Drinking when on medication

For most medications, it is fine to drink within the UK government’s low risk guidelines on alcohol. However, if you’re taking prescription drugs or a combination of medicines, the best advice is to check with your doctor or the pharmacist if it is safe for you to drink alcohol. Also check the leaflet that comes with the medication.

There are some medications where alcohol should be avoided.

• People taking sedative drugs (like Diazepam/Valium) or antidepressants (like Fluoxetine/Prozac) should avoid alcohol altogether.
• People taking long-term medications should be careful about drinking, as alcohol can make some drugs less effective. Examples include, people taking drugs for epilepsy – always check with your GP.

Alcohol and antibiotics

The antibiotics, Metronidazole and Tinidazole do not mix with alcohol - drinking with these will make you sick. But for most commonly prescribed antibiotics, drinking is unlikely to cause problems so long as it is one or two units.