love red wine, but since I started sustiva then to atripla, I cannot drink wine or beer without vomiting yellow stomach acid about 5 minutes after I get up in the morning.
No this is not a hangover issue, less than half a glass of wine will cause this issue as well as any food with turmeric in it. It will be interesting to see if this changes when I eventually change meds to something without sustiva.
Thank the gods for vodka and gin!

TM

[bill33]

I only have three to six ounces per day of red wine. That is a small amount but, it works for me. My HDL count fell to 17 when my hiv doc gave me a choice between taking more meds to raise my HDL count or start drinking red wine. After a few months of diligently guzzling red wine my HDL count reached the low 40s and continued to climb into the 50s and eventually reached the low 60s. But, after switching from Atripla to Complera and eating mostly fish, veggies, fruit and sipping red wine my total cholesterol dropped from 155 to 84 with my HDL about mid 30s. All the switching between meds, diet and red wine I honestly don't know what is responsible for lower cholesterol and higher HDL.


Moosehead beer and spicy V8 juice is great especially when handling fish and bait. I agree if I lived in an area with great beer I'd be a purist too. Still, there must be a hunter gatherer thing going when I fish that makes Moosehead and V8 taste so good. What can I say!??

[weasel]

Just curious - how much red wine are you drinking to achieve the -lowering effect?

Um, ew, you mix them together? Beer and V8? ~shudder~

   Red Wine did a great job for my cholesterol   .

     I try not eating red meat when I am home , Hard to do on Vacation .

   I limit myself to one box of red wine a day 

                                                                                    Weasel

[ratcat]

I see.  Beer causes vomiting in the morning.  Gin and Vodka seem to not conflict and red wine lowers cholesterol.  I will conduct some experiments and then submit the results myself based on these accounts ;p....I wonder where I can find a BOX of red Wine here in Asia lol.

[PiscesAries82]

Hey Loop,

I've been on Atripla since March 2013, and I've had little to no side effects. I will say that my dreams are just slightly more vivid than before I started the treatment. At first, I would feel a bit fuzzy maybe 30 minutes after taking my medicine but it would subside within a hour. To answer your question, I was very sensitive to alcohol when I first started Atripla. I felt like I was two sheets to the wind after one drink. Now things seem to be back to normal now. It may just be your body adjusting to the medicine. I say give it some time to see if things go back to normal. If insensitivity to alcohol is your worst problem with Atripla, then you are very fortunate. I've heard/read some crazy side-effect stories.

I've had this on my mind for quite a while, but never got around to ask you about it.

Ok, so I don't usually drink alcohol, but every once while it's fun to go out, have some drinks, and lose yourself to dance.

However, ever since I started meds, it's like I've been vaccinated against alcohol. I can have 3 or 4 gins & tonic, and it's as if I had 3 or 4 cups of warm milk. No effect whatsoever.

Usually by the time my friends are a little drunk, and I give up and end up coming back home early cause I get bored and don't get in the mood.

I'm on atripla, and by the way, though it never gave me mind trips or depression, I feel it's more difficult for me to connect on a emotional level with other people... May be myself getting older, though.

[darryaz]

Um, ew, you mix them together? Beer and V8? ~shudder~

Ugh, I have friends who do that.  It's disgusting to watch.

[darryaz]

I've been on Atripla for nearly 6 years and I don't really notice any difference in the way alcohol affects me.

Of course I also moved to a state that outlawed serving normal 6% alcohol beer - all we get here is the watered-down 3.2% crap (welcome to the bible belt).

[phillypinko]

The meds can be harmful to the liver. My psychiatrist asked me to stop drinking for that reason so I quit. I only had a couple beers a couple nights a week but I have to admit I feel much better since I stopped.

[wolfter]

Just curious - how much red wine are you drinking to achieve the cholesterol-lowering effect?

Um, ew, you mix them together? Beer and V8? ~shudder~

UH OH, must once again be a regional thing.  I know lots of people who mix these.  It's usually referred to as a West Virginian or poor man's bloody mary.  I almost always add tomato juice to my first beer as I generally don't enjoy the taste of beer until after a couple.  I usually add a little hot sauce and pepper to kick it up a notch.

Too bad white wine doesn't lower cholesterol or I could toss these damn statins.      Red wine for me is worse in the backside area than AZT ever was.

Wolfie

[Miss Philicia]

The key with beer is not buying crap.

[wolfter]

The key with beer is not buying crap.

My new home is mere feet from a nice micro brewery that I have tried and hated worse than all the domestic beer.  I tried several in Seattle also and found them nasty as well.

If it's beer, it's Busch Light.

[Miss Philicia]

fascinating 

Brings to mind a group of first year sorority girls...

[WillyWump]

If it's beer, it's Busch Light.

lolz. This perhaps may be the first time EVER that this has been uttered in the history of man.

[wolfter]

lolz. This perhaps may be the first time EVER that this has been uttered in the history of man.

Might be true, but as of my last research, this beer contains the least amount of calories.