Alcohol generally has a strong negative effect on the body. If you use it immediately after the end of the antibiotic, then the risk of problems increases significantly. Of course, in some cases the risk will be minimal, but a number of medications commonly prescribed for serious illnesses are categorically incompatible with alcohol.
During antibiotic therapy, doctors recommend refraining from drinking alcohol. Similar limitations are described in the instructions for use of each antimicrobial agent. If you drink alcohol after antibiotics, the effect of therapy can be weakened or minimized. Perhaps the development of adverse reactions and complications.
How long does it take to wait after antibiotic treatment before drinking wine, vodka or even beer? Read more about this.
Antibiotic - what is this medicine
There are several main types of antibiotics. The simplest are made from organic raw materials, others are purely synthetic, and others are a kind of intermediate option. Regardless of the group, all drugs help to slow down the development of pathogenic microflora, its suppression and destruction.
The drugs in question can only be used for infections of a bacterial nature - they do not act at all on viruses (even like the flu).
Antibiotics are available in different forms:
- capsule;
- pill;
- pomada;
- injection fluids;
- syrup.
Despite this, medicines work the same way. Moreover, even when it comes to 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, the following may be prescribed:
- dietat;
- physiotherapy;
- various additional procedures.
In parallel, the physician is obliged to minimize the effect of any negative factor potentially capable of delaying treatment, reducing its effectiveness, or provoking complications. It is for this purpose that experts recommend to refrain from drinking alcohol.
Every disease in itself is a strong burden on the immune system. Moreover, many antibacterial drugs do not work very well in the internal organs. Therefore the dose and duration of their administration is determined as accurately as possible. Alcohol, taken orally, has a negative effect on the liver and kidneys of even a completely healthy person. Therefore, together with a pathogenic agent and antibiotics, it extremely overloads the mentioned organs and increases intoxication.
Even when the course is over, it's not worth rushing to catch up - doctors advise waiting a certain amount of time. So, in case of acceptance:
- allowed to drink conventional antibiotics after at least 3 days (preferably 5);
- long-acting drugs - you should wait at least 3 weeks.
Which antibiotics can not be combined with alcohol
There are many types of drugs, in the process of taking which it is absolutely impossible to drink alcohol.
So nitroimidazoles are incompatible with alcohol. Their combination with ethanol provokes a disulfiram-like reaction, an acute intoxication used in coding people who want to stop drinking.
In this situation, it is best to start taking alcoholic beverages at least two days after completing the course.
The other group are fluoroquinolones. Here alcohol is allowed after 3 days. Medications already have an overwhelming effect on the central nervous system and together with alcohol can lead to the development of severe side effects (of which the worst is coma).
People taking cephalosporins should give up the idea of taking alcohol during their cycle. It is necessary to wait at least a day after its completion. If there is any renal pathology, then it will be possible to relax no earlier than after 3 days.
Taking tetracyclines is very painful for the liver. These drugs are excreted from the body for a long time. Drinking alcohol is best postponed for 4 days.
Aminoglycosides are another highly toxic group of antibiotics. They damage both the kidneys and the liver. After treatment with these drugs, you can not drink alcohol for about 15 days.
Lincosamides (even when taken according to the system developed by the doctor) have a negative effect on the liver and central nervous system. They can provoke a disulfiram-like reaction. Drink alcohol no earlier than after 4 days.
All macrolides increase the risk of developing liver cirrhosis. They are poorly excreted by the body. How long do you have to wait? The recommended abstinence period is 5 days.
Antibiotics that help eliminate tuberculosis are usually taken for a long time. They have a side effect - drug-induced reactive hepatitis. When it comes to such drugs, alcohol is drunk exclusively by suicides.
How long can the antibiotic last after completing the course
Scientists have determined how much specific metabolites of antibiotics save activity in the body. If we are talking about simple drugs, then the period is 3 days. In the prolonged case - from 2 or more weeks.
A number of other factors also affect the duration of alcohol abstinence:
- course duration;
- drug compatibility with ethanol;
- the presence of direct contraindications.
It is impossible to independently determine how long you should wait before drinking alcohol. For this reason, it is best to get a comprehensive consultation with a doctor.
What if you take an antibiotic with alcohol
Alcohol in the process of taking antibiotics can cause many unwanted complications. First of all, ethanol is guaranteed to weaken the effectiveness of the drug, which leads to the development of resistance to pathogenic strain.
It is impossible not to mention the possibility of the disease passing into a chronic form. Even due to the small amount of alcohol, the antibiotic is absorbed faster and does not reach the infected area.
Alcohol with the drug in question often provokes blood clots, and this, in turn, is fraught with heart attacks or strokes. At best, existing diseases of the cardiovascular system will worsen.
When alcohol is consumed, the concentration of antibiotics decreases. Doctors need to increase the dose of the latter, which increases the load on the kidneys and liver. We should also not forget the negative effect of ethanol itself on these organs.
There is also an additional risk of allergies. In simple cases, the patient will leave with a rash and itching, and in complex cases, Quincke's edema or even anaphylactic shock may develop.
