Pre-Workouts and Alcohol?

[LazyBrah]

I know it's dangerous to mix them, but someone told me if I'm using pre-workout supplements to lift I shouldn't even be drinking ever (weekends,etc). He said drinking at all within even weeks of using a pre-workout stimulant can cause serious liver damage, is there any truth to this? Couldn't find any articles or info on this.

[Coolcicada]

Curious to the answer as well.

[gpelefty90]

I have no article proof but i do have experience and blood test results. I usually take pre workout every day and most of the time ill drink thur. or friday haven taken pre workout that day of course. I will see depending on the pre workout , physically i felt no different the next day just a normal hangover. now that night i was drinking i felt awesome assuming i had taken pre workout and worked out 3 to 4 hours prior to drinking. just had full panel blood test done 3 weeks ago and liver enzymes were fine as well as everything else. i mean thats just one case and of of course theres a limit like drinking more than 3 times a week while taking pre workout obviously isnt going to be good for your body in general. Alcohol fuks your body anyway if your try to build muscle. if you drink stick to white liquors and diet or water mixers.

[Projectxlol]

Hey,

In general, there should be no serious contra-indications upon the utilization of both Pre-Workouts and Alcohol. This, of course, assuming that you have a healthy liver. Let's take your run-of-the-mill pre-workout which contains caffeine and may contain 1,3 dimethylamine, these products can easily be handled by your liver in moderation (once again, assuming that you have a healthy liver). Some of the ingredients found in some of the pre-workouts are actually found in some "Party Pills" {energy pills taken before going out}.

If you were to take a caffeinated pre-workout DURING drinking alcohol, it may lead to a pretty bad hangover since caffeine is a diuretic (hence some people may drink copious amounts of caffeine in order to prevent kidney stones).

In Summary:

-Using Pre-workouts during the week and even hours before drinking alcohol should not be detrimental to your health, assuming that you have a healthy liver

-Using Pre-workouts immediately before drinking alcohol may lead to further dehydration which may cause a greater hang over


I have conducted a brief literature search in order to link 1,3 dimethylamine to alcohol consumption but couldn't find anything, albeit I did find:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22030947

-Increase in systolic+diastolic BP after acute consumption of 1,3 dimethylamine; I understand that this wasn't part of your question, but just some knowledge to keep in your tank.

[LazyBrah]

I have no article proof but i do have experience and blood test results. I usually take pre workout every day and most of the time ill drink thur. or friday haven taken pre workout that day of course. I will see depending on the pre workout , physically i felt no different the next day just a normal hangover. now that night i was drinking i felt awesome assuming i had taken pre workout and worked out 3 to 4 hours prior to drinking. just had full panel blood test done 3 weeks ago and liver enzymes were fine as well as everything else. i mean thats just one case and of of course theres a limit like drinking more than 3 times a week while taking pre workout obviously isnt going to be good for your body in general. Alcohol fuks your body anyway if your try to build muscle. if you drink stick to white liquors and diet or water mixers.

Interesting, thanks for sharing your experience buddy (not being sarcastic at all)

Hey,

In general, there should be no serious contra-indications upon the utilization of both Pre-Workouts and Alcohol. This, of course, assuming that you have a healthy liver. Let's take your run-of-the-mill pre-workout which contains caffeine and may contain 1,3 dimethylamine, these products can easily be handled by your liver in moderation (once again, assuming that you have a healthy liver). Some of the ingredients found in some of the pre-workouts are actually found in some "Party Pills" {energy pills taken before going out}.

If you were to take a caffeinated pre-workout DURING drinking alcohol, it may lead to a pretty bad hangover since caffeine is a diuretic (hence some people may drink copious amounts of caffeine in order to prevent kidney stones).

In Summary:

-Using Pre-workouts during the week and even hours before drinking alcohol should not be detrimental to your health, assuming that you have a healthy liver

-Using Pre-workouts immediately before drinking alcohol may lead to further dehydration which may cause a greater hang over


I have conducted a brief literature search in order to link 1,3 dimethylamine to alcohol consumption but couldn't find anything, albeit I did find:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22030947

-Increase in systolic+diastolic BP after acute consumption of 1,3 dimethylamine; I understand that this wasn't part of your question, but just some knowledge to keep in your tank.

[img.]http://www.androsform.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Geranamine-3D-balls.png[/img]

Yeah, when I heard they could be a dangerous mix, I could kinda believe it because many prescription (and over the counter) drugs can cause problems when mixed with alcohol. But he said that even after longer periods of time it can still be in your body (liver) and alcohol mixing with it in your body would cause serious liver damage? I was really skeptical (broscience-sounding...), but you can see why I'd be worried enough to check. And yeah I heard 1, 3 dimethylamylamine is banned in New Zealand because it was becoming a popular party pill lol. Thanks for your help guys!

