Author: Charles Frank

Symptoms include vomiting, trouble breathing, and passing out. For example, in some states, school bus drivers need a BAC below 0.02 to be legal. Your balance, reaction time, and judgment keep getting worse. You’ll slur your words and have trouble thinking straight. The higher your BAC, the more alcohol is in your system. And that […]

Although not a formal diagnosis, during a manic episode, people with bipolar disorder can have a “bipolar blackout,” which means they have trouble remembering their actions. During a bipolar blackout, a person may engage in behavior that is impulsive or risky. Using alcohol or other substances can exacerbate the risk of this. A third feature […]

Your healthcare provider can tell you more about the laws surrounding prescribing these medications and the recommended schedule for you to return for a follow-up visit. One benzodiazepine that’s noteworthy — even though it’s not approved (and illegal) in the United States — is flunitrazepam. This drug is best known as Rohypnol (or by the […]

The withdrawal method that most doctors recommend is for patients to wean down from the benzodiazepine that they are taking. Sometimes, doctors will switch from one benzodiazepine to a longer acting one such as Klonopin, to try to make this process easier. Doctors will usually try to get their patients to wean down by about […]

The only exception, currently, involves seizure disorders like epilepsy. However, for anxiety, insomnia, or even alcohol withdrawal, it is unlikely that a person will take Ativan for longer than two weeks. It isn’t always easy to determine why a loved one would use alcohol with prescription medications. Some people use alcohol as a way to […]

President Joe Biden is, of course, of an older generation and has taken tough anti-drug stances in the past. At least five staffers lost their jobs early in the administration because of past drug use, and Hunter Biden’s substance abuse problems are well known. In today’s world, with widespread marijuana legalization, marijuana usage is less […]

The term thus becomes a part of social vernacular, reflecting both collective and individual identities. The easiest way to lookup drug information, identify pills, check interactions and set up your own personal medication records. The first state in the union to legalize the medical use of marijuana was California in 1996 with Proposition 215. Drugs.com […]

Long-term use can also cause sexual dysfunction, delayed reflexes, a short attention span, and memory loss. Overdose is more likely to be seen in developing countries, where low cost has led to barbiturates being used more to control and prevent seizures. Tolerance is when a greater amount of a drug is required to get the […]

They are typically used to help treat depression, and can also be effective for other conditions like anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, certain phobias and even premenstrual dysphoric disorder. They work by increasing the levels of the brain chemical serotonin — which is thought to influence your mood and emotions, among other things — by blocking […]

The effects of an overdose on the cardiovascular system are among the things that are most worrisome. Yes, the combination of alcohol and amitriptyline can increase the risk of blackouts. Both alcohol and amitriptyline have sedative effects on the central nervous system. When taken together, they can intensify each other’s sedative properties, leading to extreme […]