Sometimes the dentist prescribes antibiotic treatment for the patient.This occurs with bacterial infections of the mouth.You must take antibacterial medications, adhering to certain rules, which your doctor will tell you separately.One of the most frequently asked questions is whether it is possible to combine antibiotics and alcohol?We talk about this in detail in our material.
Is it possible to drink alcohol with antibiotics?
You've been prescribed antibiotics and you don't know if you can drink a glass of wine or a glass of beer.There is an opinion that antibiotics and alcohol should not be mixed.For many who don't like drinking, it has even become a convenient excuse to drink.As soon as you say you are taking antibiotics, the persuasion to drink stops immediately.However, legends are legends, but it doesn't hurt to discover the truth.Let's find out if you can buy alcohol during antibacterial therapy.
To begin with, a few words about antibiotics.These are medications prescribed for bacterial infections.Different antibiotics have different mechanisms of action, but the result is the same - the death of bacteria or their inability to reproduce.
Important.Antibiotics are not taken for viral illnesses because they are unable to fight viruses.Therefore, for flu and colds, it is not advisable to take antibiotics.Many people, with symptoms of acute respiratory diseases, immediately take antibiotics, which makes a big mistake.You can only take these medications with your doctor's permission.
Like other medicines, antibiotics have side effects.It is worth noting that when combined with alcoholic beverages, the likelihood of side effects may increase.Furthermore, there is a danger of further adverse reactions.This, in fact, applies not only to antibiotics, but also to other medications, for example, sleeping pills, anti-allergy, sedatives, anti-inflammatories and analgesics.
Speaking of antibiotics and alcohol, the compatibility of which is questioned, it is important to note how alcohol interacts with the drug.Let's consider 2 main mechanisms by which it is impossible to mix antibiotics and alcohol.
Drug metabolism
Any drug is metabolized in the body, that is, it goes through a series of transformations.The medicine begins to disintegrate already in the oral cavity.This process is intensified in the gastrointestinal tract, where the drug is absorbed into the blood in the small intestine.The substance then passes through the liver, where it can undergo changes.The drug circulates in the bloodstream for some time, after which it is excreted in the urine (often in an altered form).
Now let's find out what happens when you drink alcohol during antibiotic therapy.Just like medications, alcohol is also metabolized.This happens in the liver with the help of specific enzymes.If the liver has to deal with alcohol and drugs at the same time, the enzymes will work too quickly or not have time to do their job.
If the liver works too quickly, the antibiotic will be destroyed prematurely and will not have time to fully realize its therapeutic effect.If liver function is slowed, the antibiotic will accumulate in the blood very quickly, which leads to great toxicity of the drug.
Increased side effects
In some cases, combining alcohol with antibiotics can cause an increase in side effects or the appearance of new ones (from taking antibiotics).In particular, it is indicated for antibiotics that, for example, cause drowsiness.If you also drink alcohol, your drowsiness will increase.
However, in addition to increasing the main side effects (indicated in the drug's instructions), new ones may also appear.These are often headaches, nausea, heart rhythm disturbances, intestinal disorders and abdominal pain.
Important: antibiotic resistance.Bacteria, like any other living organism, evolve, adapting to new environmental conditions.In this case, they are able to adapt to the action of antibiotics.This is how antibiotic resistance develops – the resistance of certain types of bacteria to one or another type of antibiotic.Currently, this is one of the most serious medical problems, as resistant bacteria are increasingly numerous and the search for new antibiotics is difficult.The uncontrolled use of antibiotics is one of the reasons for bacterial resistance.Patients often stop taking medication on their own as soon as they feel better.You can't do that with antibiotics.It is important to drink the entire course prescribed by your doctor, even if you feel significant relief “ahead of schedule”.
What happens if you drink alcohol with antibiotics?
Let's look at some of the negative consequences of taking alcohol and antibiotics at the same time.Let us immediately note that such phenomena may not be observed, but we are obliged to inform the reader about this, since such reactions occur in medical practice.
