what medications increase blood alcohol level
Some medicines can raise your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) by changing how alcohol is absorbed or broken down. The NIAAA says a medication can influence the absorption and metabolism of alcohol, potentially resulting in higher BACs, and gives the heart and blood pressure medicine verapamil as an example that significantly inhibits alcohol metabolism, leading to prolonged elevated BACs. The interaction can also run the other way: alcohol slows the breakdown of some benzodiazepines.
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Can medicine raise your blood alcohol level?
Yes. In its guidance for health professionals, the NIAAA explains that alcohol and medications can interact in several ways, including:
- Through absorption and metabolism: a medication can influence the absorption and metabolism of alcohol, potentially resulting in higher blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) and other adverse effects.
- Through metabolism of the medicine: alcohol can speed up or slow down how a medicine is cleared.
- Through combined effects: alcohol can change what the medicine does in the body, for example adding to drowsiness.
Examples the NIAAA names
- Verapamil (a calcium channel blocker for blood pressure and heart rhythm): significantly inhibits alcohol metabolism, which leads to prolonged elevated BACs.
- Some benzodiazepines (such as alprazolam, clonazepam and diazepam, but not lorazepam): here alcohol inhibits the medicine’s metabolism.
- NSAIDs such as aspirin: combining them with alcohol significantly increases the risk of stomach bleeding (not a BAC effect, but a common danger).
Who is most at risk
The NIAAA says people over 65 are at particularly high risk of harm from alcohol-medication interactions, partly because of age-related changes in how the body responds to both.
What to do
- Ask your pharmacist whether any of your medicines interact with alcohol; the NIAAA notes its lists are not complete.
- Never assume you are under a driving limit because of how many drinks you had if you take medicine.
See our guides to common combinations: DayQuil, cough syrup, methocarbamol.
People also ask
What medications increase blood alcohol level?
The NIAAA names verapamil, which significantly inhibits alcohol metabolism and prolongs elevated BACs; other medicines can also affect absorption or metabolism. Ask a pharmacist about yours.
Can medication affect a breathalyzer or BAC?
A medicine can raise your BAC by changing how alcohol is absorbed or broken down (NIAAA), so the same drinks can give a higher level.
Who is most at risk from alcohol-medication interactions?
People over 65, according to the NIAAA.
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