Do you drink? Does it make your symptoms worse?
Nope. Don't drink at all (with the exception of some very weak brandy slush at Christmas) because it interferes with the meds.
I do drink and it does cause flares. I try not to drink often but im 22 and at uni so its difficult not to! I usually get ulcers the next day and use a steroid mouthwash and sometimes it can trigger other symptoms and I can get quite run down the week after.
I consider when it is worth it, or if it is a particular occasion. I wouldnt drink unless there was a reason or if I had something coming up where a flare could interfere just in case.
Hi Sharon,
Drink and Lupus don't go together well but i've had right flares going on lately and lastnight my hubby took me for a meal and i had 3 double whisky's topped with lemonade because of my meds i'm on....this info is regarding alcohol.
Moderate use of alcohol is usually not a problem for people with lupus, but alcohol can lower the effectiveness of some of the drugs used to treat lupus, can cause new health problems, and can make existing problems worse. For example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin®), naproxen (Naprosyn®), and celecoxib (Celebrex®) -- can cause ulcers and bleeding in the stomach and intestines at any time during treatment; the chance of developing an ulcer or internal bleeding increases with alcohol use. Also, anticoagulant medicines such as warfarin (Coumadin®) and the chemotherapy drug, methotrexate, may not be as effective if you are drinking alcohol.
I had my first taste of alcohol yesterday, we were at a place called the Apple Orchard and they had hard cider and apple wine tasting. I don't drink due to the pain meds, just not a good idea for me. Trisha
Well Trisha good of you mate but with what i've got on, a drop of whisky chills my mind from it all and it's not like we're living on drink constantley.
Love Terri xxx
I do have a couple of drinks almost every night. It actually helps my back pains. I haven't noticed any connection between alcohol and flares. Everything in moderation. : )
Hello artchick,
How you said it helps your back pain...drinking when i do have a few numbs part of my body. :)
artchick said:
I do have a couple of drinks almost every night. It actually helps my back pains. I haven't noticed any connection between alcohol and flares. Everything in moderation. : )
I do not drink very often and when I do it's usually just a glass or two of wine so I havent noticed that it makes my symptoms worse, but I have recently noticed that when I do not drink enough water, the next day when I wake up...I hurt much worse. My hands are swollen from the dehydration which makes the joints hurt worse. Has anyone else noticed this?
No alcohol for me, the meds that I take keep me high enough and it definitely does not mix well with the medication that lupus patients take. BE CAREFUL GUYS!!!!!!!
great question
Well when we do have a drink, we need to get water down we because Lupus causes dehydration and alcohol will cause this with us plus won't help our organs.
So remember the next day drink like a FISH...to keep your body stabalized as best as possible :)
I'm not sure if it makes my symptoms worse or not. It could just be a co-incidence that I sometimes have flares when I drink. I avoid drinking for the most part, because I don't want to take a chance.
I can manage up to 4 drinks at one time which I occassionally have if there is an event on etc. If I have one more than that I get really ill from the meds. Weird though 4 is ok 5 is a disaster. It's like my body cant process all my meds and the alcohol. I dont have flares from it though. It just feels like a hangover x 10 and takes me a couple of days to get over.
Hello MelbourneLupus,
Good point stated as i can't take no more than 3 drinks, anymore tied the next day with stomach pains...it's so weird how things affect we.
Love Terri :)
MelbourneLupus said:
I can manage up to 4 drinks at one time which I occassionally have if there is an event on etc. If I have one more than that I get really ill from the meds. Weird though 4 is ok 5 is a disaster. It's like my body cant process all my meds and the alcohol. I dont have flares from it though. It just feels like a hangover x 10 and takes me a couple of days to get over.
I used to be always fine with 2 or 3, usually up to 4 but sometimes bad at that point (sick and throwing up, mental and sensory meltdown, flushed, etc. but not usually hangover) before taking meds (before being diagnosed, so I wouldn’t have associated worse experiences drinking with more active symptoms!)
