Mixing alcohol with different types of drugs can result in various consequences. The same way as any food can affect the way a drug will affect your body. Some mixtures can improve the effectiveness of a drug, while others can lessen it or worse amplify its dangerous side effects.
Tramadol is a very powerful depressant, meaning it works by dulling the receptors inside the brain. On the other hand, alcohol can sometimes work as either a depressant or a stimulant. This contradiction can cause an imbalance in a brain which may result in dangerous circumstances.
How Does Alcohol Affect The Brain?
After consumption, alcohol passes through the bloodstream towards the liver. Alcohol molecules that the liver failed to breakdown would then be redistributed in various parts of the body. The body part whose effect is most noticeable is the brain. (1)
Alcohol is often mistaken as a stimulant rather than the depressant. This is why people use it to suppress their mental limitations during social gatherings. However, as can be seen at the end of every party, after a person has drunk a considerable amount of alcohol it then turns to a powerful depressant.
Medically speaking, alcohol is tagged as a depressant because like sedatives and tranquilizers. It works by slowing down the activities of our central nervous system. At the same time, alcohol stimulates the brain into release dopamine, usually described as the “feel good” hormones. (2)
How Does Tramadol Affect The Brain?
The Tramadol is primarily used to relieve moderate to severe pains. It does this by binding with the brains opioid receptors to limit the stimuli entering the brain. In small doses, it reduces the pain that is felt by the user, but with higher doses, it can produce a euphoric effect which makes it attractive to some drug abusers.
Since the drug is considered as milder than other narcotics such as heroin and morphine, many doctors consider it as a safer alternative. However, its adverse side effects can be just as worse is abused.
It also produces a secondary opioid receptor known as O-desmethyltramadol. This receptor produces a stronger depressant effect than Tramadol itself. That is why some users report getting high while using the drug even after following their doctor’s prescriptions.
Side Effects Of Mixing Tramadol And Alcohol
Taking alcohol and Tramadol together will produce twice the depressing effects of each when taken separately. This mix will result in multiple adverse effects which can be seriously life-threatening.
Listed below are some of the adverse effects of mixing alcohol and tramadol:
- Seizures: It is characterized by uncontrollable tremors and shakings throughout the body. It is incredibly dangerous for unsupervised individuals dues to the fact that it can cause breathing problems.
- Extreme Anxiety
- Nausea and Stomach Discomfort: the outcome of the tramadol’s reaction with the alcohol while it is still in the stomach
- Respiratory Depression: The same way the heart loses function; many users end up with asphyxiation after their lungs became unable to work properly.
- Bradycardia or Slowed Heart Beat
- Cardiac Arrest: Overly decreased brain function can result to important organs shutting down. Cardiac arrest is the sudden stop of the heart from beating.
- Loss of Consciousness
