Patients undergoing antibiotic treatment often wonder if these medications are compatible with alcohol.
Antibiotics are medications prescribed by a doctor for serious infectious diseases.Antibiotics act on bacteria by preventing them from multiplying in the body.
The spectrum 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 compliance with the dosage regimen and have a number of contraindications that must be taken into account.The instructions usually contain text stating that alcohol should not be consumed during antibiotic treatment.
How do antibiotics and alcohol interact?
Scientists have been studying for many years how alcohol affects the human body while taking antibiotics and have come to the conclusion that in most cases the components of the drug do not interact with ethyl alcohol and therefore do not affect the treatment.But the researchers noted that they studied only a single dose of alcohol in a small amount and that there was an interval of at least one day between taking the antibiotic and the alcohol.If the patient drank more frequently, the effectiveness of the antibacterial therapy decreased.
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
Among the main reasons why it is not recommended to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics, two stand out:
- Additional load on the liver.
- The effectiveness of the treatment decreases.
In fact, during treatment with any medication, drinking alcohol should be avoided, as it can reduce the therapeutic effect of the medications.The reason is the properties of alcohol, which can destroy the active ingredient of the drug or alter its effect on the virus.Additionally, alcohol can accelerate or inhibit the elimination 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 liver suffers;Adverse reactions to 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 obstruction of the bile ducts.
Alcohol entering the body is converted to acetaldehyde using the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and then to acetic acid using the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.The drugs slow down the breakdown of ethyl alcohol, causing acetaldehyde to accumulate in the liver and causing severe poisoning.
For some people, alcohol has a sedative effect, as do certain types of sedative antibiotics, so their combined use can cause toxic depression of the central nervous system.
Furthermore, the degradation of the antibiotic depends on the amount of alcohol consumed.If a lot is drunk in a short period of time, the breakdown of the drug slows down and its level in the body increases, causing a large toxic load.
If you drink constantly, the enzymes begin to break down the drug faster and the benefit is practically 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 load in the form of antibacterial drugs can provoke not only an exacerbation of chronic diseases, but also an allergic reaction.Side effects may vary in each case.
Consequences of concomitant use
Many people can say that they drank while taking antibiotics and nothing happened, but each body is different and no one can predict the consequences, immediate or delayed, caused by alcohol in combination with medications.All factors are important: age, constitution, state of health, presence of chronic pathologies or allergies in the patient.
The combination of alcohol and antibiotics can cause:
- headache, dizziness;
- nausea, vomiting;
- sleep disturbance;
- pain in the stomach or intestines;
- rash on the body;
- increased heart rate, increase or decrease in blood pressure;
- anaphylactic shock.
Alcohol also causes dehydration, which slows down the body's healing and self-healing process.
How long after taking antibiotics can you drink alcohol?
It is not recommended to drink alcohol immediately after completing a course of antibiotics.The medication tends to accumulate in the body and takes time to eliminate.Therefore, before drinking a glass of your favorite wine or beer, it is better to wait a few days until the antibiotic is completely eliminated from the body.
Should you take medication if you have already drunk alcohol?
Many doctors agree that correct treatment with antibiotics is a large part of the success of the treatment, so they should be taken according to a special regimen prescribed by the doctor;Otherwise, the entire treatment process may be nullified.Therefore, doctors are sure that even if the patient still drinks alcohol, it is impossible to skip taking the antibacterial drug.This can cause the bacteria to become more resistant to a particular type of antibiotic and require a stronger medication to cure the disease in the future.
When taking antibiotics you should not drink alcohol at all.
Having a sip of wine or beer is unlikely to have much effect on your treatment while you are taking most medications.However, there are medications for which alcohol is strictly contraindicated.
For example, fluoroquinolones affect the central nervous system, and when mixing drugs from this group with alcohol, a person can fall into a coma.Alcohol can enhance the side effects of aminoglycosides and cause toxic damage to the liver and the entire body.Nitroimidazoles and some cephalosporins prescribed for the treatment of gastrointestinal infections and sexually transmitted diseases cannot be combined with alcohol.When combined with alcohol, they enhance the effect of the drug and become toxic.The combination of the listed antibiotics and ethanol can cause unpleasant side symptoms: headache, nausea, vomiting, tachycardia and fever.Therefore, doctors do not recommend drinking alcohol earlier than three days after completing treatment.For example, a representative of the oxazolidinone class, when interacting with alcohol, can cause an increase in blood pressure.Also, in case of liver diseases, the use of a semi-synthetic antibiotic from the tetracycline group is strictly not recommended, as it aggravates the patient's already difficult condition.
Treatment with a macrolide antibiotic may not be effective if you drink alcohol at this time.Alcohol will weaken the effect of the drugs and 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 an antibiotic creates a large load 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 would be wiser to complete the treatment and only then relax.Also, in addition to antibiotics, the patient can take other medications that also do not have the best effect on the body.After taking antibiotics, you can drink it a day later: often this time is enough for the drug to be completely eliminated from the body.If possible, it is better to lengthen the interval to avoid side effects.
For antibiotics to provide the necessary benefit, they should only be prescribed by a doctor and the instructions and dosing schedule should be strictly followed.It is better to give up alcohol during treatment so that the body can quickly cope with the disease and regain health.