Often patients undergoing antibiotic treatment are interested in whether these drugs are compatible with alcohol.
Antibiotics are medicines prescribed by doctors for serious infectious diseases.Antibiotics act on bacteria, preventing them from multiplying in the body.
The range of use of antibacterial drugs is wide: they are prescribed for bacterial infections of the oral cavity and ENT organs, skin, internal organs, venereological diseases and others.
Such drugs require mandatory adherence to the dosage regimen and have several contraindications that must be taken into account.The instructions usually contain the words that alcohol should not be consumed during antibiotic treatment.
How do antibiotics and alcohol interact?
Scientists have studied for many years how alcohol affects the human body when taking antibiotics and have come to the conclusion that in most cases, drug components do not interact with ethyl alcohol and therefore do not affect treatment.But the researchers noted that they only studied a small dose of alcohol and there was a gap of at least a day between taking antibiotics and alcohol.If the patient drinks more often, the effectiveness of antibacterial therapy decreases.
Doctors do not advise drinking alcohol during treatment, and this applies not only to antibiotics, but also to all other drugs.
Reasons why antibiotics should not be combined with alcohol
Among the main reasons why it is not recommended to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics, there are two:
- Additional burden on the liver.
- Treatment effectiveness is reduced.
In fact, during treatment with any drug, you should avoid drinking alcohol, because they can reduce the therapeutic effect of drugs.The reason is the nature of alcohol, which can destroy the active ingredients of the drug or interfere with its effect on the virus.In addition, alcohol can accelerate or prevent the removal of drug components from the body.In the first case, the treatment will be ineffective, in the second, there will be an additional load on the internal organs, and intoxication of the body is possible.Especially in this case, the heart suffers;Adverse reactions from the kidneys, pancreas, central nervous system, brain, heart and blood vessels are possible.
Liver dysfunction is associated with the negative effect of alcohol on the synthesis of fatty acids in the cells of the organ and with blockage of the bile ducts.
Alcohol that enters the body is converted into acetaldehyde using the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, and then into acetic acid using the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.Medicines slow down the breakdown of ethyl alcohol, which causes acetaldehyde to accumulate in the liver, causing severe hangovers.
For some people, alcohol has a sedative effect, as do certain types of antibiotics with a sedative effect, so their combined use can cause toxic depression of the central nervous system.
At the same time, the breakdown of antibiotics depends on the amount of alcohol used.If you drink a lot in a short time, the breakdown of the drug slows down and its level in the body increases, which causes a large toxic load.
If you drink continuously, enzymes start to break down the drug faster and the benefit is zero, and you also become addicted to antibiotics.
When drinking alcohol, the body does not receive enough nutrients, blood sugar levels increase, and protective functions decrease.Therefore, an additional burden in the form of antibacterial drugs can cause not only an increase in chronic diseases, but also allergic reactions.Side effects may vary in each case.
Consequences of concurrent use
Many people can say that they drank while taking antibiotics and nothing happened, but every body is different, and no one can predict the consequences, immediate or delayed, of alcohol combined with drugs.All factors are important: age, build, health status, presence of chronic pathology or allergies in the patient.
The combination of alcohol and antibiotics can cause:
- headache, dizziness;
- nausea, vomiting;
- sleep disorders;
- pain in the stomach or intestines;
- rash on the body;
- increased heart rate, increased or decreased blood pressure;
- Anaphylactic shock.
Alcohol also leads to dehydration, which slows down the body's healing process and self-healing.
How long after taking antibiotics can you drink alcohol?
It is not recommended to drink alcohol immediately after finishing the course of antibiotics.This drug tends to accumulate in the body, and it takes time to eliminate it.Therefore, before drinking a glass of wine or your favorite beer, it is better to wait a few days until the antibiotic is completely eliminated from the body.
Should you take medication if you already drink alcohol?
Many doctors agree that the correct course of antibiotics is a large part of the success of the treatment, so they must be taken according to the special regimen prescribed by the doctor, otherwise the entire treatment process can be canceled.Therefore, doctors are confident that even if the patient still drinks alcohol, it is impossible to skip taking antibacterial drugs.This can cause bacteria to become more resistant to certain types of antibiotics and require stronger drugs to cure illnesses in the future.
While taking antibiotics, you must not drink alcohol
Consuming wine or beer is unlikely to have much effect on your treatment while taking most medications.However, there are drugs for which alcohol is strictly contraindicated.
For example, fluoroquinolones affect the central nervous system and, by mixing drugs from this group with alcohol, a person can fall into a coma.Alcohol can increase the side effects of aminoglycosides and cause toxic damage to the liver and the rest of the body.Nitroimidazoles and some cephalosporins prescribed for the treatment of gastrointestinal infections and venereal diseases should not be combined with alcohol.When combined with alcohol, they increase the effect of the drug and become toxic.The listed combination of antibiotics and ethanol can cause unpleasant side symptoms: headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, fever.Therefore, doctors do not recommend drinking alcohol earlier than three days after the end of treatment.For example, representatives of the oxazolidinone class, when interacting with alcohol, can cause an increase in blood pressure.Also, for liver diseases, it is not recommended to use semi-synthetic antibiotics of the tetracycline group, because it worsens the patient's already difficult condition.
Treatment with macrolide antibiotics may not be effective if you are currently drinking alcohol.Alcohol will weaken the effect of the medicine, and the treatment will be delayed.
Some antibiotics do not contain contraindications for alcohol in their instructions.Although a history of jaundice or liver dysfunction may be a limitation.
It should be remembered that alcohol in combination with antibiotics creates a heavy burden on the liver and other organs, and also neutralizes the medicinal properties of the drug.A dose of a small amount of alcohol will not cause negative consequences, but it is wiser to complete the treatment and just allow yourself to rest.Also, in addition to antibiotics, patients may take other drugs that also do not have the best effect on the body.After taking the antibiotic, you can drink it a day later: Usually this time is enough for the drug to be completely eliminated from the body.If possible, it is better to make the interval longer to avoid side effects.
In order for antibiotics to provide the necessary benefits, they should only be prescribed by a doctor, and the instructions and dosage schedule should be strictly followed.It is better to give up alcohol during treatment to give the body a chance to overcome the disease and restore health.