Can a person diagnosed with Addisons disease drink alcohol or get “drunk”?
You can get drunk for sure… but alcohol may have side effects that are probably a bit more dangerous for a person with Addison’s than the normal person. One drink should not be an issue as long as the person drinks plenty of other fluids. Getting plastered, well… First, you get dehydrated which is not good as it may interfere with the electrolyte levels and as you should know, the adrenal crisis is created when sodium and potassium levels go out of wack. Which is why you want to stay hydrated and have a high sodium diet. Second, if you get drunk and start to vomit – that also can create a life threatening crisis. So, moderation is probably ok – but overdoing it can be dangerous especially if the people around you do not understand your health issues.
