Alcohol in general has a strong negative effect on the body. If you use it immediately after the end of the antibiotic, the risk of problems increases significantly. Of course, in some cases the danger is minimal, but a number of drugs that are usually prescribed for serious illnesses are categorically incompatible with alcohol.
Doctors recommend avoiding alcohol during antibiotic therapy. Similar limitations are described in the instructions for use of each antimicrobial agent. If you drink alcohol after taking antibiotics, the effect of therapy can be weakened or minimized. Perhaps the development of side effects and complications.
How long does it take to wait after antibiotic treatment before drinking wine, vodka, or even beer? Read more
Antibiotic - what is this drug
There are several main types of antibiotics. The simplest are made from organic raw materials, others are purely synthetic, and still others are some kind of intermediate product. Regardless of the group, all drugs help slow down, suppress and destroy the development of pathogenic microflora.
The drugs in question can only be used for infections of a bacterial nature - they do not work at all against viruses (including the flu).
Antibiotics come in different forms:
- capsules;
- tablets;
- Anoint;
- liquids for injection;
- syrups.
Regardless, the drugs work in the same way. Moreover, even with external means, the main substance still penetrates into the blood.
Can I drink alcohol after completing a course of antibiotics?
When a person falls ill, the main task of doctors is to ensure his speedy recovery. For this purpose, in addition to medicines, can be prescribed:
- diets;
- Physical therapy;
- various additional procedures.
At the same time, the doctor is obliged to minimize the impact of negative factors that may delay treatment, reduce its effectiveness or provoke complications. For this reason, experts recommend avoiding alcohol.
Every disease in itself is a heavy burden on the immune system. In addition, many antibacterial drugs do not work very well on the internal organs. For this reason, their dosage and duration of administration are determined as accurately as possible. Oral alcohol has a negative effect on the liver and kidneys, even in a perfectly healthy person. Accordingly, paired with a pathogen and antibiotics, it puts an extreme strain on the organs mentioned and increases the intoxication.
Even if the course is over, it's not worth catching up on - doctors advise waiting a certain amount of time. So in case of assumption:
- it is permissible to drink conventional antibiotics after at least 3 days (preferably 5);
- long-acting drugs - you need to wait at least 3 weeks.
What antibiotics can not be combined with alcohol
There is a whole range of drugs, taking which it is absolutely impossible to drink alcohol.
Thus, nitroimidazoles are incompatible with alcohol. Their combination with ethanol provokes a disulfiram-like reaction, an acute intoxication used to code people who want to stop drinking.
In this situation, it is better to start taking alcoholic beverages no later than two days after the end of the course.
The next group are fluoroquinolones. Alcohol is allowed here after 3 days. The drugs already have an overwhelming effect on the central nervous system and, together with alcohol, can lead to the development of serious side effects (the worst of which is coma).
People who take cephalosporins should avoid drinking alcohol during their cycle. It is necessary to wait at least a day after its completion. If there is renal pathology, relaxation is possible no earlier than 3 days.
Taking tetracyclines is very painful for the liver. These drugs are eliminated from the body for a long time. Drinking alcohol is better to postpone for 4 days.
Aminoglycosides are another rather toxic group of antibiotics. They damage both the kidneys and the liver. After treatment with these drugs, you should not drink alcohol for about 15 days.
Lincosamides (even if taken according to the system developed by the doctor) have a negative effect on the liver and central nervous system. They can cause a disulfiram-like reaction. Do not drink alcohol for at least 4 days.
All macrolides increase the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver. They are badly excreted from the body. How long do you have to wait? The recommended abstinence period is 5 days.
Antibiotics that help get rid of tuberculosis are usually taken for a long time. They have a side effect - reactive drug-induced hepatitis. When it comes to such drugs, alcohol is consumed exclusively by suicides.
How long the antibiotic can work after the course is completed
Scientists have determined how much certain antibiotic metabolites store activity in the body. If we are talking about simple drugs, then the period is 3 days. For longer duration - from 2 weeks.
A number of other factors also influence the duration of alcohol abstinence:
- course duration;
- drug compatibility with ethanol;
- the presence of direct contraindications.
It is impossible to independently determine how long to wait before drinking alcohol. For this reason, it is better to seek comprehensive advice from a doctor.
What happens if you drink an antibiotic with alcohol?
Alcohol when taking antibiotics can cause many unwanted complications. First, ethanol is guaranteed to weaken the effectiveness of the drug, which leads to the development of resistance in the pathogenic strain.
It is impossible not to mention the possibility of the transition of the disease into a chronic form. Also because of the small amount of alcohol, the antibiotic is absorbed more quickly and does not reach the infected area.
Alcohol with the drug in question often provokes blood clotting, which in turn is fraught with heart attacks or strokes. At best, the existing symptoms of the cardiovascular system worsen.
When alcohol is consumed, the concentration of antibiotics decreases. With the latter, doctors have to increase the dose, which puts more strain on the kidneys and liver. We must also not forget about the negative effect of ethanol itself on these organs.
There is also an additional allergy risk. In simple cases, the patient gets away with a rash and itching, and in complex cases, Quincke's edema or even anaphylactic shock may develop.
When can you drink alcohol immediately after antibiotics
There are several medications where ethanol can be used. The foregoing cannot be taken as permission to drink tablets directly with alcohol. It is necessary to wait at least 3-6 hours, but it would be more correct to abandon the idea of breastfeeding until the treatment is completed.
These relatively safe drugs include:
- penicillin and its derivatives;
- a series of glycopeptides;
- ansamycins and others.
Remember, if you need to drink any of the above antibiotics, do not forget about the likelihood of an individual reaction to their combination with alcohol.
Admission Rules
Antibiotics have to be taken correctly – only then will they have the right effect. So in particular:
- the medicine is only prescribed by a doctor;
- he also determines how much and in what doses it should be consumed;
- the drug is washed down with cool and unsweetened drinks (preferably water);
- during treatment you should follow a diet (fat is forbidden, emphasis on protein food and long carbohydrates);
- drink plenty of water while taking the antibiotic;
- Even if the symptoms have disappeared, continue treatment for a period of time determined by the doctor.
Can I drink alcohol while taking antibiotics?
As practice shows, many people do not know whether it is permissible to combine alcohol and antibiotics. Some are confident that drinking alcohol is safe if you do it a few hours after taking the drug. Others are convinced that they should not be mixed under any circumstances. In reality, the truth is somewhere in the middle - it all depends on the general condition of the patient and the type of drugs prescribed to him. What are the effects of alcohol on the body when taken with antibiotics? We will continue to talk about this.
How strong alcohol interacts with antibiotics
Only a naive person will ask doctors what antibiotics can be combined with alcohol. They will surely say that taking them in parallel is definitely a big mistake. In fact, they are right, because for them the main task is to get a person up and running as quickly as possible.
Why can't you drink antibiotics and alcohol at the same time? Doctors find that after taking antibacterial drugs (oral only), their breakdown products are processed by the liver. This organ is generally the main filter that removes toxins, that is, it also cleans the blood of substances that got there from alcohol consumption. If you mix alcohol and drugs, the load increases by about half - this leads to accelerated wear and tear on the liver.
Also, when taking antibiotics, be sure to drink plenty of water so you can speed up the withdrawal process. The same applies to the treatment of alcohol poisoning. Excess moisture increases the load on the kidneys, which is also not good.
At the same time, alcohol somehow changes the intensity and quality of metabolism. Here it is impossible to predict what impact it will have. When a person mixes drugs and ethanol, the result can be either too weak or too strong.
At the same time, there are antibiotics that bind to alcohol in the human body, which leads to a stronger negative effect on the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.
