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Q: Effexor & Blood Alcohol Content
Can you please tell me if Effexor XR can have an effect of blood
alcohol content? And if so by how much? I've been told that
Paxil can effect B.A.C. by as much as 3x's. Also, can you possibly give me any
particulars that you know regarding the Effexor XR medication?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Rick
Never heard of that one. Google search of "venlafaxine
blood alcohol content" yields, among a lot of warnings about sedation when
combining the two (but nothing about increase BAC), the following from a
forensic specialist, i.e. somebody who ought to know. It looks to me from
the context as though they would specifically comment on the BAC issue in this
paragraph if that was true:
. TITLE: "VENLAFAXINE
INVOLVEMENT IN DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE CASES"
AUTHOR: Emily Jochimsen, Phoenix Police Crime
Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ
ABSTRACT: The drug recognition expert (DRE) program
utilizes a combination of field sobriety testing (FST), vital signs and
officer observations to predict drug category in cases of driving under the
influence of drugs (DUID). Recent drug discoveries have produced a generation
of medications that may not be as easily classified. Six cases were chosen for
study to determine the effects of venlafaxine (Effexor) seen in DUID
situations and how these effects might differ from other central nervous
system (CNS) depressant symptoms. The results of the DRE evaluation and
officer observations were compared with information from clinical trials. This
case study indicates venlafaxine reacts much as would be expected for the
average CNS depressant. However, it should be noted that venlafaxine will
exhibit an increase in both blood pressure and pulse rate in contrast to the
response for most CNS depressants.
http://www.nwafs.org/fall97.htm
Similarly there's this interesting article on how some
antidepressants can mess up driving, especially if combined with a
benzodiazepine, which certainly is a good reason not to combine Effexor or
really any antidepressant (according to this analysis, if you read closely) with
alcohol, since alcohol is very similar to the benzodiazapine (Valium and its
cousins) group:
BACKGROUND AND METHOD: The current review summarizes
the major results from all published studies from 1983 to 2000 (9
double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled studies in healthy volunteers and
1 double-blind, baseline-controlled study in patients) that have determined
the effects of antidepressants on actual driving performance using a standard
test. That test measures driving impairment from vehicular "weaving"
(i.e., standard deviation of lateral position [SDLP]) during 1 hour of
on-the-road driving in normal traffic. RESULTS: Changes in SDLP after acute
doses of sedating antidepressants (i.e., amitriptyline, imipramine, doxepin,
and mianserin) were comparable to those seen in drivers conducting the same
test with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.8 mg/mL or more. Driving
performance of subjects returned to placebo levels after 1 week of treatment,
except after treatment with mianserin, for which the impairing effect lasted
unabated over treatment. Nocturnal doses of sedating antidepressants (i.e.,
dothiepin, mianserin, and mirtazapine), however, did not produce residual
driving impairment when measured the next day. Nonsedating antidepressants
(i.e., moclobemide, fluoxetine, paroxetine, venlafaxine, and nefazodone)
generally did not affect SDLP. However, SDLP rose to unacceptable levels after
administration of combinations of nonsedating antidepressants and
benzodiazepines with incompatible pharmacokinetic profiles. Correlational
analyses demonstrated that conventional tests of psychomotor performance or
self-ratings of side effects did not strongly predict antidepressant effects
on SDLP. Regression analysis revealed a strong linear relation between
antidepressant effects in the standard driving test and the number of patients
reporting somnolence in clinical trials with the same antidepressants.
CONCLUSION: Application of actual driving tests remains essential to
conclusively defining the potential hazard of drugs for driving.
If there were something to this idea of increased BAC
with Effexor, I'd think it would have shown up here. It certainly should
be in the article itself, if you want to pursue this further (
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12590619&dopt=Abstract
)
That's all I know on the subject. The fact that
I've never heard of this idea doesn't mean there isn't something to it; but I
still doubt it. I'll bet somebody meant that if you combine the two, it
could be like having a BAC 2-3 times higher.
Dr. Phelps
Published May, 2003
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