Almost each of us has had to deal with diseases that require the use of antibacterial drugs to achieve a therapeutic effect. They are drugs that are aggressive against microflora. That is why the question arises as to how soon you can drink alcohol after antibiotics, as many would not want to give up wine, cognac, beer or vodka for a long time.
The question is ambiguous and there is no straightforward one-syllable answer to it. There are different opinions in the media. Some people, during a party with a party, consider it more correct to refuse to drink alcoholic beverages, based more on intuition than on reliable information from authoritative sources. Such a person in a company evokes sympathy and understanding, usually no oneI don't convince him to drink. However, there are times when someone refers to an article in which a doctor explains at length what does not always interfere with the healing process.
Why you should not take medicine with alcohol
As you know, there is no smoke without fire. Doctors can scientifically justify the prohibition of the use of antimicrobial agents and the consumption of vodka or beer at the same time. Moreover, they claim that you can take antibiotics after drinking alcohol after a strictly defined period of time. Experts appeal to the following facts:
- ethanol at the biochemical level significantly reduces the therapeutic effect of antimicrobial agents;
- the combination of alcohol with antibacterial drugs causes toxic damage to liver cells, as well as other internal organs;
- Alcohol consumption suppresses the immune system and has a devastating effect on health, which during the period of drug therapyvery undesirable.
There is a grain of rationality in the above arguments. The biochemical processes that occur in the body are extremely complex and balanced, so the saturation of the tissues of the internal organs with such a biologically active compound as ethyl alcohol cannot affect the metabolism. Alcohol can indeed significantly reduce the therapeutic effect of drugs. It either destroys the atomic structure of the active substance or prevents the reaction of drugs with the proteins of pathogenic microorganisms. Additionally, alcohol can cause accelerated elimination or make absorption of drugs more difficult. That's how it happensdecrease in the effectiveness of therapy, or unwanted side symptoms appear.
Influence on the function and condition of the liver
Scientific research and the practice of clinical medicine confirm the destructive effect on the liver of combining antimicrobial drugs with alcoholic beverages. That is why the instructions for the use of medicines indicate contraindications and side effects in this extremely important organ. For patients with chronic liver disease, many drugs are not available. If you combine antimicrobial drugs and alcohol, the negative impact will be twofold. How soon should you drink alcohol after a course of antibiotics?it depends on the general situationThe body and its ability to recover.
Under the action of enzymes, ethanol is split into water and carbon dioxide, but not immediately, but bypassing the intermediate stage of the formation of an extremely toxic compound - acetaldehyde, which is a tissue poison. The faster alcohol breaks down, the less damage it causes to the body. However, with the simultaneous presence of antimicrobial drugs in the tissues of internal organs, the catabolism of alcohol slows down significantly due to the inhibition of the production of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which is necessary to complete the reaction of breaking down ethanol into simple compounds. .
Ethanol does not directly interact with antibiotics
To find out how alcohol affects medications, as well as how many days after you can drink alcohol after finishing a course of antibiotics,laboratory experience. First, scientists conducted experiments on animals and then invited volunteers who were asked to undergo a therapeutic course using antibacterial drugs. The participants were equally divided into two groups. Representatives of the first group were offered alcoholic beverages during the experiment, while the second group was not. The main goal that the organizers tried to achieve was to determine the effect of ethanol on the biological activity of drugs.
The results of the experiment showed that most antibacterial drugs interact little or not at all with ethyl alcohol - it practically did not reduce the effectiveness of the drugs used. A similar conclusion was reached after studying and comparing the results of antibacterial drug therapy between the two groups. They turned out to be identical. The difference did not exceed the permissible error. The rate of absorption, distribution in the tissues of internal organs, as well as the removal of active substances wasapproximately the same.
STILLOne should not make hasty conclusions that the simultaneous use of antibiotics and alcohol is completely safe. Experts ask you to consider some nuances:
- the experiment was isolated and was not confirmed by other studies, therefore one should not insist on the safety of the combination of drugs and alcohol;
- experimental subjects were offered small doses of alcoholic beverages, but in real life moderation in the consumption of vodka and beer is quite rare;
- The studies were only concerned with the interaction of drugs with ethanol; the effect of this combination on the condition of the internal organs was not studied, so the negative impact cannot be denied.
This was the first tentative step towards a complete answer to the important question of how long after a course of antibiotics you can drink alcohol, so the conclusion andthere are no clear results.
Reasons to avoid drinking during treatment
Clinical medicine is right to say that the combination of alcohol and drugs should be avoided. Even if their mutual effects have not been properly studied, enough is known about the effects of ethanol on health to reach certain conclusions. It is impossible to deny that:
- alcohol disrupts metabolic processes if drunk regularly;
- ethanol provokes an increase in blood sugar levels;
- alcohol consumption leads to physical and nervous fatigue;
- the risk of an allergic reaction increases by an order of magnitude.
