Mixing Percocet and Alcohol: Why You CAN’T Mix These Drugs

If you’re thinking of mixing Percocet with alcohol, please do not mix them under any circumstances. Combining oxycodone/acetaminophen with any amount of alcohol could be deadly.

It’s common for people who mix these two substances to experience heart attacks, respiratory depression, or drug overdose.

You must understand that both of these drugs are powerful depressants with unpredictable side effects. When you mix them together, it can have a “supercharged” effect on your brain, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system.

And since they are both so powerful and unpredictable, you never know what you could do or what might happen. This mixture can lead to oversedation, lack of motor control, risky behaviour, brain injuries, cardiovascular issues, and breathing problems. You could even stop breathing completely.

Most prescription pain medications even include a warning on the label about alcohol use. Now you know why.

To understand the full dangers of polysubstance use, we need to go into more detail on the effects of each of these drugs, what happens when they mix, and what to do in case of an overdose. This article will cover all of that.

And always remember, if you are struggling with addiction, there’s hope for recovery, and we’re here to help you.

What is Percocet?

Percocet is a powerful prescription painkiller that combines oxycodone, a strong and addictive opioid, with acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol. It’s often prescribed for severe pain, like after surgery or a serious injury. While we do recognise that many people need pain relief for injuries, it’s impossible to ignore the severe risks of these drugs. 

Here’s why… Oxycodone works by changing the way your brain feels pain. It brings immediate relief for even very serious pain, but it also creates a dangerous sense of euphoria that can lead to addiction before you even realise it. 

In fact, prescription drug abuse has long been considered an epidemic in the United States and other Western countries. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse on their page What is the Scope of Prescription Drug Misuse in the United States, 3.1% (or 8.7 MILLION people) misuse prescription painkillers. And, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 3.4% misused opioid medications in 2020, so the numbers are quite significant.

Other drugs with oxycodone include commonly prescribed drugs like OxyContin, Roxicodone, and Xtampza ER. They have all ruined lives, especially when mixed with chronic alcohol abuse.

What are The Effects of Percocet (and Other Opioids?)

Percocet and other opioids reduce pain and bring a sense of numbness and euphoria. They change the way your brain processes pain by blocking pain signals and releasing feel-good chemicals that bring relief, like dopamine.

That’s why they work so well…but also why they’re so dangerous. Here’s why…

At first, they seem like a solution to both your physical and emotional pain. You forget all of the bad things in life and are lost in a beautiful euphoria. But over time, your brain adjusts, and you need more to feel the same effect. Eventually, you find it impossible to feel pleasure without these drugs, and you may even experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when not taking them.

That’s how tolerance, dependence, and addiction take hold. And eventually, these things can lead to severe side effects like difficulty breathing, overdose, and even death. In fact, opioids are one of the most common substances indicated in deaths by suicide (20%), according to a study in the National Library of Medicine entitled Suicide Risk and Addiction: The Impact of Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders from March 2021 and written by Rizk, Mina M., et al.

Here’s more on the effects of opioid drugs:

Immediate Effects

Short-Term Effects

Long-Term Effects

As you can see, some of the effects of prescription medication are harrowing. When combined with alcohol, they’re even worse.

How Does Alcohol Affect Your Body?

Alcohol is a depressant that affects nearly every part of your body, even if you don’t realise it at first. Alcohol consumption slows down your brain, clouds your judgement, hinders coordination, and also lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. It also irritates your stomach, weakens your liver, and damages your brain.

Now imagine combining that with opioids, another depressant that slows breathing and dulls pain signals. 

Together, they shut your body down. This is why you’re so much more likely to overdose or suffer from respiratory failure while taking it. Also, alcohol significantly increases your chances of being involved in violent altercations, car accidents, and falls.

NOTE: It’s never OK to mix alcohol with other drugs like opioids. Even the CDC warns against combining opioids and alcohol. It says it can be deadly. Alcohol often alters the metabolism and pharmacological effects of other drugs, so you can’t even be sure how they’ll affect you. This is a very dangerous game indeed.

What are The Risks of Mixing Percocet With Alcohol?

