How much alcohol can you drink while taking mercaptopurine (6MP)?

Question by Ben Parker: How much alcohol can you drink while taking mercaptopurine (6MP)?
I was diagnosed with ALL leukemia last year (2011) and I was told that after all the rough chemo I’ll just be taking 6MP every day and getting vincristine once a month. Since I’m 18 and going into college once of my first questions was, naturally, about alcohol use. My doctor said I could have 3-4 beers but infrequently but I am hoping that she’s being conservative here because she doesn’t want to tell me I can do something that’s high risk like getting hammered and have something go wrong with my liver (since 6MP is processed in the liver). So my question to all the oncologists or pharmacists or leukemia survivors or anyone really who was subjected to mercaptopurine out there is: with your experience with leukemia drugs and alcohol, what is the most I can drink at a time even if it’s only like once a month or something? I love drinking and I don’t see how it’s possible for me to make it another 2 and a half years without getting drunk, especially when I’m going to be surrounded by alcohol in college.

and please don’t say things like “only your doctor can tell you how much” or “if you want alcohol that much you must be an alcoholic! you should get help” because I’ll probably run the best answer by my doctor and end up doing what she says anyway for as long as I can and I KNOW I’m not an alcoholic. I’m just a teenager that wants to make the most of the best years of my life and have a decent college experience.

Best answer:

Answer by greeney
Gee Ben, being the mother of a child in ALL remission (dxed 6 now 13) of course I’m going to advise against drinking at all……..probably because my daughters best friend in hospital died within weeks of his 12 month remission date. He went away for the weekend and partied on with his mates at the beach, the sand caused a rash which got infected with e-coli (he was taking 6mp, mthx & vcr), he didn’t tell anyone about the infected rash, it caused a toxic shower within his body, his organs slowly shut down over a period of 3 days & he died, we were all devastated by his passing particularly our daughter, he was her hospital big brother and she loved him.
It’s not advisable to drink on any meds including chemo, but if you must, try to stick to a couple hey, I know to have cancer at this time of your life soooooo unbelievably sux big time, it’s time for you to have fun and enjoy life without anyone telling you what to do but please be mindful the little things for everyone else can be life threatening to you, stay safe hey & enjoy college wisely, this is a short time out of your lifetime, all the best.

And I’d just like to add your liver has/is under quite a bit of stress dealing with all the medications of the recent past and now continuation therapy so be mindful to drink lots of water in between possible drinks…..your liver will thank you!

Answer by abijann
Mercaptopurine:
Patients should be monitored with liver blood tests to check and
be sure that the patient does not develop Hepatotoxicity when taking this
drug. http://www.rxlist.com/purinethol-drug/warnings-precautions.htm

Alcohol is one of the main causes of Hepatic (liver) cell damage.

Since you have had chemo (drugs go through the liver) it has caused
your liver to work harder. The liver normally does over 500+ functions
to keep your body well.

Considering these, it would be best to not drink alcohol at
all. Your doctor knows that you may not abide by this, so they
are giving you a slight opening to do this.

Let me explain what can happen in the liver because of
alcohol consumption that isn’t in moderation…and this is
in someone who is normally healthy..which you are not.

Overconsuming alcohol in a short time period (being tipsy or
drunk) doesn’t give the liver cells time to make the necessary
enzymes to convert the alcohol to acetaldehyde, then to
acetate, then to carbon dioxide and water. Not converted
completely, it becomes toxic to the liver cells.

Consuming alcohol over long time periods, can lead to the
build up of fat inside the liver. The liver is surrounded by
a tight membrane capsule…this fat adds to the pressure
inside the liver that can damage the liver cells.

Some people are more sensitive to alcohol than others are
and some are even allergic to it. The mores sensitive you
are to this drug…the more likely you easier to develop
a liver problem.

Taking alcohol with medication can cause such an
interactions between them that can instantly damage the
liver cells. Example: acetaminophen (tylenol) with
alcohol…many are trying to be placed on the liver transplant
list because of this.

This is just something to think about. Only you can make the
final decision of what you will do with your body.

If your liver cells become damaged, the immune system of
the body will respond to this and cause inflammation to develop
inside your liver. The once soft, smooth organ (liver) will
then enlarge in size and take on a spongy texture. Since
the liver cells do all the functions of the liver…as they
become damaged…those functions will start to deteriorate.

You may say you are just a teenager…but you really are
a young adult and old enough to make your own decisions.

Best wishes to you. You sure have been through alot.

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