Is Wine Safe To Drink While Being On Amantadine?

Posted on Sun, 21 Jan 2018

Question: Dear Dr. XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
We have spoken before about my diagnosis of Parkinson's which happened acutely this past summer. Now I am finally taking 300mg of Amantadine per day. (100mg q 8hr) and waiting for my spine to respond to this drug. My back is stiff and painful, lumbar and sacrum especially. It's constant. I am somewhat addicted to using alcohol to relax these muscles. Now I can only tolerate a small bit of wine.
Is this OK? The wine is very helpful. I have dropped 16 lbs in only two months; have a tendency to get anorexic. It helps spark my appetite. If I only drink 1/2 cup, is this harmful? Does it interact with the Amantadine?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No it does not interact

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for follow up.

Although generally speaking alcohol abuse is considered wrong but the amount you are using is quite OK to some extent. Ideally speaking your alcohol intake should be limited to 30 ml of 40% wine or 12 gram of absolute alcohol and I feel your half cup use of wine falls well within the range.

However I like to state that there is need to look for better alternative which could be effective for you as alcohol is not an excellent option for muscle relaxation and anorexia in long run.

I hope this helps you further.
Thanks and regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar