Enclomiphene Citrate and Alcohol: Full Interaction Profile

Is there a known enclomiphene-alcohol interaction?

Enclomiphene has no FDA-approved product, so there is no FDA label with an enclomiphene-specific interaction, liver, or alcohol statement [1]. A 2026 British Society of Sexual Medicine position statement says the manufacturer discontinued development in 2021 [4].

Clomiphene citrate is a related but different product, a mixture of enclomiphene and zuclomiphene, approved only for ovulatory dysfunction in women who want to become pregnant [1][2]. Its labeling cannot establish interaction information for enclomiphene alone.

What the clomiphene label flags

The Clomid label contraindicates clomiphene in liver disease or a history of liver dysfunction, along with pregnancy, abnormal uterine bleeding of undetermined origin, ovarian cysts not due to polycystic ovary syndrome, uncontrolled thyroid or adrenal dysfunction and pituitary tumor. Alcohol does not appear in that list [2].

The label reports visual symptoms (blurred vision, lights, floaters, photophobia, diplopia, scotomata, phosphenes) in 1.5% of patients in clinical studies (n=8029). It says these symptoms may make driving or operating machinery more hazardous than usual, particularly under conditions of variable lighting [2].

Does heavy drinking change the hormones enclomiphene targets?

Enclomiphene blocks estrogen receptors in the pituitary, so the pituitary releases more LH and FSH and the testes make more testosterone [1].

A study of 66 men with chronic alcoholism, who drank at least 180 mL of brandy or whisky per day on at least five days a week for at least a year, compared them with 30 nonsmoking nonalcoholic controls. LH, FSH and estradiol were significantly higher and testosterone and progesterone significantly lower in the alcoholic group. Semen volume, sperm count, motility and normal morphology were also significantly lower [3]. These men were not taking enclomiphene, so the study does not show what happens when the two are combined.

For comparison, in the 12-week ZA-301 trial of 151 men with low morning testosterone, 78.8% of those on enclomiphene (95% CI 70.3 to 85.3, n=113) reached a 24-hour average testosterone in the normal range of 300 to 1040 ng/dL [5].

A review of cytochrome P-4502E1 describes it as an ethanol-inducible enzyme whose free-radical production contributes to liver injury in people who drink heavily [6]. We found no study measuring liver enzymes in men who take enclomiphene and drink alcohol.

Timing

Enclomiphene peaks 2 to 3 hours after a dose, has a half-life of about 10 hours, is metabolized mainly to 4-hydroxy enclomiphene and is excreted mainly in feces [1].