(TDB) - We’re often told not to drink with prescription drugs, and now a new study has shown which drug and alcohol cocktails are the most lethal.

hanks to the hard work of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the United States, we can now see which everyday, over the counter medicine we’re taking are causing us the most damage.

While alcohol is still the deadliest drug in the world, killing and injuring thousands of people every year through crime, accidental deaths, and poisonings, it is still taken for granted as something that will cause no harm in moderation.

And with that in mind, it can be easy to forget that there is a danger involved every time we pick up a prescription from the doctor.

The following pages chart five of alcohol’s deadliest duos.

Birth control pills

According to the study, 62% of American women are currently on contraception. After ingesting the pill (of which there are many forms), it takes around three hours to reach the bloodstream and become effective. Women can frequently feel as though they are getting drunk quicker while taking the pill as their bodies are occupied by trying to metabolise the pill’s hormones.

Because of this, it makes metabolise the ethanol in alcohol and can therefore make it take longer for alcohol to leave the body, which, according to Medical Daily, can impair a woman’s decision making abilities and puts her at risk beyond being drunk.

Stimulants

Everything from Ritalin and Adderall to meth, speed, and cocaine are all designed to speed up the body when used on their own, but these can also cause an increase in blood pressure when drinking that often masks the effects of the alcohol.

When mixed with alcohol, these drugs can all increase the risks of developing cardiovascular toxicity. This dangerous substance can put stress on the heart at a much higher rate than any other drug.

Antidepressants

Standard doctor prescribed drugs like Zoloft, Prozac, or Xanax can all increase the intensity of alcohol and can get a person to the point where it feels like they’ve drank more than they actually have. Certain antidepressants can cause impaired decision making, dangerously high blood pressure, and even intensified depression.

More scarily, once the drug is mixed with alcohol, it can cause dizziness, confusion, seizures and can induce a coma.

Opiates

Similar to the dangerous combination of benzos and alcohol, opiates are incredibly dangerous when mixed with booze. Opiates can include anything from heroin to prescription painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin, and hydrocodone, and all work to dumb down the central nervous system. This means that breathing can be slowed right down to dangerous levels, and when combined with the sedative effect the drug provides it makes the chances of overdose incredibly high.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol was involved in 22 percent of prescription painkiller deaths.

Benzodiazepines

Between the years of 2001 and 2014 the total number of deaths caused by the drug alone increased five-fold, and adding alcohol to the mix can cause all manner of untold troubles. This combination has been responsible for more than a fifth of drug-and alcohol-related hospital visits in the US, which more often than not led to respiratory failure.