Most adults do enjoy a drink, and as has always been the case alcohol consumption isn’t problematic as long as it is done in moderation. Having one or three can be a nice social lubricant, and it’s hard to imagine a summer BBQ without brews or hard ice teas. It’s quite possible that a few or more of these same people looking forward to tipping back a few with friends may also be taking medication to prevent blood clots, and Xarelto is one of the more common ones. So can you drink alcohol while taking Xarelto? 

As we touched on there, it is all about moderation and with most medications you’ll be fine as long as you stick to the health guidelines for alcohol intake – no more than 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. Now of course there are plenty of men who exceed that before halftime on Sundays and just one drink a day might seem an absurd suggestion for women who can put back wine coolers like water. But this is what experts have determined is best for not risking health while still enjoying alcohol.  

So that’s the answer for can you drink alcohol while taking Xarelto. You can, but you should limit alcohol consumption on Xarelto and there’s a very basic physiological explanation for that advice. Alcohol thins your blood and while that might sound like a good thing if you’re at risk for blood clots, it really isn’t. Thinner blood increases the chance of existing blood clots coming free from artery walls and that’s when the chance of embolisms becomes a  dangerous reality.  

Contraceptives & Cocktails  

Continuing with can you drink alcohol while taking Xarelto we can look at one particular risk factor for blood clots that is going to have a more real connection to alcohol consumption. Young adults are the demographic that are most likely to exceed the daily alcohol consumption limits we talked about above, and for young women this is also the time in their lives when they are most likely to be taking birth control medication. That’s a good thing as family planning is super important, but there is reason to be cautious here.  

Using oral contraceptives can actually increase your risk of blood clots, even if you’re in perfectly good health and have no history of deep vein thrombosis or any other condition where clots are a possibility or ongoing problem. It’s unlikely that young women will be taking anticoagulant medication, but if they are and using birth control at the same time this medication safety reminder is one they will want to take note of. Plus being mindful of our answer to can you drink alcohol while taking Xarelto. You can, but make sure you only drink it in moderation and it may be best to refrain from drinking it entirely while taking the medication.