About a month after adding Plaquenil, Prilosec and occasional Ativan (I never drank anywhere near a dose of that, and nor should anyone! Dangerous overly sedative action!) I had a HORRIBLE reaction to only two drinks, spaced over an hour apart, after a big meal. The reaction came on with a delay a few hours after I stopped drinking, and was bad enough that I was getting close to calling my friend I had met for drinks (who had work the next day) to get her out of bed to take me to the hospital! When I was on the nurse advice call-line getting advice on what might signal danger versus just SEVERE discomfort as I was experiencing, things started to calm down again, and two more hours later I finally felt normal enough to sleep.
Up till that point, I felt:
Extreme dizziness mad worse by laying down but impossible to stand (had to sit up in bed about 4 hours before I could sleep, and still did that on a big wedge of pillows!)
Severe nausea but unable to vomit
Flushing, swelling malar rash
Pounding migraine-like headache
Hypothermic
Severe wrist and finger joint pain
Proressively to almost completely numb hands and feet
I have suspected neuropsychiatric lupus, and a lot of this felt neurological in nature, but might have been a drug interaction. I have been too scared and averse to drinking ever since (this was in August), plus feeling like with all my loss of health and fears of brain damage/malfunction as it is, alcohol is so NOT worth it. I’ve always tolerated caffeine poorly and it’s even worse now (like even sensitive to chocolate), and I’ve never smoked. So I pretty much have a substance-free life, and the main thing I miss about drinking is the flavors of my favorite drinks: good craft microbrews, caipirinhas, good rums and tequilas, wine to a lesser extent. But I don’t miss any of those things as much as my health, and I don’t intend to sabotage it any further. It would be great to get back to drinking non-buzz levels of alcohol like a half-glass of wine, .3L of beer, sips of liquors, etc, but I’ve had a big enough buzz-kill to swear off the stuff for intoxication purposes. I also rather appreciate the times my brain is functioning normally, which is not all the time, sadly. If anything, I might start smoking some pot because it actually helps with a lot of lupus problems ;), but I really don’t care about being high on anything but dancing, living, loving and catching waves 
I went out for my 21st birthday before I was diagnosed........the next day i felt like i got ran over i couldnt even walk...i know now that the pain i was feeling was the lupus bc i can still feel the same pain today (obviously the drinking ...and dancing and wearing high heels didnt help.) I just turned 22 this november..needless to say I didnt go all out this year. However I did go to a wedding and it was a year since I went out dancing and drinking ........BIG MISTAKE ! I was miserable even DAYS later! I will admit that I probably over did it but It was a year since I really did any dancing or drinking since my life was put on hold when I was diagnosed in Feb...I mean I am 22, its what us girls do.... but I realize my body is not like it was back in my high school days
Hi there,
The drinking did'nt help but what really contributed was your shoes, dancing and your actually body muscles having to take so much strain...it does look well though when we can't even celebrate without having to keep watching how much our body takes. :)
My daughter has lupus said:
I went out for my 21st birthday before I was diagnosed........the next day i felt like i got ran over i couldnt even walk...i know now that the pain i was feeling was the lupus bc i can still feel the same pain today (obviously the drinking ...and dancing and wearing high heels didnt help.) I just turned 22 this november..needless to say I didnt go all out this year. However I did go to a wedding and it was a year since I went out dancing and drinking ........BIG MISTAKE ! I was miserable even DAYS later! I will admit that I probably over did it but It was a year since I really did any dancing or drinking since my life was put on hold when I was diagnosed in Feb...I mean I am 22, its what us girls do.... but I realize my body is not like it was back in my high school days
I was told we are not supposed to drink. At this point though I might consider saying the heck with it…LOL
I think the occasional nip is probably ok but if it causes symptoms or flares than stop immediately. It also depends on your meds, everyone is on different things and there are some you definitely can’t drink with.
Cheers!!! 
Doctors and drug companies are going to say not to drink to avoid lawsuits. You really have to know your body, limitations, etc. So far, after years of a nightly nip, I have never had any testing to show it was causing an issue. I do know that when I have too much, I feel bad. And, of course, I drink responsibly. ; )