Medicine not switching!

I have learned that it was the medicine that I was taking that caused me to have black-outs at the local pubs.

I was taking "omniprozol" (spelling?). Before when I managed my own medicines I only took this drug as needed for acid reflux. But when I moved back into the Veterans Domiciliary, the staff began managing my meds. So I have taken this drug every day for a year and three months. It never entered my brain that this drug would have serious side effects. I felt like crap the whole time. I had dizzy spells, head aches, chest pain, a dry cough, etc. I thought I was developing diabetes. I thought that maybe I was developing cancer.

Finally, when I knew that I only had eight to twelve beers and still had a black-out, I realized it was that medicine and I have stopped taking it. The drug somehow magnifies the effects of alcohol. I feel stupid for thinking that I was switching. I could still have switched but it was the drug that triggered it.

Very interesting, but not surprising. Your descriptions of your blackouts after drinking did seem different somehow from dissociative switching.
Do you still have blackouts occurring after drinking (or at other times) now that you are off those meds? Have you had time to validate your theory?

I'm wondering what you mean when you said you had "only" eight to twelve beers. Drinking that much would cause me to black out even if I wasn't taking any medicine. You might want to cut back on alcohol. It's very bad for depression and physical health as well.

I had that script but was taking rantidine instead...so I threw it away.

Glad you figured it out.

Isn't that a lot of beer? Not saying that you're wrong, but perhaps consider that as well.

yea I agree with the others who talked about maybe limiting your alcohol.

I have been on prilosec (your word omeprizole) for a very long time. it does not cause a person to black out.

this medication is a special medication that works in the stomach. in laymans terms the human stomach has these glands, some people call them acid producing pumps. the prilosec just makes it so that the stomach does not make the acid to digest food and drinks. with these glands/ acid producing pumps turned off nothing happens. the food and drinks pass through the stomach to the next part of the digestive process.

when I go out with my wife or friends and drink while taking this medication all that happens is the alcohol passes through my body faster. I end up visiting the restroom more frequently.

when I have blacked out it wasnt the medications it was the alcohol as in drinking to much alcohol in a short amount of time.

if you are having alcohol related blackouts, (black outs while on meds and consuming alcohol, or consuming alcohol regardless of any meds or no meds) there is treatment for it.....its called limit alcohol intake. instead of instead of having 6-8 beers have one, instead of mixing drinks stick with only one of one. there is also medication that makes drinking taste bad that can help those who have a problem with black outs to stop drinking entirely.

since you and your body cant mix omeprazole and alcohol, my suggestions is be very very careful. since usually this doesnt cause black outs and it does for you, that points to you may be the kind of person that cant take any meds and drink alcohol with out risking an alcohol black out. you might have to consider whether to stop drinking permanently or until you no longer need medications of any kind.

here is an informative link about omeprazole Omeprazole Oral : Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD

Not yet. In a few weeks I will experiment. This past Monday I did go in to the Long Branch. But I only stayed for two hours. I told the bar tender that I had to be careful because I had only been off the drug for five or six days.

I unfortunately started drinking when I was fourteen. I am an old-hat at drinking beer. I stick to light beer now that I am an old man. Eight to twelve light beers, if I am drinking at a normal rate, will just get me started. Eight to twelve light beers will just get me relaxed enough to shoot pool with strangers.

I would like to add: When drinking light beer at a somewhat sane rate, which I do not always do, you void one beer for every two to three beers you drink(on an empty stomach). So If I have eight to twelve beers I actually only have maybe four to six beers worth of alcohol in my system at that time depending on how fast I am drinking. Usually my rate of consumption slows down after a few beers.

Not true Michael! A 12 oz beer equals 1 shot glass of hard liquor or 1 5oz glass of wine. Light beer does not mean light alcohol, just less carbs and calories.

depends upon your location.... here in the USA a majority of states light beer refers to calorie content. in a rare few states like illinois light refers to alcohol content if the beer was put through an extra diluting process during the brewing process. in germany and a few other countries "light" refers to both calories and alcohol content.

tip for those interested in alcohol brewing and such most colleges now offer classes to teach how to brew alcohol of various kinds. I saw in the news that NY, Florida, California Oregon, Washington and New Mexico have college classes where the students do hands on brewing and learning about the process.

my point is whether "light" "lite" alcoholic drinks refer to calorie or alcohol content depends upon where its made, what process is used in the making, what products are used and what the distilling/ delution process is.

I have been off the omniprozol for some time now. I am definitely able to handle beer better. I still am going to quit. I can never tell when I am going to wack-out now. Two times I will be alright and then boom I get crazy. I have been banned from one of the pubs. It is only a matter of time before I am banned from the other.

I have a ton of built up anger and frustration. That is from years of being in the mental health system and having mental health professionals totally ignore me when I tell them that I have a dissociative disorder. Some times I think people are messing with me. That is when I get paranoid. It is no use I just am too mental to risk being in a bar.

I have got to learn how to deal with the boredom in some positive manner. I do not want to get kicked out of this facility.

((((Michael W. Harris)))) Just be careful, ok?

I think I definitely switch when I drink. The environment is the natural habitat for one if the few of us I know, Boo. She comes out to play.

Now I am not sure if it was the omniprozol causing me to have black-outs on eight to twelve beers. I had another one the last time I tried to drink at the Long Branch. (About three weeks ago.) That was it I gave my credit card to the staff here at the Jenkins Domiciliary.

I think that I am switching but everyone argues that it is just the amount of beer. I drink light beer and have consumed much more than twelve beers with out having memory loss. Some people claim that it is just old age. I just don't know.

When you are in a facility like this too young, I am just sixty-three, cabin fever can make you go nuts.

I think it makes sense that you might sometimes switch while drinking. It might be a kind of trigger for one of you. But it also makes sense you might just be drinking too much. Cut WAY back. Keep a journal. See what happens.

Yes, alcohol does loosen up control a bit. Everyone in my head likes to drink...when I’m done, another would come out and start their round of drinking. We always try to drink everything....I buy an 18 pack thinking 8-9 would be enuff.....the next morning it’s all gone. I remember parts because we are co-con...but it’s not really me still at it.

Sometimes the night is a blank...and the beer is still gone or 1-2 left.

So we are regulating how much we buy to a 6 pack and no more...

At the end....the littles want to eat everything in the kitchen, so now we’re drunk and stuffed full of peanut butter and jelly...syrup and waffles....and we just can’t seem to lose any weight....I wonder why....

My doctor has prescribed me rantidine (red Zantac) for a lifetime curse of acid reflux and possible ulcers which according to drug interactions one can eat and drink on.

He also prescribed at the same time a a bottle of omeprazole which I never took because the pills were bigger then the rantidine. Sounds like I made a good guess based on size, color, and word pronunciation.