Cocaine/MDMA/Alcohol

[Flarry David]

Well hello everybody!

I am 25 years old and was recently diagnosed with Crohn's a little over a month ago. I'm currently on Prednisone (40MG), Ciprofloxacin (500MG) and Metronidazole (500MG) - the latter two prescriptions being antibiotics.

Before I was diagnosed, I have dabbled with a few different extra-curriculars (weed, cocaine, MDMA) and enjoyed to have some drinks, ok a lot of drinks, on occasion.

I've been on these meds for about three weeks and will begin tapering off of pred next week. This weekend however I'll be going out with some pals and after over a month of going stir-crazy sitting inside every night I was hoping to have some fun... Now, I'm not of the opinion that one MUST be intoxicated to have a good time, but if a few low-key drinks wouldn't be a huge set back, I might consider it.

..Now, I understand that a lot of you will mention how drugs can ruin your life, lead to addiction, overdose, etc. I'm well aware of all of that. I'm also well aware of the fact that I've been a recreational drug user for quite some time, and it has not been a burden on my health, social nor professional life.

SO... Can I have a few drinks? I will more than likely not consider any recreational drugs outside of weed, but any input on the matter would be useful.

 

[Orchid]

Alcohol is a very common trigger for people with CD, it really depends on your body. Try a little before you go out and get drinking and see how you feel over the next day or two. I would avoid MDMA because it causes motility related issues that can be really hard to predict from dose to dose and diarrhea can be hellish with CD. Cocaine poses the least direct danger to your digestive system though I would worry about diluting agents if you use an oral administration route. Unless you're a danger to yourself or others your doctors can't use medical information on drug use to turn you into the cops, so it can't hurt to ask about this.

 

[Flarry David]

Thanks Orchid, this is essentially the exact information I was looking for. I had a few cocktails earlier this week and did not notice much of an issue in the following days.. Do you think it would be wise for me to cease my anti-biotics for the day if I was planning on drinking that evening?

 

[Orchid]

In my experience, neither is known to complicate alcohol use. I would still advocate caution on hitting the sauce too hard, you have a serious GI illness but on the other hand I understand how ******* annoying the dietary restrictions can be.

 

[Flarry David]

Yeah, I don't think that I'll be able to quite as hard as I usually do, but having a couple would be a nice treat..

I mean, I don't want to over do it.. But I don't want to under do it either haha :cheerss:

 

[vonfunk]

Mixing Metronidazole and alcohol might very well put you in the hospital, it's a very good chance you'll spend the night in the ER. Metro is the only drug where I listen to the warning label about mixing with alcohol, and I drink a lot.

Mixing the two has a very high chance of causing: vomiting, nausea, increased heart rate, shortness of breath. You need to be off of metro for a minimum 2-3 days before drinking. and give it another day or two after drinking to start back up again.

While I've got UC and not CD, when I still had a colon alcohol never bothered me. I get hangovers easier than I used to and had dehydration issue but that's about it. Just drink a glass of water with every drink of alcohol, you may want to stick to mixed drinks and avoid pints, they tend to dehydrate you more due to increased urinating.

Smoke all the weed you want, that will only help the CD.

Beyond that what Orchid said.

 

[Orchid]

Thanks for catching that vonfunk, sometimes you read so many drug labels they all start to run together.

 

[vonfunk]

I was on it a couple of years ago for a gum infection, and got massive amounts of warning from my dentist and pharmacist. It was also in the middle of Christmas party season, so I was delaying and timing the start of the medication as to have the least amount of disruption to my party/drinking schedule.

 

[Flarry David]

Ahhh well this sucks haha.. I should've tapered off the metro yesterday! I managed to put back about four drinks the other night with no ill effect, but I suppose I shouldn't push the envelope much more than that.

Thanks for your input vonfunk

 

[vonfunk]

Yeah, you need to be very careful. I never experienced it, as I avoided alcohol like the plague when I was on it.

Better safe than vomiting in the hospital.

 

[PsychoJane]

I second this aspect related to metronidazole and alcohol. It's pretty much the equivalent to the antabuse substance. My pharmacist was telling me about patient reacting to even small amount of alcohol present in sauce and chocolate. I have never tried it myself to verify her saying though. It is recommanded to wait a 48 hours after the last dose of flagyl before taking any alcohol too...

Without the medication, it is really individual specific. I know I handle alcohol very well digestively speaking.

 

[owr]

Take my advice with a grain of salt - because it is not "science", just my personal experiences.

I've been on prednisone twice in my life for Crohns, once when I was 20-21 for about 3 weeks, once when I was 30 for about 9 months (including taper on/off). The latter was a heavy dose - up to 60 mg at peak.

I've never been a frequent drinker, but put down more than a few on the nights I did go out with friends and let loose. Over the course of both these periods I had 3-4 experiences where I had been out drinking fairly heavily at night and took my prednisone dose on a full belly of alcohol right before going to bed. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up with excruciating pain in my knees/legs - worse than just about anything I've suffered with Crohns (including multiple partial bowel obstructions and surgeries). The pain would fade by morning but my legs would be extremely weak. This only happened about 3-4 times and always after drinking fairly heavily and then taking my Prednisone.

Fast forward to 2 years ago, age 35, my knees/hips chronically hurt after standing/walking for relatively short periods. A few MRIs later and I am diagnosed with Osteonecrosis (look it up) in both knees and my left hip. I learned a lot about this disease in the last few years and the biggest take away is Dr's don't really know squat about where it comes from - though it tends to effect 2 groups - folks on prednisone, and long term alcoholics. I was told to prepare for the possibility of needing 2 knee and 1 hip replacements in the next few years (prior to age 40).

Luckily, things have gone better than expected and I am for the most part mobile. The dead bone has not progressed since we've been watching it and the pain is manageable.

Again - this is only my experience, and I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I am completely convinced that this occurred due to a reaction of the prednisone and excessive alcohol - specifically on those nights. It doesn't take long for the bone to ide, it just needs to be cut off from the blood supply for a short amount of time due to inflammation, or whatever.


Knowing what I know now I would recommend anyone who is on Prednisone to not drink. If you have to, at least work it so you take your meds in the morning on a clean stomach if you plan on doing some drinking in the evening.

Prednisone aside - I completely gave up alcohol about 2 years ago and the change in my Crohns management has been considerable. 18 years into this disease and I'm starting to understand the long term damage that can build up. My doctor always tells me - she's not as concerned for how I feel now, she's worried about me 10 years from now.

Good luck with it all, I know what its like to be in your 20s and want to party. But you're probably not going to be on Pred for long, so give your body the time it needs, you'll have plenty of other time to have fun.