Drug and Alcohol Interactions - What Should You Avoid?

Medically reviewed by Leigh Ann Anderson, PharmD. Last updated on July 10, 2025.

Key Takeaways

• Combining alcohol with certain medications, such as those with sedative or opiate effects, can increase the risk of serious side effects, including falls, broken bones, driving accidents, respiratory depression and fatal overdoses.
• Alcohol can change how a drug works and how it's excreted from the body, and some medications can change how alcohol is broken down and eliminated from the body, too.
• People 65 years of age and older are at especially high risk for harmful interactions. This can be due to age-related changes in their kidney and liver function and due to the higher number of medications they take that could interact with alcohol.
• Since literally hundreds of medications can lead to interactions with alcohol, it is important to review your medicines with your health care provider to check for clinically significant drug-alcohol reactions. Even though some research suggests that moderate alcohol consumption is heart healthy, certain medications, when mixed with alcohol have the capacity to interfere with your successful treatment.
• You might ask if you need to avoid alcohol completely, is it OK to have a drink every once in while, or what kind of side effects might be expected?

Alcohol is not a substance to take lightly when it comes to drug interactions. You are probably familiar with the drug interaction warning labels that appear each time you pick up your prescription bottle. But how seriously do you take them?

Research has shown that the prevalence of alcohol and medication interactions is widespread. The National Institute of Health (NIH) reported in the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) that over 224 million people ages 12 and older (79.1%) stated that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime. In research by Breslow and colleagues, 40% of adults who took a medication in the past year took one that could interact negatively with alcohol.

Be sure to check on your prescription drugs, as well as your over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbals, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. When combined with alcohol some OTC medicines can have serious drug interactions, too. However, do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

Follow along with this Drugs.com Alcohol Interaction series, which looks at multiple drugs classes and explains possible interactions with alcohol. You can select from specific groups of drugs at the bottom of this article. Here, you can see if any drugs you take should be avoided with alcohol and what the possible harm might be.

Is alcohol a drug?

It’s easy to forget that alcohol, while used socially for centuries, is a drug and can lead to side effects and drug interactions. It can cause disease too: alcohol use disorder, organ damage like cirrhosis of the liver and the increased risk for cancer can all occur due to alcohol use.

As reported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), data showed that of over 96,000 liver disease deaths in 2023 among individuals ages 12 and older, and 44.5% (43,004 deaths) involved alcohol. Add excessive use of alcohol to the regular use of a medication that is hard on the liver, and the potential for harm can soar.

After nicotine, alcohol is the most commonly abused drug in our society.

• It acts as a central nervous system depressant and has therapeutic uses in medicine, such as for nerve blocks for pain.
• Alcohol use also elevates the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and reduces nerves signals along this nerve pathway.
• Because of this action, alcohol is known as a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, and lowers appropriate decision-making and memory skills as well as physical capacities.

Drug interactions may even occur with certain medicines that contain alcohol as an inactive ingredient, like some cough and cold medicines you can buy at the drugstore. Alcohol found in cough syrup can increase side effects like drowsiness.

For example, the cough and cold medicine Vick's NyQuil Liquid contains 10% alcohol and can lead to a significant interaction. NyQuil LiquiCaps and Alcohol-Free NyQuil Cold & Flu Nighttime Relief Liquid do not contain alcohol.

Always review labels on over-the-counter (OTC) bottles to look for drug interactions between allergy, cough and cold medicine and alcohol. Mixing these OTC medicines with alcohol may make driving, operating machinery or other hazardous activities dangerous.

You can look at ingredients on the OTC Drug Facts label to see which medicines have alcohol in them, or ask your pharmacist or doctor, if you are not sure.

Drug interactions with alcohol

According to data provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) looking at drugs and alcohol, some of the most common medications that interact with alcohol involve these drug classes:

• High blood pressure medications
• Sleeping pills (sedatives and hypnotics)
• Anxiety Medications
• Pain medications (opiates, NSAIDs, acetaminophen)
• Skeletal muscle relaxants
• Diabetes medicine
• Cholesterol medications
• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics

Blood pressure medicine and alcohol consumption is an interaction that should always be reviewed with a pharmacist, although some blood pressure meds and alcohol are safe to combine in moderation. Alcohol and blood pressure medicine drug interactions may be taken for granted leading to hypotension (low blood pressure) in some cases. Medicines like verapamil or propranolol may interact with alcohol.

The combination of opioid painkillers and alcohol is also of great concern, and should always be avoided. The combined use of alcohol and pain medications like narcotics can slow or stop breathing (respiratory depression) and may be deadly. Examples of common opioids used for pain include codeine, oxycodone, morphine, methadone, fentanyl, and hydrocodone.