[jbrowning8]

I know it's dangerous to mix them, but someone told me if I'm using pre-workout supplements to lift I shouldn't even be drinking ever (weekends,etc). He said drinking at all within even weeks of using a pre-workout stimulant can cause serious liver damage, is there any truth to this? Couldn't find any articles or info on this.

I just wanted to weigh in on this.

I almost died due to liver failure; liver failure that the doctors blamed on C4.

I wasn't excessive, and I rarely drank (never to get drunk). But I did use pre-workouts a lot. Everyday, perhaps 2x a day. I really enjoyed it...but eventually I felt week then had uncontrollable vomiting. One evening I vomited some 15-20 times.... dry-heaving after a while. My body wouldn't accept anything.... food, water... nothing. I went to the hospital and after a few IVs, my body re-hydrated then began recovering normally. My blood was only clotting to 10% of its normal capacity... my liver enzymes were through the roof.

After about 7 days, I was almost back to normal.

My suggestion: do not use pre-workouts too much. Cycle on and off of them, never for more than 3 weeks on 1 week off. Eat a lot of cranberries and drink lots of teas with anti-oxidants. Drink up to 1 glass of red wine in the evening.

[usafamnguy]

I just wanted to weigh in on this.

I almost died due to liver failure; liver failure that the doctors blamed on C4.

I wasn't excessive, and I rarely drank (never to get drunk). But I did use pre-workouts a lot. Everyday, perhaps 2x a day. I really enjoyed it...but eventually I felt week then had uncontrollable vomiting. One evening I vomited some 15-20 times.... dry-heaving after a while. My body wouldn't accept anything.... food, water... nothing. I went to the hospital and after a few IVs, my body re-hydrated then began recovering normally. My blood was only clotting to 10% of its normal capacity... my liver enzymes were through the roof.

After about 7 days, I was almost back to normal.

My suggestion: do not use pre-workouts too much. Cycle on and off of them, never for more than 3 weeks on 1 week off. Eat a lot of cranberries and drink lots of teas with anti-oxidants. Drink up to 1 glass of red wine in the evening.

How did your doc know it was because of pre's? Also why would not stop using them long before it got that bad, I would have said to myself, hey this sucks why don't I stop drinking this multiple times a day?

[muslmutt]

I have been lifting for many years and eating very cleanly. I have noticed that it does not take much alcohol in my diet to have a significant effect on my ability to build muscle or lose fat. I remember someone at a social gathering told me I should "have a drink to take the edge off." My reply was "I like the edge."

[powercage]

lord...

[NO HYPE]

liver failure that the doctors blamed on C4.

rofl

Was it the explosive, or the suplement?

[venividivici88]

I know it's dangerous to mix them, but someone told me if I'm using pre-workout supplements to lift I shouldn't even be drinking ever (weekends,etc). He said drinking at all within even weeks of using a pre-workout stimulant can cause serious liver damage, is there any truth to this? Couldn't find any articles or info on this.

It's not dangerous in moderation. This, of course, owing to you having an OK liver and blood pressure.

I'm in my senior year of college and while I drink less now, I drank a whole lot a couple years ago, which was when I started taking pre-workouts (at the time, primarily jack3d with DMAA). I already drank coffee so my caffeine sensitivity was strong. I never drank right before going out, but as long as I spaced it out and had my workout before dinner and drank later in the evening, I never noticed a difference, and my liver is fine. It can wreak havoc on your nervous system if you're not a big drinker and don't space it out, though -- your hangover might be more liable to include panic attacks, because you have put your nervous system on quite a rollercoaster.

I don't take pre-workouts anymore, but I've noticed it with coffee. i never used to. I could drink heavily and then wake up and chug a coffee or energy drink and be fine, but lately, if I've gone too hard the night before and drink anything with caffeine, it plays hell on my senses. I'll be fine and suddenly have an out-of-body experience, or feel like I'm dying or just have a general panic attack. A heavy drinker told me it's called Derealization (you can look it up on Wikipedia). I never suffered from anxiety when I was younger but it could be the long-term effects of that lifestyle, or it could just be me getting older. Either way, I would suggest if you have any proclivity toward anxiety or panic attacks, make sure you're spacing out the pre-workouts from your drinking and not taking them too soon after a night of drinking.

