Meloxicam & Alcohol
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Today’s medicine is advanced enough that we can safely rely on it to cure ailments and sicknesses. We just need to visit a doctor, get diagnosed, receive a prescription, and buy the medicine.
The improvement of medical research technology also allows pharmaceutical companies to develop new medicine or improve the existing ones to work better on various symptoms. While medications can improve the quality of our lives, taking them can cause more harm than good.
Meloxicam is a commonly prescribed drug for patients suffering from inflammation and joint pain. It is one of many drugs that can be harmful when taken outside of a doctor’s prescription, especially when consumed with alcohol.
What is Meloxicam?
Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used to treat patients suffering from joint pain and other forms of inflammation. This NSAID works by decreasing the production of a bodily chemical to reduce pain and prevent further inflammation. Meloxicam produces effects that are almost identical to corticosteroids with fewer side effects.
There are two types of Meloxicam: tablet and liquid – both taken orally. The dosage prescribed vary depending on patients’ weight since gaining or losing body weight can affect Meloicam’s efficacy.
Doctors and medical practitioners often prescribe Meloxicam to patients suffering from pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness as symptoms of osteoarthritis – a degenerative joint disease – and rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune disorder).
Meloxicam is also a type of drug with a certain clinical risk when it comes into contact with other substances. To prevent a life-threatening chemical reaction from happening, healthcare professionals typically avoid prescribing Meloxicam to patients who are also taking:
- Blood thinners
- Ketorolac (short-term pain relief)
- Cyclosporine (immunosuppressant)
Side Effects of Meloxicam
Meloxicam typically comes with several side effects. The most common ones are:
- Sore throat
- Gas
- Indigestion
- Heartburn
- Diarrhea
But there are also less common and more complex side effects such as:
- Anxiety
- Bloating
- Constipation
- Sleep deprivation
- Rapid breathing
Taking NSAIDs such as Meloxicam also increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, which can happen without warning regardless of additional risk factors.
Regular consumption of Meloxicam also requires close monitoring and frequent medical examinations to detect possible adverse effects. Patients who consume Meloxicam regularly also have a higher risk of heart attack, blood clot, and stroke.
What is Alcohol?
There are three types of alcohol, but the only one that we can consume is ethyl alcohol (the one you can find in alcoholic drinks).
- Isopropyl alcohol, also known as rubbing alcohol, is a type of non-consumable alcohol commonly used among scientists and physicians for its cooling and disinfecting properties. Isopropyl alcohol is a result of the chemical reaction between water and propylene.
- Methyl alcohol (wood alcohol): Methyl alcohol is most commonly used as an industrial solvent such as paint remover and photocopier developer.
- Ethyl alcohol: The only consumable type of alcohol made by fermenting sugar content in fruit, grain, and vegetables. The alcohol found in wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages is called ethanol or ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is a result of the yeast fermentation of sugar content in grains, fruits, and vegetables. For example, the alcohol in vodka is made from the fermentation of sugar content in potatoes.
Alcohol is a consumable chemical, and therefore can be classified as a type of drug. Similar to other drugs, alcohol affects your body. Alcohol can also be toxic and addictive when consumed excessively.
Mixing Meloxicam & Alcohol
Meloxicam and alcohol do not go well together. Taking Meloxicam with alcohol can result in life-threatening drug reactions such as upper gastrointestinal bleeding and ulcers in the stomach and intestines. The most threatening part about consuming alcoholic drinks while taking Meloxicam is the unpredictability of the side effects, which can happen without warning.
Your doctor or other healthcare professional will always recommend you to step back from alcoholic drinks when they prescribe Meloxicam to you – and for good reasons.
There are several life-threatening medical conditions that can happen as a result of mixing alcohol and Meloxicam. Let’s talk about some of them:
Bleeding Risk:
Like other NSAIDs, Meloxicam can increase the risk of internal bleeding in your stomach. There have been speculations on why NSAIDs increase bleeding risks, but there isn’t any solid answer to the question yet.
Due to this increased bleeding risk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has put a black box warning on prescription NSAIDs, including Meloxicam. The warning specifies that NSAIDs increase the risk of:
- Bleeding
- Ulcer
- Holes in intestine or stomach
Meloxicam is not the only substance that can increase the bleeding risk for your body. Excessive consumption of alcohol over an extended period also exposes your body to bleeding risks. In a nutshell, drinking impairs your body’s ability to make a type of blood cell called thrombocytes or platelets. Thrombocytes are responsible for building a blood clot when you are bleeding, eventually slowing down the bleeding.
Bleeding Risks with Alcohol
Meloxicam is not the only substance that can increase the bleeding risk for your body. Excessive consumption of alcohol over an extended period also exposes your body to bleeding risks. In a nutshell, drinking impairs your body’s ability to make a type of blood cell called thrombocytes or platelets. Thrombocytes are responsible for building a blood clot when you are bleeding, eventually slowing down the bleeding.
When you take Meloxicam and alcohol together, you are exposing your body to a combination of life-threatening situations because:
- Meloxicam increases the risk of internal bleeding
- Alcohol prevents your body from producing the cells to stop the bleeding
Since the increased bleeding risk is for internal organs, you might not know that you are bleeding and may continue to lose blood without even noticing. Such a situation is likely to result in critical conditions or even death.
Gastritis
Gastritis is internal inflammation that attacks the stomach. Both alcohol and Meloxicam can increase the risks of gastritis in your body. Therefore, consuming both alcohol and Meloxicam doubles the risks of gastritis in your body.