- Liver dysfunction.If you have a healthy liver, you may not feel the effects of mixing alcohol and antibiotics.However, be aware that the liver takes a double burden processing alcohol and drugs.
- Nervous system disorders.In some people, alcohol in combination with antibiotics causes significant disturbances in the central and peripheral nervous system.In particular, this is expressed by headaches, dizziness, nausea and even convulsions.
- Sleep disorder.Disturbances can occur up to the reversal of day and night.
- Cardiovascular disorders.Most often this is a change in blood pressure (up and down).
- Allergic reactions.In rare cases, antibiotics and alcohol can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock.The latter is a serious condition that threatens human life.In this case, you need to call an ambulance.
- Digestive tract disorders.Combining antibacterial medicines with alcohol can cause indigestion, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
How many days after taking antibiotics can you drink alcohol?
How much should you not drink after taking antibiotics?This is also one of the most common questions asked by patients forced to take antibacterial medications.In this case, a lot depends on the specific medication, that is, on the time it takes to remove it from the body.
In most cases, it is enough to take a two-day break (48 hours) after taking antibiotics, after which you can indulge in alcohol.In some countries they recommend waiting 3 days.There is no consensus on this matter.The only thing that can be said for sure is that you need to wait at least 2 days.
Why you shouldn't drink while taking antibiotics
Medical literature (scientific articles, treatment recommendations, etc.), which talks about the harmfulness of combining antibacterial drugs with alcohol, indicates a number of negative phenomena that occur when taking alcoholic beverages and antibiotics at the same time.The negative consequences can be summarized as two undesirable effects, namely:
- Reduced effectiveness of antibacterial therapy.It is indicated that alcohol inhibits the antibacterial activity of antibiotics.Thus, the suppression of pathogenic microflora is less effective, which creates the need to prolong treatment or find a new antibiotic.
- Liver damage.With the simultaneous use of alcoholic beverages and antibiotics, a large load is placed on the liver tissue.It increases the risk of poisoning not only the liver, but also the body, as the liver is a filter through which blood passes.
Let's find out how true these statements are.And if an antibiotic and alcohol have already been mixed, what will happen to the body?
As for reducing the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy, this danger really exists.But this applies not only to antibiotics, but also to other medicines.It is worth noting that there is still no convincing data on the negative effects of alcohol on the different groups of antibiotics.In an animal study, no interaction between antibiotics and alcohol was observed.A human study did not show a significant decrease in the effectiveness of antibacterial therapy.
However, the instructions for such drugs state in black and white that it is advisable to refrain from drinking alcohol.Experts say not enough research has been done on this topic, so it's best to avoid alcohol while taking antibiotics.Furthermore, in the studies carried out, volunteers received small doses of alcohol, which probably do not have a significant effect on the metabolism of pharmacological medications.Therefore, to the question of whether it is possible to drink if taking antibiotics, the answer is still negative.
Summarizing the above, we can identify 5 main reasons why it is undesirable to combine antibiotics and alcohol:
- Deterioration of metabolic processes.Alcoholic beverages impair the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and medications.This means that the antibiotics will be less absorbed into the blood, which will reduce their effectiveness.
- Increased blood sugar.Alcohol is metabolized in the body to form sugars.This is a particularly dangerous situation for diabetes patients.In addition, an increase in sugar levels during infectious diseases can only aggravate the course of the pathological process, since sugar is a substrate for pathogenic microorganisms.
- Decreased immunity.Consumption of alcoholic beverages reduces the body's defenses.Thus, the infectious process will only intensify.
- Allergy.Combining antibiotics and alcohol increases the likelihood of allergic reactions such as rashes.
- Unpredictable consequences.Despite the contradictory evidence base, it is difficult to make predictions about the interaction of drugs with alcohol in each specific case.Perhaps this combination will lead to undesirable consequences for you.
