Often patients undergoing antibiotic treatment are interested in whether these drugs are compatible with alcohol.
Antibiotics are medicines that the doctor prescribes 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 and other diseases.
Such medications require mandatory adherence to the dosage regimen and have a number of contraindications that must be taken into account.The guidelines usually contain the wording 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 while taking antibiotics and have come to the conclusion that in most cases, the drug components do not interact with ethyl alcohol and therefore do not affect the treatment.But the researchers noted that they only studied a single dose of alcohol in a small amount, and there was a gap of at least a day between taking the antibiotic and the alcohol.If the patient drank more often, the effectiveness of antibacterial therapy decreased.
Doctors do not advise 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 are two:
- Additional burden on the liver.
- The effectiveness of the treatment decreases.
In fact, during treatment with any medication, you should avoid drinking alcohol, as they can reduce the therapeutic effect of the medication.The reason is the properties of alcohol, which can destroy the active substance of the drug or disrupt its effect on the virus.In addition, alcohol can accelerate or inhibit 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 liver 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 the blockage of 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.Medicines slow down the breakdown of ethyl alcohol, which causes the accumulation of acetaldehyde in the liver, causing severe intoxication.
For some people, alcohol has a sedative effect, as well as some types of antibiotics with a sedative effect, so their combined use can lead to toxic depression of the central nervous system.
At the same time, the breakdown of the antibiotic depends on the amount of alcohol consumed.If you drink too much in a short period of time, the breakdown of the drug slows down and its level in the body increases, which causes a large toxic load.
If you drink constantly, the enzymes begin to break down the drug faster and the benefit from it is practically zero, and you also become dependent on antibiotics.
When you drink alcohol, the body does not get enough nutrients, the blood sugar level increases and the protective functions decrease.Therefore, an additional load in the form of antibacterial drugs can cause not only an exacerbation of chronic diseases, but also an allergic reaction.Side effects may vary in each case.
Consequences of simultaneous 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, that alcohol in combination with medications causes.All factors are important: age, build, 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;
- stomach or bowel pain;
- 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.The drug tends to accumulate in the body and takes time to eliminate.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.
Do you need to take medication if you have already drunk alcohol?
Many doctors agree that the right course of antibiotics is a big part of the success of the treatment, so they must be taken according to a special regimen prescribed by the doctor, otherwise the entire treatment process can be canceled.Therefore, doctors are convinced that even if the patient still drank alcohol, it is impossible to skip taking the antibacterial drug.This can cause the bacteria to become more resistant to a certain type of antibiotic and require a stronger drug to cure the disease in the future.
When taking antibiotics, you absolutely should not drink alcohol
Taking a sip of wine or beer is unlikely to have much effect on your treatment while taking most medicines.However, there are medications for which alcohol is strictly contraindicated.
For example, fluoroquinolones affect the central nervous system and, mixing drugs of 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 throughout the 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 increase the effect of the drug and become toxic.The combination of the listed 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, a representative of the oxazolidinone class, when interacting with alcohol, can cause an increase in blood pressure.Also, for liver diseases, the use of a semi-synthetic antibiotic of the tetracycline group is not strictly recommended, as it worsens the patient's already difficult condition.
Treatment with a macrolide antibiotic may not be effective if you drink alcohol at the time.Alcohol will weaken the effect of the drugs 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 an antibiotic creates a heavy 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 better to finish the course of treatment and only then allow yourself to relax.Moreover, 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 extend the interval to avoid side effects.
In order for antibiotics to provide the necessary benefit, they must be prescribed only by a doctor, and the instructions and dosage schedule must be strictly followed.It is better to give up alcohol during treatment to give the body the opportunity to quickly cope with the disease and restore health.