Question
Can I drink alcohol with ARVs?
9 September 2014. Related: All topics, Drug interactions, Recreational drugs.
I have started ART a month ago. Before that I used to drink alcohol quite often.
Since I started ART, I try to not drink. But, I still want to.
Can I drink alcohol?
Answer
In general, one or two drink is likely to be fine, if this is something you enjoy. There are no interactions between alcohol and ARVs.
More heavy drinking however can lead to missing doses of your ARVs. This can cause your treatment to fail. This means that if you have a drink, make sure you find a way to not miss any of your meds. Moderation is important.
Two other concerns are important for people living with HIV:
- Alcohol can also make efavirenz side effects worse, in particular feeling dizzy, so be careful about this.
- Alcohol can make hepatitis or other liver complications progress more quickly. Alcohol is not recommended if you have hepatitis. See this information from the guide to HIV and hepatitis C:
https://i-base.info/guides/hepc/alcohol
The NHS website has a lot of information about alcohol. This is important whether you are HIV positive or HIV negative. See:
http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/Alcohol/Pages/Alcoholhome.aspx, and
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/Effectsofalcohol.aspx
In the UK, the NHS recommendations for alcohol are:
- Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day. This is only 1-2 pints of lager – ie one strong drink.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/alcohol-units.aspx - Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day
- If you’ve had a heavy drinking session, avoid alcohol for 48 hours.
“Regularly” means drinking this amount every day or most days of the week.
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This question from 2008 was updated in September 2014.
Hello Sonke and thanks for getting in touch.
I am very sorry to hear you are not feeling well and have side effects.
You are not writing what medication you are taking so I can’t look up side effects.
You are also not mentioning wehn you started ARVs, which would have been useful.
However, the ARVs shouldn’t be causing so intense side effects and your clinic should be looking into these.
I would recommend having another discussion with your doctor and insist of further testing so they can identify what the problem might be.
In the meantime, please make sure you are not deficient for vitamins B, C and D as the deficiency can cause symptoms like that.
You can test for those – it’s a simple blood test.
Hi I have been on medication and I drink sometimes but since I started the medication I am weak my bones are painful and burning sensation. The tingling and electrolytes sensation I’ve been to the clinic they just say it’s side effects what can I do?
Hi Haz, what is the name of the ARVs you have been taking? and how much weight have you lost? Certain HIV medications like stavudine can cause problems with gaining weight after it has already been lost. There are also other factors including stress and lifestyle when starting treatment that can effect how your body stores weight.