Avonex and alcohol

[JerseyDan]

I started the Avonex Pen injections a week ago and scheduled to take my next injection tomorrow (Thanksgiving). I am concerned about having a couple glasses of wine or beer on the same day as my injection. Has anyone heard anything about adverse events associated with a couple drinks on the same night as taking Avonex?

[NHE]

My only thoughts are that Avonex can be hard on the liver. If you're on Avonex, you should have your liver enzyme levels tested about every 6 months. Adding alcohol on top of the Avonex might impact the liver more so. In addition, many people take acetominophen to help deal with Avonex's side effects (though I found ibuprofen to be more effective). This is also hard on the liver. Combining all of these together could be problematic. N-acetyl cysteine and milk thistle extract (aka silymarin) are known to be good for the liver. I'm not saying that taking these supplements will give you a license to drink while on Avonex. You might want to wait and see how Avonex affects your liver before throwing too much else at it. Some folks have had to switch to other meds due to elevated liver enzymes from Avonex.

NHE