Important: antibiotics and other medications.For the information of our readers, it is undesirable to combine antibiotics not only with alcohol, but also with some other medicines.When prescribing antibacterial therapy, the doctor will certainly ask what medications the patient is currently taking.As a rule, it is not recommended to combine antibiotics with anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, some hypoglycemic drugs and other medications.If for some reason the doctor forgot to ask about the medications you are taking, do not hesitate to ask him this question.
Antibiotics and beer
Or maybe beer with antibiotics, because of all alcoholic drinks this is the least “strong”?In fact, beer is a low-alcohol drink.However, what is insidious is that, as a rule, people drink a lot of beer.Thus, 100 ml of beer contains approximately 3-6 ml of pure alcohol.So, if you drink 0.5 liters of beer, that's already 15-30 ml of ethanol.And if the beer is strong, then it is already 40-50 ml of alcohol.
You shouldn't relax with non-alcoholic beer either, because it still contains some amount of alcohol.Therefore, if you are taking antibiotics (especially if it is a short-term treatment), it is best to abstain from alcohol, even if it is beer.For the sake of your health, you can wait a week or two without a bottle of beer.
Wine with antibiotics
The situation with wine is the same as with beer.At the same time, wine is a stronger drink and there is more alcohol per unit volume in wine than in beer.
Cognac and antibiotics
Cognac, cognac, whiskey, vodka and other strong alcoholic beverages contain much more alcohol than wine and beer.During antibacterial therapy, it is best to avoid drinking these alcoholic beverages.It is not a fact that alcohol interferes in any way with the action of antibiotics.But even in the absence of convincing data, it is still better to give up alcohol.It definitely won't get worse.
Antibiotics and alcohol: myths
So, as mentioned above, the negative effect of alcohol on antibiotics is a debatable issue.No one has proven this yet.Medical recommendations regarding abstinence from alcohol consumption during antibacterial therapy are rather “insurance” against a possible negative effect.
There are several theories why doctors still prohibit drinking alcohol while taking antibiotics.One is that when treating sexually transmitted diseases, doctors simply punished their patients for their dissolute lifestyle.
There is a second interesting story related to the penicillin shortage during World War II.It was in Africa, where British troops were conducting military operations.To doctors there, penicillin was worth its weight in gold.It went so far as to take urine from sick soldiers to isolate penicillin and reuse the drug.But if you drink beer at the same time, the volume of urine increases sharply, which complicates the process of excretion of the medicine through urine.Therefore, patients who were prescribed an antibiotic were prohibited from drinking.
Amoxicillin-based antibiotics and alcohol
Among other things, many patients may have a question: is it possible to drink alcohol while taking these medications?Does it go well with beer, cognac and other alcoholic drinks?It is worth noting that foreign instructions for amoxicillin with clavulanic acid do not indicate side effects associated with the combined use of alcohol.There have also been no studies on the negative effects of combining amoxicillin with alcohol to reasonably prohibit patients from taking alcohol during antibiotic therapy.
Cephalosporin antibiotics and alcohol
It is undesirable to combine these drugs with alcohol, as this can lead to a disulfiram-like reaction.With this interaction, the decomposition of ethyl alcohol is inhibited, which leads to the accumulation of acetaldehyde, which has a toxic effect on the body.
Azithromycin-based antibiotics and alcohol
Regarding the popular azithromycin-based antibiotic, studies were carried out on laboratory animals.In particular, it has been shown in rats that the effectiveness of azithromycin does not decrease when taking alcohol simultaneously.However, the instructions for the medicine indicate that the simultaneous use of the medicine with alcohol is undesirable.This is mainly due to the negative effect of alcohol on the liver.
Conclusion
If we summarize all of the above, we can say the following.In most cases, antibiotics do not lose their effectiveness when taken with alcohol.However, given the negative effects of alcohol on the liver, it is best to avoid such a combination.Alcohol consumption definitely does not speed up treatment, so it is best to avoid alcohol during the antibiotic treatment period.