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Many prescription drugs say not to consume alcohol while taking the medication. Now a days more of the drugs that used to be only available with a prescription are becoming available over the counter. This warning is put on labels for a very good reason and should not be taken lightly. If these two things are consumed together sometimes they can have dire consequences.

Many over the counter drugs already contain alcohol because it helps a sick person sleep. Drinking more alcohol will just add to the effect and possibly make you sick. You take medicine to feel better and drinking may just add to your problems. if you mix the two the next morning you may wake up feeling worse because you now have a hang over to deal with. This can happen because many medications when taken with alcohol will increase the effects of the alcohol and you will end up extremely drunk.

Many medications make you drowsy and drinking will intensify the drowsiness. If too much of both are consumed it can make you very drowsy for days. This will make it very hard to function in your daily life. Your driving skills will also not be as good and you may end up in a very serious accident. When you are fatigued it makes it very hard for you to make important decisions and you may make the wrong ones. You may also have a problem thinking clearly and become forgetful. Also if you are so tired at work you can't stay awake you may wind up losing your job.

Drinking while taking things such as aspirin can lead to internal bleeding and damage to your liver. Medicines containing ibuprofen can cause stomach bleeding if you take to much. If you take it with alcohol it will increase your risks of bleeding in your stomach. We all know that heavy alcohol consumption can lead to things such as cirrhosis of the liver. If you drink alcohol while taking over the counter drugs it can speed up the damage to your liver. You may think that you can drink a little every day and it won't hurt. However the combination of OTC meds and just a little alcohol everyday can cause cirrhosis of the liver just as fast as a heavy drinker.

It is important that your liver works properly as it removes poisons and bacteria from your blood and it helps support your immune system. When you get cirrhosis of the liver blood can not flow through it as it should. Thus causing you to become more ill. Drinking is one of the main causes of cirrhosis of the liver. When combining meds and alcohol you are spending up the process and will eventually end up with a liver that does not function properly.

People take meds to help them self feel better however drinking can cause the meds to not work properly. Drinking alcohol after taking medicine can make it less effective. For example if you take an aspirin for a headache than drink it may actually make your headache worse. This is because the alcohol absorbs the aspirin before it has a chance to dissolve and work. So if you want to drink there is really no point in taking something to help with your ailments because it may not work.

So with any medication you take be sure to read the label carefully and listen to what it says. Like I said there is a reason for every warning that is on a label. These things have been thoroughly researched and are put there for our knowledge and protection.

Learn more about this author, Dawn England.
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