But honestly, I've done a lot of research on it before for my own benefit, and I don't think the liver issues are something to worry about. The liver is a very resilient organ. The creatine in most pre-workouts isn't really enough to **** you over if you're just drinking like a normal person on weekends. If you are truly concerned about your liver, buy N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). 250 pills will run you under $20 and taking it before and after drinking will protect your liver. It's not a magic pill that will keep you safe from binge drinking, but it will definitely help shield you, and it's an all-around good antioxidant (also great for people with asthma or sinus infections as it helps loosen and thin mucus, amongst other things). NAC is actually used by doctors when people overdose on Tylenol or alcohol, so it's not one of those broscience supps that are undocumented. It helps your liver produce gluthione (think I misspelled that) which is depleted when you drink or take acetaminophen from painkillers. Milk thistle is less scientifically documented but I take that sometimes as well as it's meant to help detoxify the liver.

I would point out one other thing, btw. The l-arginine and stimulants in some pre-workouts are meant to increase blood flow, but alcohol sort of has the adverse effect. I'm talking out my ass a bit on this one because I don't have the science to back me up, but I feel like that could **** with your system a bit as well. So it's really sort of about moderation in my opinion. I would just make sure you're not mixing the stuff too much, and space it by a few hours.

[TXGTOU]

I just wanted to weigh in on this.

I almost died due to liver failure; liver failure that the doctors blamed on C4.

I wasn't excessive, and I rarely drank (never to get drunk). But I did use pre-workouts a lot. Everyday, perhaps 2x a day. I really enjoyed it...but eventually I felt week then had uncontrollable vomiting. One evening I vomited some 15-20 times.... dry-heaving after a while. My body wouldn't accept anything.... food, water... nothing. I went to the hospital and after a few IVs, my body re-hydrated then began recovering normally. My blood was only clotting to 10% of its normal capacity... my liver enzymes were through the roof.

After about 7 days, I was almost back to normal.

My suggestion: do not use pre-workouts too much. Cycle on and off of them, never for more than 3 weeks on 1 week off. Eat a lot of cranberries and drink lots of teas with anti-oxidants. Drink up to 1 glass of red wine in the evening.

I had practically the same symptoms about 10 years ago. Back then they called it FOOD POISONING.....who knows maybe the Shrimp that were in the Shrimp Alfredo I ate were on a strict C4 diet.....

[venividivici88]

I just wanted to weigh in on this.

I almost died due to liver failure; liver failure that the doctors blamed on C4.

I wasn't excessive, and I rarely drank (never to get drunk). But I did use pre-workouts a lot. Everyday, perhaps 2x a day. I really enjoyed it...but eventually I felt week then had uncontrollable vomiting. One evening I vomited some 15-20 times.... dry-heaving after a while. My body wouldn't accept anything.... food, water... nothing. I went to the hospital and after a few IVs, my body re-hydrated then began recovering normally. My blood was only clotting to 10% of its normal capacity... my liver enzymes were through the roof.

After about 7 days, I was almost back to normal.

My suggestion: do not use pre-workouts too much. Cycle on and off of them, never for more than 3 weeks on 1 week off. Eat a lot of cranberries and drink lots of teas with anti-oxidants. Drink up to 1 glass of red wine in the evening.

Sounds like you had an odd experience, brother. No offense, but it was probably just you. You may have had an undiagnosed liver condition, or an allergic reaction to something in the ingredients.

Unless you were really abusing the supplement for, like, years on end and drinking every night and doing very stupid things, I can't imagine that it would have this outcome. I at least have a somewhat common sense approach to taking these supps (as I'm sure most of the posters here do), but it's amazing the lack of common sense I see at college. I've seen, amongst other things: kids taking prehormones while drinking, a kid snort a line of 1MR while blacked on drunk, someone take multiple scoops of jack3d back when it had DMAA in it... the human liver is extremely resilient as an organ, the only one capable of regenerating itself the way it does. It is far more likely that you will have a bad panic attack, heart condition, etc. before you actually drop dead from liver issues. Most of that stuff is long-term, and while I advise cycling the pre-workouts, that's moreso to reduce your tolerance -- I honestly think if you follow a solid diet and drink enough water, you could take pre-workouts for long periods of time (most of them, anyway) and be fine. Even drinking moderately on weekends.

What you went through sounds pretty bizarre and out of the ordinary, so I'm wondering if maybe your doctors blamed it on the C4 without really doing enough tests to ensure you didn't have a pre-existing condition. I'd be careful if I were you - this could happen again if you have an undiagnosed liver condition.

