{"id":628813,"date":"2024-07-02T17:30:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T21:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=628813"},"modified":"2024-10-25T09:52:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T13:52:27","slug":"rexulti-and-alcohol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/rexulti-and-alcohol\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you drink while taking Rexulti?"},"content":{"rendered":"

People with major depressive disorder (MDD) sometimes need to add an antipsychotic medication to their treatment plan. <\/span>Rexulti<\/span><\/a> (brexpiprazole) is commonly prescribed alongside other antidepressants to help people with MDD better manage <\/span>symptoms of depression<\/span><\/a> in adults. As an atypical antipsychotic, Rexulti is also <\/span>approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)<\/span><\/a> to treat schizophrenia in people ages 13 and older, as well as agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’ve been prescribed Rexulti, your healthcare provider may have advised you not to drink alcohol while taking the drug. Many of us take that advice with a grain of salt, assuming that “not drinking” means not drinking excessively. But what about Rexulti: Should you literally not drink at all while taking it, or just moderate your intake? Here’s what you should know about mixing Rexulti with alcohol. <\/span><\/p>\n

Can you drink on Rexulti?<\/span><\/h2>\n

“Most people taking any type of psychiatric medication should try to avoid alcohol entirely, or at least greatly minimize their intake,” said <\/span>Alex Dimitriu, MD<\/span><\/a>, psychiatrist, sleep medicine specialist, and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Psychiatric medications like Rexulti cause central nervous system (CNS) depression,” according to Dr. Dimitriu, which means your nervous system slows down to a potentially dangerous level. This effect can be magnified when you combine Rexulti with alcohol, <\/span>which is also a central nervous system depressant<\/span><\/a>. Additionally, mixing Rexulti with alcohol can not only increase adverse side effects but prevent it from working as intended to improve your symptoms, according to the <\/span>National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can this really happen with just one glass of wine or a couple of beers? Unfortunately, yes. Rexulti stays in your system for an unusually long time, and <\/span>Erika Gray, Pharm.D.<\/span><\/a>, cofounder of Toolbox Genomics, says people should exercise extreme caution when combining it with alcohol because the combination could be more dangerous than when mixing alcohol with other similar drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens if you drink alcohol with Rexulti?<\/span><\/h2>\n

When you mix Rexulti with alcohol, the chances of experiencing CNS depression are higher than when you take Rexulti by itself. According to Dr. Dimitriu, common symptoms of CNS depression include:<\/span><\/p>\n