Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Paroxetine

“ Paroxetine had a slight antagonistic effect on alcohol induced sedation whereas impairment of performance with lorazepam was potentiated by co-administration of alcohol.”

“Theonly impairment associated with paroxetine occurred when it was given in combination with alcohol , when a significant (P<O.OS) increase was seen in reaction time at 1.5 and 4.0 hours.”

“ Paroxetine does, however, reduce reliance on alcohol to engage in social situations, and may change the reasons why one drinks (such that drinking occurs for other reasons besides coping with anxiety).”

“ Paroxetine reduced self-reported reliance on alcohol for self-medication purposes, but was not different than placebo in changing quantity and frequency drinking or the proportion of drinking days that were identified as coping-related.”

“Abstinence from alcohol for 2 weeks (day 14) resulted in a decrease in the number of 5-HT uptake sites labelled with [3H]paroxetine compared to normal values, together with a significant decrease in the number of 5-HT2A binding sites.”

“ Alcohol misuse was found to be associated with an increased number and a lower affinity of [3H]paroxetine binding in comparison to the control values.”

“Each compound reduced EtOH intake [Minimal Effective Doses (MEDs) 5, 10, 30 and 1 mg/kg for fluoxetine, citalopram, fluvoxamine, and paroxetine , respectively].”