[TheFugitive]

oh boy, here we go again

[JmanTheJuiceman]

I drink before I go workout, and take a pre-workout before I go to the bar.





















And I'm completely fine.

Hope this helps.

[theguitarman128]

I have no article proof but i do have experience and blood test results. I usually take pre workout every day and most of the time ill drink thur. or friday haven taken pre workout that day of course. I will see depending on the pre workout , physically i felt no different the next day just a normal hangover. now that night i was drinking i felt awesome assuming i had taken pre workout and worked out 3 to 4 hours prior to drinking. just had full panel blood test done 3 weeks ago and liver enzymes were fine as well as everything else. i mean thats just one case and of of course theres a limit like drinking more than 3 times a week while taking pre workout obviously isnt going to be good for your body in general. Alcohol fuks your body anyway if your try to build muscle. if you drink stick to white liquors and diet or water mixers.

You cannot tell the health of your liver simply by checking the enzyme level....



Op... taking supplements taxes your liver. Drinking alcohol taxes your liver. How much YOUR liver can handle is unique to you. Some people can drink like fish for 40 years and still function. Other burn out after a few years. If you start seeing the signs of a damaged liver then take action. (Fatigue, bruise on hip, pain in liver area, mental confusion in some cases.) Either see a doctor or do a LOT of research and maybe try a cleanse (I like homeopathic medicine personally). Will taking a pre workout when you still have a buzz or hangover from drinking kill you though? No. Not unless you already have much much bigger problems.

[NO HYPE]

I like homeopathic medicine personally

So much for logic.

[Bensykee]

I just searched something similar to this up because it seems that if i drink at night time after going to the gym my body goes insane..

I can drink a lot but I know my limits and recently it has become apparent that I feel ALOT worse the day after than what i am used to. I've done a few basic searches and some pre workouts inhibit Cytochrome P450 enzyme, which is the enzyme that converts alcohol into is toxic form. The idea of inhibition CP450 is to increase the half life of the stimulants in the pre workout by preventing their breakdown.

Most PW say dont drink with alcohol on the tin and to cycle on and off

[drewmigliazzo]

Mixing stims and depressants is the way to go. By that I mean the way Chris Farley, Heath Ledger and many more have gone. Good night sweet prince....................






However if we are talking a day after, or 12 hours after, I do not think it is a big deal. Vodka Redbull isnt the best for the heart but most will make it. People use dat der tony montana and drink on top of that all the time. They make it too. Is it good for you? NO! Will you die probably not. Just dont be making a Craze/Vodka Jungle juice and you should make it op.

[nuroppo]

I think I'll just play it safe and not worry about the mixing of PWO with alcohol by not drinking.

[meddleroidz]

beers have great taste of course but even while off cycle its hindering your performances or goals. so avoid at all cost. i lift much more when i dont drink the day before. besides its bad for your liver. stay healthy bro.

[Big.Jazayrli]

I know it's dangerous to mix them, but someone told me if I'm using pre-workout supplements to lift I shouldn't even be drinking ever (weekends,etc). He said drinking at all within even weeks of using a pre-workout stimulant can cause serious liver damage, is there any truth to this? Couldn't find any articles or info on this.

Kind of a sensationalist way to think about it

Moderation in everything, even in your moderation.

[xavengedx23]

Kind of a sensationalist way to think about it

Moderation in everything, even in your moderation.

OP will surely read this

[mippolito21]

I usually lift and go out a few hours after on Friday nights and I have healthy liver function. I usually eat in between.

Also, and DON'T do this, I once (stupidly) mixed half a water bottle full of rum with pre jym. I didn't suffer any adverse effects, to my knowledge, but I know it's stupid as **** to do

[nevergain]

I know this thread is old and OP more than likely wont see it, but the main ingredient in most PWO is caffeine. Most people I know drink a few cups of coffee everyday and still go out for drinks once or twice a week. I would say most people that aren't serious athletes training for something do this and I don't see people dropping dead from liver failure all around me.

[hokiefan23]

I wouldn't mix alcohol. You should stay away from alcohol while bulking or cutting. Alcohol contains a lot of unnecessary calories and sugars and will make you fat. I actually use medicinal marijuana and mix that with my preworkout an insanely focussed workout, but that's just me.

[JonJonSC]

I think I'll just play it safe and not worry about the mixing of PWO with alcohol by not drinking.

this

[An Inconvenient Bro]

So much for logic.

[xavengedx23]

I miss nohype :'(

[fretslayer]

I drink before I go workout, and take a pre-workout before I go to the bar.





















And I'm completely fine.

Hope this helps.

So much win