Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsPossible RisksSigns and SymptomsTiming and Safety
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Possible Risks
Signs and Symptoms
Timing and Safety
Mixing alcohol andPercocet (oxycodone plus acetaminophen)can be dangerous. On their own, alcohol and Percoset can both slow breathing, impair judgment and coordination, and be toxic to the liver. These hazards are amplified when the two are taken together.
Combining alcohol and Percocet can cause irreversibleliver damageif consumed excessively or over a long period of time. It can also increase the risk of an opioid overdose, leading to unconsciousness, slowed heart rate, respiratory failure, coma, brain damage, and death.
The article describes the risks of taking Percocet with alcohol, including the signs and symptoms of a medical emergency.
Risks of Percocet With Alcohol
The combination of the two poses serious health risks, including:
Impaired Judgment and Coordination
Alcohol slows the brain’sneural pathwaysand makes it harder for the brain to coordinate functions like balance, memory, speech, and judgment. This can lead to unsteady walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, and impaired memory and judgment.
Oxycodone, like alcohol, is a CNS depressant that has much the same effect on the brain. It can affect balance, coordination, and reflexes and cause impaired memory, judgment, and concentration.
Taking alcohol and oxycodone together can amplify these effects, making you “drunker” than you might be drinking alcohol alone or “higher” than you might be taking oxycodone alone. The combination can be deadly, increasing the risk of injury, particularly if behind the wheel of a car.
Risk of Addiction
The problem is that the brain’s reward center becomes less and less responsive to alcohol and oxycodone over time (referred to asdrug tolerance). The requires you to take higher and higher doses to get the same effects. Addiction is an all-too-common consequence.
Taking alcohol and Percocet together can make addiction worse. There is not only evidence that alcohol use increases the likelihood and effects of opioid addiction but that people who abuse alcohol and opioids are less likely to respond to substance abuse treatment.
Liver Injury
When taken at the prescribed dose, acetaminophen found in Percocet is only mildly toxic to the liver. But when alcohol is added to the mix, the potential forhepatotoxicity(liver poisoning) increases.
This is because the enzyme your body uses to break down acetaminophen (called CYP2E1) also breaks down alcohol. Due to the competition for the enzyme, less acetaminophen is broken down and more of the active drug remains in the bloodstream. This, in turn, translates to a higher risk of liver injury and, in some cases, permanent liver damage.
This is not an uncommon situation. In fact, more than 30,000 people are hospitalized each year in the United States for acute liver failure as a result of acetaminophen-induced liver damage.
Overdose
Each year, over 100,000 people in the United States die from an overdose of opioid drugs like oxycodone. Many are illicit users who inject drugs they buy off the street, but others are those who simply abuse their prescription medications.
This can lead tobradypnea(abnormally slowed breathing) andrespiratory depression(where carbon dioxide levels increase in the body while oxygen levels fall). Among the possible consequences of this are fainting,bradycardia(slowed heart rate), respiratory failure, heart attack, coma, and death.
Because of the intoxicating effects of both drugs, people may forget that they took a Percocet dose and take another. This is a common cause of an accidental overdose.
Where to Get Help for Addiction
If you or your loved one are battling alcohol and/or opioid addiction, contact theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helplineat1-800-662-4357for support and treatment facilities in your area.
Signs and Symptoms of Combined Percocet and Alcohol Use
Combining alcohol and Percocet can lead to a number of potentially serious side effects, including:
The risk of an overdose can vary from one person to the next. There is no way to know how much or how little alcohol and Percoset are needed for an overdose to occur.
When to Call 911Call 91 1 or seek immediate emergency care if you suspect someone has had an opioid overdose. Symptoms include:Unconsciousness or inability to stay awakeConstricted (narrowed) pupilsSlowed or ragged breathingA loud rattling when breathingPale, clammy, or gray skinBluish lips or fingersNausea, vomiting, or both
When to Call 911
Call 91 1 or seek immediate emergency care if you suspect someone has had an opioid overdose. Symptoms include:Unconsciousness or inability to stay awakeConstricted (narrowed) pupilsSlowed or ragged breathingA loud rattling when breathingPale, clammy, or gray skinBluish lips or fingersNausea, vomiting, or both
Call 91 1 or seek immediate emergency care if you suspect someone has had an opioid overdose. Symptoms include:
Is It Safe to Drink When Percocet Wears Off?
Oxycodone has a drug half-life of around 4.5 hours, meaning that only half of the drug has been eliminated from the body within this time frame. It can take far longer to eliminate the remaining drug from your system.
