Propranolol and alcohol

[Alicelily]

I've been taking propranolol 80mg modified release for around 15 years for tachycardia. I've always been able to have a few glasses of wine here and there with no problems. The Doctor never said anything about not drinking alcohol whilst taking them and I think I even asked. I noticed recently that they advise not to take alcohol whilst on these tablets although I also know lots of other people that drink with no issues either. Over the weekend I've not been able to get my prescription as there is a national shortage. I've had to been put on 40mg twice a day instead. My old tablets are a slow release but these are fast release. I've had 3 days worth up to now and the first day I felt a bit woolley headed but now feel fine. I'm wanting to have some drinks over the festive period but worried about doing this with having to take a tablet in the evening too. Does anyone else drink on these tablets? If so do you wait after the second tablet or can you drink before? Also do you have to wait for a while after taking them before you have a drink?
I've looked on the leaflet and it says drinking lots of alcohol regularly can stop the effectiveness of the tablet but doesn't say DO NOT take with alcohol. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I've been taking them for over 20 years and had no issues with drinking alcohol as well at the same time

Thanks for your reply. I never had issues before but wasn't sure if it would be any different when taking the fast release ones. Do you take 40mg twice a day too?

I take low dose propranolol on an intermittent basis and I've never drunk alcohol during the periods I've needed to take it. I generally never take alcohol when I'm taking any medication.

My adult son took propranolol at a higher dosage than mine for a period of 3 years and he gave up alcohol for the whole of that period.He was recommended not to drink by his doctor while taking it.

I had assumed that it wasn't safe to mix alcohol and propranolol and so was interested in your post. Having googled it there is lots of stuff comes up to say it's not safe to mix alcohol with propranolol, with detailed reasons why, and yet the NHS site doesn't say this. It just talks about not drinking too much alcohol. I think that is really strange that it doesn't really give much information at all on the subject.

I assume if you haven't had problems in the past and your alcohol intake is low then you will be ok but personally I wouldn't take the risk. Which I realise isn't much help to you I'm afraid.

There is an American website drugs.com (which I sometimes have trouble getting on to from my laptop-don’t know why) https://www.drugs.com/comments/propranolol/and it has detailed info, though sometimes some medication is a different name as US, but you can find most things. At the bottom of the info is a link to ‘reviews’ which I find interesting -ordinary people posting. Also there is a search function for finding if there are contraindications for two different medications. Site is detailed and useful imv.

Edit oh, the link takes you to the front page not the prop page

I’ve been moved onto 10mg, 4 tablets twice a day too! It’s so annoying.

My doctor has told me not to drink on propranalol, specifically advised it would be worse on this non modified released double dose as well. I have three more days of modified release before I have to swap, I really wanted a Christmas baileys so I might have to risk it 😂

Yeah, it's strange that there isn't a definite answer. I've looked at the same tablet leaflets on line but different manufacturers and some say avoid alcohol, some say do not drink alcohol and some say large amounts of alcohol may affect the tablet. It's not clear. I did try a small glass of wine last night and felt ok but I waited an hour and half after taking the tablet before drinking it.