Patients receiving antibiotics are often interested in whether these drugs are compatible with alcohol.
Antibiotics are medications prescribed by doctors to treat serious infectious diseases.Antibiotics act on bacteria and prevent them from multiplying in the body.
Antimicrobial drugs are used in a wide range of applications: for the treatment of bacterial infections of the mouth and ear, nose and throat organs, skin, internal organs, venereal diseases and other diseases.
Such drugs require mandatory compliance with the dosage regimen and have many contraindications that must be taken into consideration.Instructions often include wording that alcohol should not be consumed during antibiotic treatment.
How do antibiotics and alcohol interact?
Scientists have been studying for years how alcohol affects the body when taking antibiotics and have concluded that in most cases, the drug ingredients do not interact with ethanol and therefore do not affect treatment.But the researchers noted that they only studied a single dose of small amounts of alcohol and that there was at least a day between taking antibiotics and drinking alcohol.If a patient drinks more alcohol, antimicrobial treatment will be less effective.
Doctors do not recommend drinking alcohol during treatment, and this applies not only to antibiotics, but also to all other medications.
Reasons why antibiotics should not be combined with alcohol
There are two main reasons why drinking alcohol is not recommended while taking antibiotics:
- Extra burden on the liver.
- Treatment effectiveness decreases.
In fact, you should avoid drinking alcohol during treatment with any medication because they can reduce the therapeutic effectiveness of the medication.The reason is the property of alcohol, which can destroy the active substance of the drug or destroy its effect on the virus.In addition, alcohol can accelerate or inhibit the elimination of drug ingredients from the body.In the first case, the treatment is ineffective, in the second it creates an additional burden on the internal organs and can lead to poisoning of the body.In particular, the liver can be damaged in this case; adverse effects may occur in the kidneys, pancreas, central nervous system, brain, heart, and blood vessels.
Liver dysfunction is associated with alcohol's negative effects on fatty acid synthesis in the organ's cells and obstruction of bile ducts.
Alcohol entering the body is converted into acetaldehyde under the action of alcohol dehydrogenase, and then converted into acetic acid under the action of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.Medications can slow down the breakdown of ethanol, causing acetaldehyde to build up in the liver, leading to severe poisoning.
In some individuals, alcohol has a sedative effect, as do some types of antibiotics, so their combined use may result in toxic depression of the central nervous system.
Also, the breakdown of antibiotics depends on the amount of alcohol consumed.If you drink a lot of alcohol in a short period of time, the breakdown of the drug will slow down and levels in the body will increase, resulting in a large toxic load.
If you drink alcohol regularly, the enzymes will start breaking down the medication faster, with almost zero benefit, and you'll become addicted to the antibiotics.
When drinking alcohol, the body does not get enough nutrients, blood sugar levels rise, and protective functions decrease.Therefore, the additional load of antimicrobials can lead not only to the exacerbation of chronic diseases but also to allergic reactions.Side effects may vary for each condition.
Consequences of simultaneous use
Many people may say that they drank alcohol while taking antibiotics and nothing happened, but everyone's body is different and no one can predict the immediate or delayed consequences of combining alcohol with medications.All factors are important: age, size, health, whether the patient has chronic conditions or allergies.
The combination of alcohol and antibiotics may cause:
- Headache, dizziness;
- Nausea, vomiting;
- sleep disorders;
- Stomach or intestinal pain;
- Skin rash appears on the body;
- Increased heart rate and increased or decreased blood pressure;
- Anaphylactic shock.
Alcohol can also cause dehydration, which slows down the body's healing process and repairs itself.
How soon can I drink alcohol after taking antibiotics?
It is not recommended to drink alcohol immediately after completing a course of antibiotics.Medications tend to accumulate in the body and take time to be eliminated.Therefore, before drinking a glass of your favorite wine or beer, it's best to wait a few days until the antibiotics are completely flushed from the body.
Do you still need to take medicine if you already drink alcohol?
Many doctors believe that the correct course of antibiotics is a large part of the success of treatment, and therefore must be taken according to the specific regimen prescribed by the doctor, otherwise the entire course of treatment will be ineffective.Therefore, doctors are confident that even if the patient still drinks alcohol, it is impossible not to take antibacterial drugs.This could lead to the bacteria becoming more resistant to a particular type of antibiotic and requiring stronger drugs to cure the disease in the future.
Never drink alcohol while taking antibiotics
Taking a sip of wine or beer while taking most medications is unlikely to have much of an impact on your treatment.However, some drugs are strictly prohibited from drinking alcohol.
For example, fluoroquinolones affect the central nervous system, and mixing these drugs with alcohol may cause a person to fall into a coma.Alcohol can potentiate the side effects of aminoglycosides and cause toxic damage to the liver and entire body.Nitroimidazole and certain cephalosporins used to treat gastrointestinal infections and sexually transmitted diseases should not be combined with alcohol.When mixed with alcohol, they can enhance the effects of the drug and become toxic.The combination of listed antibiotics and ethanol may cause unpleasant side effects: headache, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, fever.Therefore, doctors do not recommend drinking alcohol within three days of treatment.For example, representatives of the oxazolidinone class, when interacting with alcohol, can lead to an increase in blood pressure.In addition, for liver diseases, the use of semi-synthetic antibiotics such as tetracyclines is strictly not recommended, as it can aggravate the patient's already difficult condition.
If you drink alcohol at this time, macrolide antibiotic treatment may not be effective.Alcohol can weaken the effects of medications, delaying treatment.
Some antibiotic labels do not include a contraindication for drinking alcohol.Although a history of jaundice or liver dysfunction may be a limitation.
It must be remembered that alcohol combined with antibiotics puts a heavy strain on the liver and other organs, and also neutralizes the medicinal properties of the drug.A single dose of small amounts of alcohol will not cause negative consequences, but it is wiser to complete the entire course of treatment and then allow yourself to relax.Additionally, in addition to antibiotics, patients may be taking other medications that may not work optimally for the body.After taking antibiotics, drink them after one day: usually this is enough time for the medicine to be completely eliminated from the body.If possible, it is best to extend the interval to avoid side effects.
In order for antibiotics to have the necessary effect, they should only be prescribed by a doctor and the instructions and dosage chart should be strictly followed.It is best to abstain from alcohol during treatment to give the body a chance to quickly respond to the disease and recover.