Can You Drink Alcohol While Taking Losartan?
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting your intake to no more than one or two occasional drinks if you are on anticoagulant therapy. Certain types of anti-nausea medication can be used to help someone who is trying to stop drinking alcohol. When used under medical supervision, the combination can be an effective way to treat alcohol withdrawal.
However, experts believe these effects may result from differences between people who drink moderately and those who do not. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion notes that people between the ages of 18 and 39 years who are not at risk of hypertension should have their blood pressure checked by a doctor at least every 3–5 years. According to the CDC, the reported health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption may be inaccurate. If you take blood pressure medication, talk to your prescribing doctor about safe levels of alcohol use and signs of alcohol interactions with the medication.
How Does Alcohol Affect Blood Pressure?
Healthcare professionals may recommend people with hypertension decrease the amount of alcohol they consume. If you experience the signs of alcohol use disorder or polysubstance use disorder, treatment can start by discussing your symptoms and experiences with a licensed mental health professional. If you have existing heart or kidney issues, your doctor is most likely to prescribe an ACE inhibitor. These inhibitors work by preventing the chemical angiotensin, which narrows blood vessels.
We used GRADEpro software to construct a ‘Summary of findings’ table to compare outcomes including change in SBP and DBP and HR (GRADEpro 2014). In addition, we included illustrative risks to present findings for the most important outcome (change in systolic blood pressure). When noradrenaline stimulates the adrenergic receptors located in the heart muscles, heart rate and blood pressure are increased. We are also moderately certain that high‐dose alcohol decreased blood pressure within six hours, and the effect lasted up to 12 hours.
Chiva‐Blanch 2012a published data only
If you have diabetes, drinking alcohol can affect your blood sugar levels. Drinking alcohol with the medications you take to manage your diabetes can have the same effect, and the mix can also cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headache, rapid heartbeat, and sudden changes in your blood pressure. Some of these antidepressants come with additional side effects when mixed with alcohol. Cymbalta can cause liver damage.Antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), like Parnate and Nardil, can cause serious heart problems when combined with alcohol. When mixed with beer or wine, they can also cause dangerously high blood pressure due to an alcohol byproduct called tyramine. Be sure to check on your prescription drugs, as well as your over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbals, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals.
Some research has found that alcohol does not appear to worsen liver inflammation in certain people who take medication for their cholesterol. A 2006 Harvard study found that moderate alcohol use did not have a significant negative effect on the livers of men taking statins after heart surgery. If you have a medical condition (such as atrial fibrillation) that puts you at risk for developing a blood clot, your doctor might prescribe anticoagulant medications to “thin” your blood. While these drugs make it less likely your body will form blood clots, they also make you bleed more easily.
Aguilar 2004 published data only
High‐dose alcohol decreased SBP by 3.49 mmHg within the first six hours, and by 3.77 mmHg between 7 and 12 hours after consumption. After 13 hours, high doses of alcohol increased SBP by 3.7 mmHg compared to placebo. DBP was not significantly affected up to 12 hours after drinking a high dose of alcohol, but there was a statistically significant increase in DBP during the ≥ 13 hour time interval after alcohol lowers blood pressure alcohol consumption. We created a funnel plot using the mean difference (MD) from studies reporting effects of medium doses and high doses of alcohol on SBP, DBP, MAP, and HR against standard error (SE) of the MD to check for the existence of publication bias. Visual inspection of funnel plots shows that the effect estimate is equally distributed around the mean in Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6.
There is a direct association between drinking and blood pressure, Dr. Abramson said. One study showed that exercising from 30 to 60 minutes per week decreased blood pressure, and exercising for 61 to 90 minutes reduced it further. Half of all US adults have hypertension — which means high blood pressure, and only a quarter of them have it under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medications that are prescribed to treat nausea can make you feel drowsy, dizzy, and may impair your motor control—symptoms that can also be caused by alcohol. Some drugs (often antihistamines) used to prevent and treat motion sickness can also be purchased over-the-counter. The following list of medications that shouldn’t be mixed with alcohol isn’t exhaustive.
