On this page
Short answer Alcohol and alvimopan: what to know Common questions Related questions Sources**Alvimopan itself has no known interaction with alcohol, but you should not drink while taking it, because it is given only in the hospital during the first days after bowel surgery.**
Alvimopan is a short course, limited to 15 doses over about a week, and it is used to help your bowels start moving again after an operation. Alcohol pushes in the other direction: it irritates the stomach, adds to nausea, and can worsen the constipation that opioid pain medicine already causes. It also deepens the sedation and slowed breathing that come with opioids, which matters most in the days right after surgery. Once you are home and finished with alvimopan, ask your surgeon when drinking is reasonable again, since antibiotics, blood thinners, and liver or pancreas conditions all change the answer.
Alcohol and alvimopan: what to know
Common questions
Can you drink alcohol while taking Alvimopan?
Alvimopan has no known direct interaction with alcohol. In practice you will not be drinking while you take it, because alvimopan is given only to hospital inpatients after bowel surgery, for a maximum of 15 doses over about 7 days. Alcohol also works against the reason you were given it. It irritates the stomach, adds to nausea and dehydration, and increases sedation when combined with the opioid pain medicine most people receive after an operation. Ask your surgical team when alcohol is reasonable again once you are home, healing well, and off opioids. Tell them if you drink daily, since stopping suddenly around surgery needs medical supervision.