Drinking while taking steroids (corticosteroids, or anti-inflammatory medications like prednisone) - often used for pain and inflammation - can lead to stomach bleeding and ulcers. NSAIDs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and diclofenac mixed with alcohol use can cause stomach problems like bleeding and ulcers. Some NSAIDs are available over-the-counter (OTC), which can increase the risk that they might be mixed with alcohol.

Depression medicine and alcohol can result in added drowsiness, dizziness and risk for injury. It is usually best to avoid the combination of alcohol and medications for depression. Ask your prescriber, as some antidepressants may increase drowsiness and make driving or other activities hazardous, especially if mixed with alcohol. Other types of interactions are possible, too.

Medicines used for anxiety or sleep can interact with alcohol too. This includes medicines like benzodiazepines (for example: Ativan, Xanax, Valium) and "Z-drugs" like eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien, Edluar, and Zolpimist). Combining alcohol with these drugs may increase the risk for respiratory depression, injuries due to falls or accidents, serious memory problems or death. 

The list of possible drug and alcohol interactions is not complete. Checking for interactions and discussing them with your doctor or pharmacist is the best way to prevent harm.

Side effects of alcohol and medication

Why is it dangerous to mix alcohol with some drugs? When mixing alcohol with medicines, various side effects that might occur include:

• Sleepiness
• Dizziness
• Heart problems
• Fainting
• Bleeding, especially stomach
• Nausea and vomiting
• Low or high blood pressure
• Falls or injury due to accidents (such as a car accident)
• Seizures
• Liver or heart injury
• Slowed breathing (respiratory depression)
• Drug overdose
• Death

Special populations

Older Adults

Drugs and alcohol use in seniors also poses a special concern, as older patients often take many medications that can interact with alcohol, including anticholinergic medications. Alcohol is not metabolized (broken down) as quickly in the older population, and their percent body water relative to fat is decreased, increasing the risk for complications.

The combination of alcohol and painkillers and other sedating medications may be a common risk for the elderly. Among adults over 65 years of age who were current drinkers in the NIH study, close to 78% of those surveyed used a medication that could interact with alcohol.

What are the effects of alcohol and drugs in the elderly?

• Additive effects of alcohol and medications on the central nervous system (CNS), for example, increased drowsiness, dizziness, confusion and risk for falls and injury.
• Risk for greater side effects due to enzyme interactions and increased or decreased levels of drug in the bloodstream. This can decreased the intended effect of the drug or cause side effects.
• An increased risk for respiratory depression, falls, other accidents, memory lapses or death when alcohol is combined with medications like opioids, sedatives like benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants and central nervous system depressants.

Women

Alcohol and medication side effects may be especially prevalent in women. In fact, women may be at a greater risk of side effects due to alcohol and drug interactions than men.

Women have a lower percent of body water and greater percent of body fat. Because of this, they do not metabolize alcohol as efficiently, putting them at greater risk for high blood alcohol levels after drinking the same amount of alcohol as a man.

Adding a drug to alcohol, for example one that causes drowsiness or sedation, can increase the risk for dangerous side effects and injury.

Children and Teens

Children, adolescents teens and young adults, while seemingly at lower risk for medicine interactions with alcohol, may still be of concern. Parents and clinicians should be alert for alcohol abuse in younger patients. This especially can be a risk when alcohol and ADHD medications such as the stimulants (for example: methylphenidate, Ritalin, Adderall) are combined.

Caffeine-fueled energy drinks can be a popular choice among college students. Energy drinks mixed with alcohol can lower the feeling of intoxication, which can lead to excessive drinking and alcohol-related injuries.

How Is alcohol metabolized?

In your body, alcohol is primarily metabolized (broken down in the body for excretion) by two enzymes: alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). ADH breaks down alcohol to acetaldehyde, a highly toxic and cancer causing agent, and then to the less active by-product called acetate, which is excreted as water and carbon dioxide.

Types of Drug Interactions With Alcohol

There are basically two types of drug interactions with alcohol.

• Pharmacodynamic Interactions
  • When a medication side effect like drowsiness is magnified by the use of alcohol it is called an “additive” effect. These types of interactions are called pharmacodynamic interactions.
  • They occur frequently when alcohol and pills that cause drowsiness are combined. For example, when alcohol is combined with some antihistamines, like diphenhydramine (Benadryl) that normally causes drowsiness as a side effect, the drowsiness may be magnified.
  • This added drowsiness can interfere with the ability to concentrate, make reasonable judgements and can make driving or operating machinery hazardous.
• Pharmacokinetic Interactions
  • These interactions occur when processes such as drug absorption, metabolism or excretion are changed.
  • Alcohol is primarily broken down (metabolized) in the liver for excretion by various enzymes. Many medications are broken down by enzymes, too, so there can be competition in the body for these liver enzymes.
  • These alcohol interactions can cause some medications to be less effective (by enzyme induction), or to build up causing toxic effects (by enzyme inhibition). The interaction may change the amount of drug that is found in your blood.

