Fluoxetine and alcohol - does it make you feel really down?

[BobDowne]

I've been taking 20mg of fluoxetine a day for about a year now after a nasty separation.
Recently i've started to have a bit more of a social life, so have been drinking more alcohol.
I find the next day i've often been feeling very down and tearful, even when i had a really enjoyable night out, so there's no real reason for it.

Does anyone else find this? I know alcohol is a depressant, wondered if i should avoid it altogether whilst on the ADs.

It's usually recommended to avoid it altogether whilst on ADs, although some people manage to have the odd drink or two without any great problem.

As you say, alcohol is a depressant - but it will also make your fluoxetine less effective, so might make you feel down and tearful.

I found at first it made me feel awful - for bout the first couple of months. Now I generally stick to just two glasses of wine a night, generally only once a week, and I'm fine with that. If I drink more I usually feel pretty low afterwards.