While gastritis itself is not a life-threatening situation, it can lead to more severe cases, including:
- Ulcers
- Permanent damage to the stomach
- Low blood iron (which impairs oxygen distribution)
- Low vitamin B12 (which can cause irreversible nerve damages)
- Stomach cancer
Gout
Gout is a type of arthritis that rarely causes any pain. Even if the pain comes, the interval between each attack could be months or years. The pain itself is most commonly addressed by prescribing Meloxicam to patients.
In this scenario, staying clear from consuming alcohol is highly recommended because excessive alcohol consumption can trigger a gout flare – which is a sharp painful reaction caused by the increased amount of uric acid in the body.
If you take Meloxicam with alcohol, these are several gout symptoms that you should look out for:
- Intense pain in a single joint (most commonly big toe)
- Single joint swelling
- Redness in a single joint
- Burning feeling when you touch a single joint
Heart Attack and Stroke
NSAIDs, including Meloxicam, are a type of drug that increases heart attack and stroke risk. When you regularly take Meloxicam, you should watch for symptoms of heart attack and stroke, which may include:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Pain in left arm or shoulder
- Exhaustion and nausea (in women)
- One-sided body weakness
- Sudden change in vision
- Unexplained slurred speech
Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to various heart problems, including cardiomyopathy – a condition that can cause heart failure. Therefore, taking Meloxicam and alcohol at the same time could increase the risks of heart problems and stroke.
Symptoms of Mixing Meloxicam and Alcohol to watch out for:
NSAIDs, including Meloxicam, are a type of drug that increases heart attack and stroke risk. When you regularly take Meloxicam, you should watch for symptoms of heart attack and stroke, which may include:
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Pain in left arm or shoulder
- Exhaustion and nausea (in women)
- One-sided body weakness
- Sudden change in vision
- Unexplained slurred speech
Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to various heart problems, including cardiomyopathy – a condition that can cause heart failure. Therefore, taking Meloxicam and alcohol at the same time could increase the risks of heart problems and stroke.
Why You Shouldn't Mix Alcohol and Prescription Drugs
Alcohol is a heavily consumed substance in the world – and if you are 21 or older, there’s a good chance that you regularly enjoy alcoholic beverages. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), over 56% of adults in the United States drink alcohol at least once every month.
There are 16 million people in the United States who struggle with alcoholism. The popularity and massive-scale consumption of alcohol often overlook its chemical reaction to the majority of prescribed medication.
Immediate Side Effects
Many long-term health risks can happen due to the consumption of alcohol with prescription drugs. However, these are the most common side effects of consuming alcohol with prescription drugs:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Sudden change in blood pressure
- Heart damage
- Change in behavior
- Unexplained change in mental state
- Loss of coordination
Mixing prescription drugs with alcohol, whether accidentally or intentionally, exposes your body to a risk of overdose and irreversible damage to internal tissues.
Long Term Risks
Prolonged consumption of a mixture between alcohol and prescribed drugs can also lead to chronic medical conditions that may include:
- Internal bleeding
- Brain damage
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Liver damage
While you should not consume almost all prescription drugs with alcohol, several kinds of prescription drugs react more dangerously when they come in contact with central nervous system depressants (CNS) like alcohol.
The Worst Prescriptions to Mix With Alcohol
Here are some of the prescription drugs that have more complex risks when consumed with alcohol:
- Opioid painkillers: Narcotic painkillers such as this one already have many dangerous side effects when consumed excessively. Consuming them with alcohol can add the intensity of their side effects, including extreme relaxation and drowsiness, and radically increase the risk of overdose.
- Benzodiazepines: This drug is often prescribed as an anti-anxiety medication that can take effects rapidly. However, many addicts also take benzodiazepines and alcohol to increase the relaxation effects that they get from it. Taking benzodiazepines with alcohol can cause you to feel drowsy, dizzy, and exhibit unusual behavior, as well as impaired motor control – which could lead to accidents.
- Antidepressant: When an antidepressant is mixed with alcohol, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like an antidepressant can become less effective, affecting your mental state. Combining antidepressants with alcohol can also increase the risk of overdose, poisoning, and liver damage.
- Stimulants: Stimulants are commonly prescribed for people who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because they adjust the level of neurotransmitters, which can help them focus better. Mixing stimulants with alcohol can result in several problems, including dizziness, difficulty concentrating, and increased risk of heart and liver damage.
- Antipsychotics: These drugs are typically prescribed for patient’s ongoing treatments for chronic mental conditions like schizophrenia. Mixing antipsychotics with alcohol can result in sedation, dizziness, and impaired thinking. However, consuming alcohol with the older generation of antipsychotics has more severe risks that include coma, fainting, respiratory depression, and seizures.
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Getting Help For Prescription Addiction
Prescription drug addiction is a medical condition where the body has become dependant on the substance from specific medication. While the nature of prescription addiction might be unintentional, it could lead to severe problems when left untreated.
Since people of all ages commonly use prescription drugs, addiction can happen to any age group. The symptoms may not be immediately apparent, it could start as simple as taking your friends’ pain killer when yours run out, and you will end up snorting ground-up pills to get high.
Once it reaches that point, it’s crucial that you seek professional help to facilitate the rehabilitation process and eventually stop the addiction. Joining an outpatient rehab program for substance abuse is a great start to helping prescription drug addicts get their lives back.
Real Deal provides a clinically proven outpatient rehab program that can facilitate many substance addiction problems, including prescription abuse. Our unique outlook and perspective towards substance abuse problems have helped hundreds of patients take their life back from addictions and get back into society.
A simple case of unsupervised medication for your children and loved ones could lead to undetected addiction to prescription drugs. Despite the addiction being unintentional, prescription drug abuse can ruin an otherwise bright future.
Visit our facilities or simply let us know about your substance abuse problem, and we’ll put together the best rehab program that can get you or your loved ones out of the addiction hole.