Alcohol and CYP Enzymes

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are a group of enzymes found throughout the body, primarily in the liver. They help to break down drugs so they can be excreted from the body. There are many different types of enzymes with different names, indicated by letters and numbers.

CYP2E1

Alcohol is metabolized by the CYP2E1 enzyme. Medications that are metabolized by the CYP2E1 can be affected by alcohol use.

• For example, the common pain and fever reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol) is also metabolized by CYP2E1. When alcohol and acetaminophen are combined by alcohol users that drink frequently each day, liver toxicity and even liver failure, can occur due to formation of dangerous acetaminophen by-products.
• Ask a healthcare provider if acetaminophen medicine is safe for you to use if you drink alcohol daily or you've ever had cirrhosis of the liver.

CYP2C9

Alcohol is also known to strongly inhibit (or block) an enzyme in the liver known CYP2C9. When alcohol is consumed with other drugs that primarily use this enzyme for breakdown and excretion, blood levels of the other drug may theoretically increase, leading to increased side effects and toxicity.

One example is the drug interaction between warfarin and alcohol, which could increase bleeding risk. Always check with your pharmacist, doctor or other healthcare provider to see if any enzyme interactions are of concern between your medications, or if they are mixed with alcohol.

Herbal medicines and alcohol interactions

The use of complementary, alternative and herbal medicine has grown tremendously over the last few decades. A review by Ekors looking at toxicity-related issues noted that over 80% of people worldwide use some type of dietary supplement. Many of these products are not regulated by authorities or monitored by a patient's healthcare provider, and the potential for drug interactions is often unknown. The use of alcohol with over-the-counter medications, vitamins or herbal or dietary supplements should always be approved by your doctor first.

It is known that certain over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, dietary supplements, and herbal medicines can cause important interactions. It’s wise to check for alcohol interactions with these groups just as you would with any other medication. Also, be sure to review your food, drink and medicine labels to be sure these products do not contain alcohol or ethanol.

And remember, alcohol and medicines can have harmful interactions even if they are separated and taken at different times of the day.

Common Drug and Alcohol Interactions

• prednisone
• diazepam (Valium)
• alprazolam (Xanax)
• amoxicillin
• caffeine
• amphetamine and dextroamphetamine (Adderall)
• ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)
• sertraline (Zoloft)
• metronidazole (Flagyl)
• azithromycin (Zithromax)
• diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• escitalopram (Lexapro)
• penicillin
• tramadol (ConZip)
• acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• fluoxetine (Prozac)
• acetaminophen and hydrocodone
• hydrocodone (Hysingla ER)
• metformin (Glumetza)
• doxycycline (Acticlate, Monodox, Vibramycin)
• zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Zolpimist)

The lists presented in this review do not include all the medicines that may interact harmfully with alcohol. To more closely review specific interactions, visit the Drugs.com Interaction Checker and speak with your doctor or pharmacist.

Learn More:

• Top 9 Ways to Prevent A Deadly Drug Interaction
• Herbal and Dietary Supplements Deserve Your Attention, Too
• AWhat are the Risks of Mixing Pain Medications and Alcohol?
• Anticholinergic Drugs to Avoid in the Elderly
• Antibiotics and Birth Control Pill Interactions: Fact or Fallacy?

Types of Drugs That Can Interact With Alcohol

• ADHD Medications and Alcohol
• Allergies, Cough/Cold Medications and Alcohol
• Antibiotic Medications and Alcohol
• Antidepressants and Alcohol Interactions
• Antipsychotic Medications and Alcohol
• Anxiety Medications and Alcohol
• Bipolar Medications and Alcohol
• Birth Control and Alcohol: Do They Interact?
• Blood Thinners and Alcohol: A Dangerous Mix?
• Can You Mix Alcohol with Stomach Medicines?
• Can You Mix Weight Loss Drugs and Alcohol?
• Cholesterol Medications and Alcohol: Can You Mix Them?
• Diabetes Medications and Alcohol
• Do blood pressure drugs interact with alcohol?
• Do Erectile Dysfunction (ED) Drugs Interact with Alcohol?
• Enlarged Prostate (BPH) Medications and Alcohol Interactions
• Herbal Supplements and Alcohol
• Is it safe to drink alcohol with acne medicines?
• Motion Sickness Drugs and Alcohol Interactions
• Seizure Medicines and Alcohol: Do They Mix?
• Should you mix muscle relaxants with alcohol?
• What are the dangers of mixing sleeping pills with alcohol?
• What are the risks of mixing pain medications and alcohol?

Further information

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

Medical Disclaimer

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