So if you drink the drugs in question, then it's worth finding out how they interact with strong alcohol and whether a combination is generally permissible.
Why you shouldn't drink alcohol
If everything is more or less clear with strong alcohol, then with weak alcohol certain difficulties arise. Many patients are sure that you can drink the latter even while taking antibiotics, believing that the strength of the negative effects depends solely on the strength of the alcohol.
In fact, this is an illusion. Both vodka and wine contain ethyl alcohol, which has the same effect in both cases. In addition, the amount of light alcohol that is drunk is usually greater than that of strong alcohol, meaning we all experience increased stress on the liver and kidneys.
Combining weak alcohol with antibiotics is also dangerous for others, because such alcohol contains many additional components:
- yeast residues;
- dyes;
- sweeteners;
- aromatic compounds;
- preservatives;
- carbon dioxide etc.
All of these substances increase the risk of unwanted side effects.
Taking an antibiotic with alcohol - the likely consequences
The main consequence that threatens people who drink both antibiotics and alcohol is poisoning. The severity of the latter can be different. In general, healthy people often have mild symptoms, while chronically ill people often have the opposite. In all cases, poisoning is accompanied by:
- nausea;
- Dizziness;
- loss of coordination;
- Vomit;
- Diarrhea
- Migraine;
- hyperthermia;
- Cramps;
- fainting.
In severe situations, a person is urgently hospitalized.
Unpleasant consequences in combination with alcohol can definitely not be avoided:
- tetracyclines and almost all drugs of this series;
- cephalosporins;
- nitroimidazoles.
These antibiotics interact quite actively with ethanol, even if they are not intervened, but taken 6 or 8 hours apart. As a result, a reaction called disulfiram-like begins in the body. Simply put, there are signs of severe intoxication.
Normally, this effect helps encode people who stop drinking, but here the process is controlled by narcologists, and if the state of health deteriorates excessively, then the patient is immediately stabilized with medication. Adequate help is not possible at home - therefore alcohol should not be mixed with the drugs mentioned.
These drugs cannot be combined with other chemicals at all. It is not recommended to mix ethanol with antibacterial drugs that help fight tuberculosis and leprosy.
Never drink alcohol if your doctor has prescribed sulfonamides for you.
Antibiotics conditionally compatible with alcohol
What drugs can be combined with alcoholic beverages? It all depends on their inherent pharmacodynamics.
A factor such as the half-life of the drug and how long its metabolites remain in the body come into play here. If these indicators do not change significantly when drinking alcohol, then you can take antibiotics and not refuse yourself alcohol.
Drink ethanol in small amounts without fear when it comes to penicillin-related drugs.
How much can you drink? If we talk about vodka, the dose is about 50 ml. Dry wine is allowed no more than 150 ml, and dessert - 100.
The types of antibiotics that are not mixed with alcohol are shown in the table:
| group | Effect |
|---|---|
| lincomycins | CNS damage |
| macrolides | Strong negative effect on the liver |
The effects given in the table are common during long-term treatment with drugs, even in people who do not drink alcohol at all. If there are no negative manifestations (this is generally normal for healthy people), taking any of the mentioned antibiotics is not a contraindication. At the same time, you should remember that if you want to recover faster, it is better not to mix the drugs listed in the table with alcohol.
After how many days is it allowed to drink alcohol without special restrictions?
So you've stopped taking an antibiotic and are wondering: When is it safe to start drinking? The primary clearance of most drugs is complete after one day (18-24 hours). In principle, when this period is over, it is not dangerous to take something on the chest. Antibiotics are completely eliminated from the body after 14 days. That is, in the absence of other contraindications, after 2 weeks you can try to catch up.
Another question is also important: How long should one stop taking antibacterial medication? If a non-acute illness is meant, it is better to wait 4 days, in emergencies one day is enough.
If we are talking about antibiotics of the tetracycline group, then the patient will have to wait at least 72 hours.