The main risks of mixing prescription opioids with alcohol are cardiovascular issues, respiratory issues, and impaired functioning. However, the issue is a bit deeper than that.

You see, these drugs are both depressants, which means they slow down your central nervous system. So, when you take both, you are essentially DOUBLING the depressive effects. 

Another thing to keep in mind here is that both alcohol and opioids alter the effects of one another. You never know what’s going to happen. All of the negative effects of one will be even more intense when taken together. This goes for ALL of the negative effects of each drug.

Here are some of the negative side effects of combining alcohol with Percocet in more detail:

• Cardiovascular issues: Taking both of these substances together could cause your heart rate to drop too low, which can cause faintness, dizziness, or even heart failure. 

• Respiratory issues: Oxycodone, the opioid in Percocet, suppresses your respiratory drive. That means you don’t get the signal to breathe as often. Now, combine that with alcohol and you will magnify the effects. That’s why it’s common for people who mix these substances to experience respiratory failure.

• Brain injuries: Mixing these two together can have serious negative consequences for your brain due to how opioids affect your breathing. Shallow breathing can lead to a lack of oxygen in the brain, also known as hypoxia. This can lead to anoxic brain injuries (injuries due to lack of oxygen).

• Overdose: Taking both drugs together may numb you to the effects of either one. So you won’t know how much alcohol you’re drinking, and you won’t feel how much Percocet you’re taking either. This is a deadly combination.

Other side effects may include:

Why do People Mix Percocet with Alcohol?

People practice polysubstance use like mixing Percs with alcohol for a number of reasons. People may use drugs or alcohol to relieve pain, enhance the effects of another substance, or to escape past trauma. Some even use it to reduce the withdrawal symptoms from a substance like alcohol. Unfortunately, this is NOT a rare occurrence. 

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism’s page Alcohol-Medication Interactions: Potentially Dangerous Mixes, 40% of adults have taken a medication in the last year that could negatively interact with alcohol. And 5-6% of people who drink regularly are prescribed a sedative-hypnotic or opioid for at least 30 days.

These numbers are staggering. And sadly, it’s still common for both addicts and partygoers to mix drugs to “party harder”. 

Here are a few reasons why people mix Percocet with alcohol:

Relieve Pain

Percocet is a serious prescription painkiller strong enough to be classified as a Schedule II controlled substance by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

If you’ve ever had a serious medical operation, chances are you’ve been prescribed Percocet or something similar. The problem here is that people who take pain-relief medication are often suffering from crippling pain, so they add alcohol to amplify pain relief.

Relax or Escape

If you’ve been through trauma, your body remembers even when your mind tries to move on. People who are dealing with mental health issues or trauma are often suffering from stress, anxiety, and tension that they can’t escape no matter what they do. It’s impossible for them to relax.

That’s why they use substances like Percocet and alcohol. They seem like a way out. They dull the pain, quiet the racing thoughts, and for a little while, let you breathe. These drugs feel like a break from everything. They feel warm. They make you numb.

But it’s temporary. When the effects wear off, the stress and pain come back—often worse than before. The only answer becomes using again, and more than you did the last time.

Decrease Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

When someone with an alcohol use disorder stops drinking after a period of heavy usage, they will experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is tough, and it comes with a mix of physical and emotional issues that drive the addict to want to drink again.

Common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal include:

It’s a painful process, and for many people, it feels unbearable. Some turn to opioid-based medications like Percocet to try to ease the discomfort.

Recreational Use

Opioids like Percocet activate specific nerve cell receptors in the brain that cause pleasurable feelings similar to feelings from eating and sexual activity. In other words, they help people feel more pleasure in the short term (while being incredibly dangerous long-term).

In other words, individuals taking oxycodone and drinking alcohol are trying to double the positive and euphoric feelings caused by both substances.

Can You Overdose on Opioids or Alcohol?

Yes, you can overdose on both alcohol and opioids and mixing them makes it even more dangerous.

In 2022 alone, nearly 82,000 people died from opioid overdose according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s study Drug Overdose Deaths: Facts and Figures.

And, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, about 13% of opioid deaths in that state involved alcohol (and that's just one state...). So, opioids are dangerous enough as is, and when you mix alcohol with them, you increase the likelihood of an OD.