So even if you don’t feel the effects of Percocet, it doesn’t mean you don’t have any of the drug still in your system. If you decide to have a drink, you could very well find yourself drunker than usual and unable to operate a car or heavy machinery without extreme danger.
On the flip side, alcohol can be detected in the blood 12 hours after taking a drink. So it is equally unwise to take a Percoset after drinking, even if the effects have apparently worn off.
Ultimately, there is no “safe” amount of alcohol to drink if you are on Percoset. Since Percoset is only intended for short-term use (usually no longer than five days), it is best to simply cut out alcohol until at least 24 hours after stopping treatment.
Summary
The side effects of mixing alcohol and Percocet can be dire and should be avoided. When taken together, they can increase the risk of addiction, overdose, or liver damage. They can also amplify the intoxicating effects of both, leading to impaired coordination and judgment and, in turn, an increased risk of injury to yourself and others.
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Endo Pharmaceuticals.Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets, USP).Brown University.Alcohol and your body.U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Oxycodone.Gudin JA, Mogali S, Jones JD, Comer SD.Risks, management, and monitoring of combination opioid, benzodiazepines, and/or alcohol use.Postgrad Med. 2013;125(4):115-30. doi:10.3810/pgm.2013.07.2684Witkiewitz K, Vowles KE.Alcohol and opioid use, co-use, and chronic pain in the context of the opioid epidemic: a critical review.Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Mar;42(3):478–88. doi:10.1111/acer.13594Yoon E, Babar A, Choudhary M, Kutner M, Pyrsopoulos N.Acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity: A comprehensive update.J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2016;4(2):131-142. doi:10.14218/JCTH.2015.00052National Institute of Drug Abuse.Drug overdose death rates.Texas Department of State Health Services.Alcohol-related polysubstance overdose deaths in Texas: 2010-2019.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Endo Pharmaceuticals.Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets, USP).Brown University.Alcohol and your body.U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Oxycodone.Gudin JA, Mogali S, Jones JD, Comer SD.Risks, management, and monitoring of combination opioid, benzodiazepines, and/or alcohol use.Postgrad Med. 2013;125(4):115-30. doi:10.3810/pgm.2013.07.2684Witkiewitz K, Vowles KE.Alcohol and opioid use, co-use, and chronic pain in the context of the opioid epidemic: a critical review.Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Mar;42(3):478–88. doi:10.1111/acer.13594Yoon E, Babar A, Choudhary M, Kutner M, Pyrsopoulos N.Acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity: A comprehensive update.J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2016;4(2):131-142. doi:10.14218/JCTH.2015.00052National Institute of Drug Abuse.Drug overdose death rates.Texas Department of State Health Services.Alcohol-related polysubstance overdose deaths in Texas: 2010-2019.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Endo Pharmaceuticals.Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets, USP).Brown University.Alcohol and your body.U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Oxycodone.Gudin JA, Mogali S, Jones JD, Comer SD.Risks, management, and monitoring of combination opioid, benzodiazepines, and/or alcohol use.Postgrad Med. 2013;125(4):115-30. doi:10.3810/pgm.2013.07.2684Witkiewitz K, Vowles KE.Alcohol and opioid use, co-use, and chronic pain in the context of the opioid epidemic: a critical review.Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Mar;42(3):478–88. doi:10.1111/acer.13594Yoon E, Babar A, Choudhary M, Kutner M, Pyrsopoulos N.Acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity: A comprehensive update.J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2016;4(2):131-142. doi:10.14218/JCTH.2015.00052National Institute of Drug Abuse.Drug overdose death rates.Texas Department of State Health Services.Alcohol-related polysubstance overdose deaths in Texas: 2010-2019.
Endo Pharmaceuticals.Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen tablets, USP).
Brown University.Alcohol and your body.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Oxycodone.
Gudin JA, Mogali S, Jones JD, Comer SD.Risks, management, and monitoring of combination opioid, benzodiazepines, and/or alcohol use.Postgrad Med. 2013;125(4):115-30. doi:10.3810/pgm.2013.07.2684
Witkiewitz K, Vowles KE.Alcohol and opioid use, co-use, and chronic pain in the context of the opioid epidemic: a critical review.Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2018 Mar;42(3):478–88. doi:10.1111/acer.13594
Yoon E, Babar A, Choudhary M, Kutner M, Pyrsopoulos N.Acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity: A comprehensive update.J Clin Transl Hepatol. 2016;4(2):131-142. doi:10.14218/JCTH.2015.00052
National Institute of Drug Abuse.Drug overdose death rates.
Texas Department of State Health Services.Alcohol-related polysubstance overdose deaths in Texas: 2010-2019.
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