Each person has individual characteristics of internal biological processes, so it is possible to predict the body's reactionalmost impossible, but it is unlikely to be positive.
Interaction of alcohol with antimicrobial drugs
According to the experiment, drinking alcoholic beverages does not affect the pharmacological properties of most antimicrobial agents and does not provoke significant side effects. However, there are antimicrobial drugs that absolutely cannot be taken with alcoholic beverages, because such a combination leads to really dangerous consequences.
Just a few days laterYou can drink alcohol after taking antibiotics, which affect metabolism. For example, such drugs against fungal infections and analogues require the participation of an enzyme in the biochemical reaction that is also necessary for the breakdown of ethanol. His supplies are limited. When you consume significant doses of ethanol, a conflict arises. There simply isn't enough enzyme to interact with the drug or react with the ethyl alcohol. In the first case, we will definitely notice a decrease in the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug, plus possible allergic reactions and increased side effects of the drug. If you do not break down ethanol, then acute intoxication with all the consequences that follow cannot be avoided. This is why you should not take antimicrobial agents of this type at the same time as alcohol.
A disulfiram-like reaction is the main reason for stopping alcohol consumption during antimicrobial therapy. Interference with the catabolism of ethanol in the body leads to the accumulation of the previously mentioned acetaldehyde - acetaldehyde. This is a powerful toxin that has a global negative effect on the body. The most common andunpleasant signs of intoxication:
- nausea with periods of vomiting;
- upset stomach;
- acute headache;
- profuse sweating;
- general weakness, dizziness;
- tachycardia;
- pressure increase.
Agree that this physical condition more clearly proves the thesis that antibiotics should be used after a course of alcohol a few days later, so that ethanol and its toxic decomposition products have time to leave the body naturally.
By the way, the reaction similar to disulfiram is called so because of the drug for drug therapy for chronic alcoholism - disulfiram. Its use forces alcoholics to give up drinking alcohol precisely because of the development of panic fear from the symptomsacute intoxication. The drug is injected into the subcutaneous layer (implanted), from where it gradually enters the body and blocks the production of the enzyme responsible for breaking down ethanol.
What complications to expect
How long it takes to safely drink alcohol again after a course of antibiotics depends on the antimicrobial drug (its rate of absorption and elimination), as well as on the individual characteristics of a person's metabolism.
Doctors emphasize that the ban does not only apply to a glass of cognac or vodka. You should forget about wine, beer, low-alcohol drinks. In addition, ethyl alcohol is often found in other foods as well as in medicines, so you should pay attention to this aspect.
You can often hear that someone you know has drunk alcohol and taken antimicrobial drugs, without any negative consequences. However, no one knows what happened to this man's body,how effectiveIt turned out that the treatment lasted, how long it lasted, how is his health now. Meanwhile, in the practice of clinical medicine, many cases have been recorded when people did not adhere to the recommendation of how long they should drink alcohol after antibiotics, but drank it during treatment and in the end became victims:
- violationliver function;
- anaphylactic shock;
- interruptions in the functioning of the brain and the central nervous system in general (severe headaches accompanied by dizziness, mixed with periods of vomiting, convulsive attacks);
- gastrointestinal diseases;
- sleep disorders;
- high blood pressure;
- negative skin reactions (dermatitis);
- heart rhythm disorders;
Our natural filter, the liver, suffers the most. Despite the ability to renew cells, it is so negatively affected that it eventually loses functionality.
The last word in the debate about the combination of alcohol and antibiotics
After completing drug therapy, you should wait a few days before you start drinking alcohol. This is due to the removal of drug catabolism products from the body, and this requires a certain time. All drugs have different times for reaching peak blood concentrations and elimination. It always isindicated in the instructions.
It is not recommended to consume alcoholic beverages at the same time not only with antimicrobial agents, but also with other medications. However, antimicrobial drugs are one of the few that are strictly prohibited. If you are going to undergo a course of drug treatment, be sure to ask your doctor how long you can drink alcohol after taking antibiotics.
Despite the fact that the opinion of specialist experts on the acceptability of the simultaneous use of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial drugs is divided (excluding those drugs that havethe limitations are clear), most doctors are inclined to conclude that it is better for patients to stop drinking alcohol during treatment.
In any case, alcoholic beverages are far from being a product worth risking your health for, even if the risk seems trivial. Nothing bad will happen if you become an avid teetotaler for 2 weeks. Even a healthy person's body succumbs to alcohol over time. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to the development of a large number of different somatic and mental disorders. If a person does not give up alcohol during illness, then we can say with confidence that physical and mentaldegradation will accelerateduring this time period. Even if you can drink alcohol at the same time as taking the medication, you still shouldn't. Ethanol is poison, but it is impossible to count how many fates vodka has broken