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Oxycodone and Alcohol: Dangers of Opioid-Alcohol Interactions

Medically reviewed by Dr. Po-Chang HsuOctober 26, 2024
Written by
On October 26, 2024

Table of Contents

Key Points

  • Oxycodone is an opioid drug that’s used to treat moderate to severe pain, but it’s also involved in substance abuse.
  • Oxycodone is a central nervous system depressant that slows the body’s activity. Mixing it with alcohol, also a depressant, can depress the nervous system to dangerous levels.
  • The effects of alcohol and oxycodone intake can significantly increase the risks of fatal overdose or other adverse effects.
  • Opioid abuse or alcohol abuse, especially together, needs treatment as soon as possible.

It’s common to have a few drinks now and then. Alcohol consumption is legal and socially acceptable, leading to many people believing that drinking alcohol has no issues. However, if you’re on prescription drugs like oxycodone for moderate to severe pain, which is commonly known as Percocet and other brand names, drinking alcohol can have unpredictable and extremely dangerous effects.

Learn more about the risks of opioid-alcohol interaction, oxycodone and alcohol consumption side effects, and substance abuse risks.

What Is Oxycodone?

Common in Percocet, Percodan, Tylox, and other prescription drugs, oxycodone HCL is an opioid component that’s used for pain relief. It’s a central nervous system depressant that stimulates the opioid receptors to relieve severe pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments, such as cancer-related pain or chronic pain conditions.

In addition to its legitimate medical uses, oxycodone has a range of side effects, including euphoria, confusion, and drowsiness. Like other opioids, oxycodone is a controlled substance classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for its addiction potential. When it’s misused or abused, oxycodone can be addictive. Substance abuse or alcohol abuse with oxycodone significantly increases these risks.

Opioids like oxycodone also carry an overdose risk. This is due to how the medication affects the brain, slowing the breathing rate to fatal levels.[1] Opioid overdose victims have made the drug a serious health concern in recent years for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

There’s a risk of overdone with oxycodone use, but alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk.

Dangers of Opioid and Alcohol Consumption

Combining oxycodone and alcohol consumption can be fatal. Both substances are central nervous system depressants that slow bodily functions, leading to overdose deaths or dangerous complications among opioid overdose patients.

Taking oxycodone and alcohol can cause similar effects. They’re both relaxing and slow the central nervous system activity. They also produce euphoria at higher doses. Combining them can reduce your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing to dangerous levels.[2] In some cases, oxycodone and alcohol consumption can cause breathing difficulties, unconsciousness, coma, and death.

Overdose with Oxycodone and Alcohol

Overdose deaths are possible with opioids like oxycodone and alcohol consumption on their own, but the risk is much higher with the two. The signs of a possible overdose with oxycodone and alcohol consumption include:[3,4]

  • Altered mental state
  • Weak pulse
  • Unconsciousness
  • Slowed breathing
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Bluish lips or skin

If you suspect someone is overdosing on oxycodone and alcohol, call 911 immediately and wait for help to arrive. Tell the emergency medical team that they may have combined oxycodone and alcohol intake. If you have naloxone, you can administer it to reverse the effects of the opioid overdose.

Polydrug Abuse with Oxycodone and Alcohol

Polydrug use, or polysubstance use, is when you use two or more drugs at the same time. This typically involves illicit drugs, but it can include drug abuse of legal substances like alcohol misuse or prescription opioids to treat pain.

If you develop an addiction to multiple drugs, it’s classified as a polysubstance use disorder, which involves an inability to control drug abuse of multiple substances despite health or social problems.[5]

There are many ways polydrug abuse or polysubstance use disorder can manifest. You may intentionally combine illicit drugs, such as stimulants and opioids, or drink alcohol while taking prescription pain medications. Often, people engage in oxycodone and alcohol abuse or misuse to get the effects of alcohol and opioids or to self-medicate mental health conditions.

In some cases, people may not realize they’re mixing dangerous substances or not engaging in safe alcohol intake. For example, someone may have a beer in the evening or drink a glass of wine at dinner, not realizing that the effects of alcohol can be a dangerous combination with their prescription medications. It’s important to understand potential drug interactions and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidelines for safe alcohol consumption.

Combining beer and oxycodone, oxycodone and wine, or other drugs can enhance the relaxation effects of the two central nervous system depressants. However, alcohol significantly increases the risks and may have unpredictable results.

Withdrawal Symptoms from Oxycodone and Alcohol

Alcohol abuse and prescription opioid medications build dependence quickly, leading the body to need the substances to function properly. With prescription opioids, dependence can happen with prescribed doses, but it’s a much higher risk if you take it for long periods or at high doses. That’s why it’s a controlled substance classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

If you become dependent on oxycodone and alcohol and take high doses, decreasing intake can cause withdrawal. Opioid withdrawal can be intense, often including painful symptoms like nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, flu-like symptoms, and severe pain.[6] In severe cases, prolonged vomiting and diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances that can be life-threatening. 

