Question about bi-polar meds and alcohol

[DrEeeville]

Close friend has recently been diagnosed with bi-polar. I'm relieved that she has finally got a diagnosis after years of depression/anxiety/strange behaviour.
However, I'm really worried about how much she is drinking - I'm not sure what meds she is on, but she has also takes sleeping tablets.

She generally has a bottle of wine a day - I know this is way over the limit re: units per week, but I'm worried about what effect this is having on her meds.

Any advice? What should I say to her??? Nothing???

Without knowing exactly what medication she's on it's hard to be specific but generally speaking alcohol should not be taken with anti-depressant medications because it can counter out their effectiveness. Alcohol is a depressant so will undo the good of antidepressants. A bottle of wine a day, or 70 units of alcohol a week, is not going to do anyone any good, even if you don't consider the effects it's having on her liver and other organs, it must be having a detrimental effect on her mental state. Depends how good a friend she is, but the fact she has been diagnosed as bi-polar and has sought help might mean she would want to take seriously the idea that her alcohol intake might be negating the effectiveness of her medication. But a bottle of wine a day would indicate a certain degree of alcohol dependency so she may need help with cutting this down or out altogether.

Yes - thought as much re: alcohol being a depressant. She does seem more stable - but that might be because she is not having high. I was going to speak to her about her drinking, but then she told me about the bi-polar and I realised that some of her behaviour was related to that. I guess I'll just have to raise it and risk the consequences. I just don't want to see her do more harm to herself :(