Mind and men's health
Alcohol
When drinking needs care, and what's known about alcohol and these medicines. No lecture.
No lecture here. Alcohol and these medicines meet in a few places worth knowing, and a few signs need care. Those come first.
When to get care
Now
If you have strong belly pain that won't go away, sometimes reaching your back, with or without vomiting, get emergency care now.
The labels say to stop the medicine and call your doctor. Heavy drinking is one of the most common causes of pancreatitis: if the pain came after drinking, don't wait it out.
Now
If you use insulin or a sulfonylurea and get cold sweats, shakiness, sudden hunger, a racing heart or blurred vision, follow your doctor's low blood sugar plan right away.
Sulfonylureas include glibenclamide (glyburide), glimepiride and gliclazide.
Now
If someone on insulin or a sulfonylurea becomes confused, faints, has a seizure, or can't be woken after drinking, call emergency services now.
Heavy drinking, especially without eating, and hard training without adjusting food are known triggers of low blood sugar for them.
Now
If you faint, feel confused or are barely peeing, call emergency services now.
Losing a lot of fluid can harm the kidneys. Training, sport in the sun, heat, sauna and hangovers all add to the loss.
Today
If vomiting or diarrhea won't let you keep fluids down, get care today, from your doctor or an urgent care service.
The same if vomiting lasts over 2 days, diarrhea over 7, there's blood in your stool, or dark, scant pee and dizziness when standing don't improve with oral rehydration salts.
Soon
If drinking feels like it has become a problem, talk to your doctor in the next few days. There's help made for that.
What's known
Alcohol can make nausea and reflux worse. Guidelines for people on these medicines say to keep it to a minimum.
Heavy drinking is one of the most common causes of pancreatitis, the belly pain that needs emergency care.
If you use insulin or a sulfonylurea, drinking, especially without eating, can bring low blood sugar.
Many people say they feel like drinking less on these medicines. Three small trials of semaglutide point to less heavy drinking, and one of them missed its main goal. It isn't an approved treatment for alcohol.
What usually helps
- If you use insulin or a sulfonylurea, not drinking on an empty stomach
- Logging alcohol in your check-in, if you want, to see how it lines up with nausea or sleep
To take to your appointment
- I drink on weekends. How does that fit with my treatment, and what should I watch for?
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