Here’s a bit more on the science behind it. Both substances slow down your body’s functions, including breathing and heart rate. Over time, your body builds tolerance, meaning you need more to feel the same effects. But the problem is it also pushes you closer to a lethal dose.

And since both “numb you out”, they make it harder to determine just how much you’ve had. Opioids and alcohol can cause shallow breathing, unconsciousness, and even stop your heart.

If you witness an overdose, act fast:
1. Call 911 immediately
2. Try to wake them up
3. Check their breathing and pulse
4. Give naloxone if available (for opioid OD)
5. Turn them on their side to prevent choking

What are The Treatments for Percocet and Alcohol Addiction?

We want you to know that no matter how overwhelming it feels right now, recovery from Percocet and alcohol addiction is possible.

It may seem like one of the hardest things you can do, but we have seen thousands of successful recoveries in our rehabilitation centre. You don't have to face this alone. With the right support, you or your loved one can regain control, heal from the damage caused by addiction, and start living a healthier, happier life.

Imagine a future where you no longer feel trapped by the grip of addiction. Imagine finding a way to manage your pain in a healthy way, without risking serious health issues and even death from suffocation.

Here are the types of treatments to help you heal and live your life to the fullest:

Detox

Medically supervised detox helps your body safely remove the substances while managing the withdrawal symptoms that arise when stopping substance misuse.

As you now know, the combination of Percocet and alcohol can cause severe withdrawal symptoms that can be fatal (for example, you could stop breathing).

Detox should always be done under the care of medical professionals. We recommend starting here if you or someone you know has been drinking heavily and taking oxycodone medication at the same time. Please speak to your healthcare provider about getting medical detox (or other treatment options).

Inpatient

Inpatient treatment centres like our clinic provide intensive support in a structured environment. This way, you can focus fully on beating the addiction in a healthy way AWAY from the triggers and temptations of home. Remember, it’s hard to recover in the same environment where you got sick.

During inpatient treatment, the addict will receive medical treatment, group therapy, holistic healing, emotional support, and learn healthy coping skills. That will help with current substance misuse issues, assist in maintaining their sobriety moving forward, and teach healthy ways to manage pain.

Outpatient

Outpatient treatment is a great option to get the support you need without disrupting your life. If your addiction is not severe (meaning you don’t need detox), then outpatient treatment might be enough to heal your illness.

Outpatient can be done with a mixture of at-home, online, and in-person treatments like counselling or support groups. You might not have to miss work or school.

NOTE: Every case is different. We can never make any guarantees.

Support groups

Support groups like Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), or SMART Recovery are effective, widely available, and free.

During meetings, the person with a substance use disorder will learn more about their addiction problems. You'll learn real coping strategies for addiction and the struggles that led you there in the first place. You'll also hear from others who’ve been through it, share your own challenges, and get the kind of support that reminds you you're not alone.

People who attend regular meetings have a much better chance of staying sober than those who don’t. We see it all the time. If you don’t participate in ongoing care, your chances of relapse are way higher.

Note on The Cabin’s Family Programme: We offer an 8-week online course for family members of addicts who want to learn how to look after themselves and their loved one during the recovery process. This course will help you develop deeper connections with your loved ones and learn from others who’ve had similar experiences. If your loved one is lying to you, stealing from you, or abusing you, we can help put a stop to it and heal these wounds. Your family can be whole again.

How The Cabin Can Help With Opioid and Alcohol Addiction

We even offer family therapy to help family members heal and learn how to give support to their loved ones suffering from addiction. This is available through our intensive outpatient programme. Family members of addicts suffering from opioid addiction can attend concurrent family therapy online (or in person) while their loved one is going through inpatient treatment.

Chiang Mai, Thailand is the ideal location to recover from substance use disorders. You’ll be in the mountains surrounded by peaceful scenery, Buddhist temples, and caring staff dedicated to your recovery. You’ll even get unique experiences here that you can’t get elsewhere, like learning Muay Thai kickboxing while going through care.

Contact us today for your free evaluation. We will respond within 24 hours and begin the healing process.