i've had 1 or 2 but not more. you may want to talk to your dr., the amount of beers you have may make your meds less effective.

every now and then i have a few beers just to kick back and relax, but never to put myself to sleep.

I drink with my meds. My psychiatrist thinks I have been going to AA for years.Never been.I have actually recently quit all my meds except for my ambien occasionally and my klonopin occasionally.I see a new DR next month and hope to start over fresh.I felt I was way over medicated. I would call your Dr and see if he had any other meds he could try for sleep so maybe you would not have to take all that everynight.Has to be rough on the liver.Sorry about your sleep troubles i know those suck.:)

i've had 1 to 4 with my meds but i usually get to depressed even with 2 a day for a while. I had to stop due to the fact it's a depressant.

It's PROVEN that alcohol reduces the effectiveness of your bipolar medications.

Having said that, I'm pretty sure there are a HUGE number and (I am pretty sure this has been documented too) of bp's that "self-medicate" to control their illness, myself included (in the past).

I can only say that you need to be honest with yourself. How often are you self-medicating (and yes adding beer to your meds IS doing that)?

And I can honestly say QUITTING drinking changes the way your meds work (you NEED to be honest with your doctor about this!!!) BUT quitting drinking WILL (and I say this from personal experience) stabilize your moods better than any other step towards wellness you can take.

It's hard. I think most days that it is harder for mentally ill folks to quit drinking than your garden variety "alcholic", though I am sure many would argue "alcoholics" ARE mentally ill.

Booze WORKS for us, in the moment! But afterwards and in between it cause havoc with our meds and our moods.

I TRULY understand. I only hope you do?

I'm good to talk if you want to, no judgement. Been there, done that so it doesn't occur to me to judge.

Yeah I usually get depressed the next day if I get TOO high.Yet I continue to do it.I usually take a klonopin and that helps with the hangover.:P

we have a crusader!!!
Way to go man, someone has to be the one to figure it out first!
Thanks for lettin me know!

Booze keeps me awake. In addition it makes my noggin squirrelier than a hundred year old elm tree in spring.

I used to drink too. My fav combo was beer and zanax. The alcohol would get me all manic and the zanax would soothe away the hangovers. Rode that horse all the way to rehab. Damn near died.

I do, i may have a couple here and there. Or go off the deep end and drink 15ish. Not recommended. Zero alcohol is what my pdoc says, but I told her i'll have wine with dinner or a beer with food. Just not abusive alcohol.

it's hit or miss with me. sometimes i can have 2 beers and it feels like i have had a 6 pack. ...other times i'm normally buzzed...other times i don't get any effect from it. i just take it slow and see what happens :) bad i know. but my weekends are reserved for social drinking

Don't normally drink beers, however I am having a couple of bourbons right now. They say we shouldn't drink with meds. It's easier said than done. I have a few bourbouns now and again. I did read that 2 drinks per day for women = breast cancer and 4 drinks per day = prostate cancer for men. It was in the news today. What next!!!!!

I wonder what meds = ?

sunshine u are fucking up ur liver something fast. it doesn't matter what drugs ur on they affect ur lliver just a small bit and with drink it's worse. but i can't talk i technically binge drink once a week sometimes twice. it's just my culture. i would get extremely drunk dizzy and sick after about two or three drinks so i gave up my medication. but one more thing you might think ur sleeping but ur still not getting proper sleep. seriously if i were you i'd try hash. i was told this by a doctor off the record hash will make you sleepy. i didn't try it. i know thatr's kinda dirty, but it can work. for people and i would even say if ur this desperate try hash it has to be better than 8pints and a combination of drugs. i love my logic a better of two evils.

clean since 12-13-06. If I was drinking and using drugs in my opinion there would be NO point to taking the medication. of course I don't drink or use drugs in moderation.....

i drink occasionally with my meds. i used to drink more often. but i learned, that if i am depressed and drinking, i tend to come home and play russian roulette with my meds after drinking, thats when i see how many meds i can take at a time with the alcohol and still live. when i am manic and have drinks, i have a hard time even feeling the effects of the beer. goes down like water. so i generally don't drink anymore. but i do self medicate with pot. meds do enuff to my liver and pot helps me sleep a little better too.

I drink beer every day. Some days a little, some days a lot.
I know what they say about meds, depression and about my liver etc. but right now it's working for me and I just don't care. I don't want to live to 85 either. I smoke cigarettes too!