Many people will be ringing in the New Year at a party with friends and family.
Those parties tend to come with copious amounts of alcohol.
Health officials are reminding people to be cautious with which medications they’re mixing with that alcohol.
Wisconsinites are some of the heaviest drinkers in the U.S.
According to CDC data, the state ranks third in the country with more than 64% of adults surveyed saying they’ve had alcohol in the last 30 days.
And when Wisconsinites drink, they tend to do it more often and at higher volume.
This is concerning to many health officials on its own.
More than 35,000 emergency room visits in Wisconsin last year were because of chronic alcohol conditions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
If you’re on medication and consuming alcohol that can lead to its own complications.
Allyson Balthazor is a clinical pharmacist who is completing her first year of pharmacy residency at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.
“Some of the risks of mixing medicines and alcohol is that they may make your medicines less effective. For example, alcohol is a depressant,” said Balthazor. “If you are taking an anti-depressant and drinking alcohol it may impair the medicine’s ability to affect your mood and hurt the goal of improved mood.”
Other risks include drowsiness, major bleeding, and trouble breathing.
Balthazor says it’s not just prescription medicine you need to be concerned about.
“Tylenol and alcohol are actually processed the same way in our body. They’re both processed through the liver. Using both at the same time can increase the risk of organ damage, especially to the liver,” she said.
Balthazor recommends talking to your primary care doctor or pharmacist about the risk of drinking alcohol with any medications you may be taking.
More than 2,600 deaths in Wisconsin in 2019 were attributed to alcohol according to the state Department of Health Services.