Alcohol withdrawal is a bigger concern once dependence or alcohol use disorder occurs. In addition to uncomfortable symptoms like nausea and headaches, the effects of alcohol withdrawal can involve hallucinations, tremors, and potentially life-threatening seizures.[7]

Withdrawal from either of these substances should be done under the supervision of medical professionals, but it’s necessary if you’re experiencing withdrawal from both. Withdrawal syndromes from multiple substances, particularly dangerous ones like alcohol, can be more complicated.

You should never try to quit oxycodone and alcohol on your own. Medical detox is necessary to ensure you have 24/7 medical care and monitoring to manage your symptoms, keep an eye on your health, and prevent dangerous complications.

Medications can be used in detox to help with withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol withdrawal is often treated with benzodiazepines, but medical detox can also provide other medications for symptoms like anxiety or insomnia to make you more comfortable.[8] Opioid withdrawal with opioid use disorder is often treated with medications like buprenorphine to manage cravings and reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms.[9]

Treating Polysubstance Use Disorder

Detox is just one part of the drug abuse and prescription opioid or alcohol addiction treatment process, especially with polydrug abuse. Detox forms a foundation for opioid  and alcohol addiction treatment with behavioral therapies, individual therapy, and other therapies to help with the underlying causes of addiction and substance abuse, including mental health conditions. Depending on the specifics of your care plan, you may undergo individual therapy, group counseling, peer support groups, cognitive behavioral therapy, and more.

Avoid the Effects of Alcohol and Oxycodone

Prescription opioids like oxycodone should be used with caution, especially when it comes to potential interactions like alcohol. If you’re struggling with oxycodone and alcohol abuse or addiction or other substance use disorders, it’s important to get help from a drug or alcohol rehab as soon as possible to reduce the risk of complications or overdose.

Medical Content Writer

Amanda Stevens is a highly respected figure in the field of medical content writing, with a specific focus on eating disorders and addiction treatment. Amanda earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Purdue University, graduating Magna Cum Laude, which serves as a strong educational foundation for her contributions.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Oxycodone and Alcohol

Alcohol intake at the same time or within a few hours of other depressant drugs like oxycodone can cause serious harm. With enough depression from the effects of alcohol consumed with prescription opioids, you may struggle to breathe and suffer from an overdose with complications.

Oxycodone has many potential interactions, including alcohol, anxiety or sleep medications, antihistamines for cough or allergies, and certain antibiotics like clarithromycin and erythromycin.[10] Tell your doctor about any other medications you’re taking and any drug abuse, alcohol misuse, or history of other substance use disorders.

It’s best to stop alcohol intake during the first few days of oxycodone treatment and for a few days after stopping. Ask your doctor when it’s safe to drink alcohol again after taking oxycodone or opioid medications. When combined with opioids, alcohol consumption increases the risk of serious side effects that can be life-threatening.

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[1] Oxycodone: Uses, dosage & side effects. Drugs.com. (n.d.-m). Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/oxycodone.html on 2024, September 17.

[2] Singh, A. K. (2019, March 7). Alcohol interaction with cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids, nicotine, cannabis, and γ-hydroxybutyric acid. MDPI. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/7/1/16 on 2024, September 17.

[3] U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.-c). Opioid overdose. MedlinePlus. Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/opioidoverdose.html on 2024, September 17.

[4] WebMD. (n.d.). Alcohol poisoning: Symptoms, causes, complications, and treatment. WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/alcohol-poisoning-overview on 2024, September 17.

[5] Polysubstance use disorder – what you need to know. Drugs.com. (n.d.-d). Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/cg/polysubstance-use-disorder.html on 2024, September 17.

[6] Shah, M. (2023, July 21). Opioid withdrawal. StatPearls [Internet]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526012/ on 2024, September 17.

[7] WebMD. (n.d.-b). Alcohol withdrawal: Symptoms, treatment and alcohol detox duration. WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/alcohol-withdrawal-symptoms-treatments on 2024, September 17.

[8] Sachdeva, A., Choudhary, M., & Chandra, M. (2015, September). Alcohol withdrawal syndrome: Benzodiazepines and beyond. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research : JCDR. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4606320/ on 2024, September 17.

[9] Shah, M. (2023a, July 21). Opioid withdrawal. StatPearls [Internet]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526012/ on 2024, September 17.

[10] Oxycodone: Uses, dosage & side effects. Drugs.com. (n.d.-m). Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/oxycodone.html#interactions on 2024, September 17.

[11]Wilkinson, C. S., Blount, H. L., Davis, S., Rojas, G., Wu, L., Murphy, N. P., Schwendt, M., & Knackstedt, L. A. (2023, July 24). Voluntary alcohol intake alters the motivation to seek intravenous oxycodone and neuronal activation during the reinstatement of oxycodone and sucrose seeking. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10401968/ on 2024, September 17.

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