When you can drink alcohol immediately after antibiotics
There are several medications that allow the use of ethanol. The above can not be considered as permission to drink tablets directly with alcohol. It is necessary to wait at least 3-6 hours, but it would be more accurate to abandon the idea of breastfeeding until the treatment is over.
These relatively safe drugs include:
- penicillin and its derivatives;
- a number of glycopeptides;
- ansamycin and others.
Keep in mind, if you have to take any of the antibiotics mentioned above, do not forget about the possibility of an individual reaction to their combination with alcohol.
Admission rules
Antibiotics need to be taken correctly - only then will they have the right effect. So in particular:
- the drug is prescribed exclusively by a doctor;
- it also determines how much should be consumed and in what doses;
- the drug is washed with cold drinks and without sugar (preferably water);
- during treatment, you should follow a diet (fat is forbidden, emphasis on protein foods and long carbohydrates);
- while taking the antibiotic, drink plenty of water;
- even if the symptoms have disappeared, continue treatment for a certain period by the doctor.
Can I drink alcohol while taking antibiotics?
As practice shows, many people do not know if it is permissible to combine alcohol and antibiotics. Some are sure that drinking alcohol is not dangerous 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 between - it all depends on the general condition of the patient and the type of medication prescribed. What effect does alcohol have on the body if you drink it together with antibiotics? We will talk about this further.
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 put a person on his feet as soon as possible.
Why can't you drink antibiotics and alcohol at the same time? Doctors note that after taking (oral only) antibacterial drugs, their decay products are used by the liver. This organ is generally the main filter that removes toxins, ie cleanses the blood of substances that have come there as a result of drinking alcohol. If you mix alcohol and drugs, then the load increases by about half - this leads to accelerated consumption of the liver.
In addition, when taking antibiotics, make sure you drink plenty of water, this allows you to speed up the process of withdrawing them. The same goes for treating alcohol intoxication. Excess moisture increases the load on the kidneys, which is also not good.
At the same time, alcohol in a certain way changes the intensity and quality of metabolism. Here it is impossible to predict what its impact will be. If a person mixes drugs and ethanol, then as a result, the former may act either very weakly or very strongly.
At the same time, there are antibiotics that, after entering the human body, bind to alcohol, which leads to a greater negative effect on the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.
Thus, if you take the drugs in question, then it is worthwhile to find out how they interact with strong alcohol and if it is permissible in principle to combine them.
Why you should not drink alcohol
If everything is more or less clear with strong alcohol, then some difficulties arise with weak alcohol. Many patients are confident that you can drink the latter even while taking antibiotics, believing that the strength of the negative impact depends only on the strength of the alcohol.
In fact, this is a hoax. Both vodka and wine contain ethyl alcohol, which acts in the same way in both cases. Moreover, the volume of lightly drunk alcohol is usually greater than in the case of strong alcohol, that is, as a result, we all get an increase in load on the liver and kidneys.
The combination of weak alcohol with antibiotics is also dangerous for others, because such alcohol contains many additional ingredients:
- yeast residues;
- colors;
- sweetener;
- aromatic compounds;
- preservatives;
- carbon dioxide etc.
All of these substances increase the risk of unwanted side effects.
Taking an antibiotic with alcohol - possible consequences
The main consequence that threatens people who drink antibiotics and alcohol is intoxication. The severity of the latter may 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;
- vomiting;
- diarrhea
- migraine;
- hyperthermia;
- convulsions;
- faint.
In severe situations, a person is urgently hospitalized.
It will certainly not be possible to avoid the unpleasant consequences if combined with alcohol:
- Tetracyclines and almost all drugs in this series;
- Cephalosporins;
- Nitroimidazoles.
These antibiotics interact quite actively with ethanol, even if they do not interfere, but are taken at intervals of 6 or 8 hours. As a result, a reaction called disulfiram begins in the body. Simply put, there are signs of severe intoxication.
In normal cases, this effect helps to encode people who stop drinking, but here the process is controlled by narcotics doctors and if the health condition worsens too much, then the patient stabilizes immediately with medication. It is impossible to provide adequate help at home - therefore alcohol should not be mixed with the mentioned drugs.
These drugs can not be combined at all with any other chemicals. Mixing ethanol with antibacterial drugs that help against tuberculosis and leprosy is not recommended.
Never drink alcohol unless your doctor prescribes sulfonamides.
Conditionally compatible antibiotics with alcohol
What drugs can be combined with alcoholic beverages? It all depends on their natural pharmacodynamics.
Here a factor such as the half-life of the drug and the length of stay of its metabolites in the body is important. If these indicators do not change significantly when you drink alcohol, then you can take antibiotics and not deny yourself alcohol.
Drink ethanol in small amounts without fear when it comes to penicillin-related medications.
How much is allowed to drink? If we are talking about vodka, then the dose is about 50 ml. Dry wine is allowed no more than 150 ml, and cakes - 100.
The types of antibiotics that do not mix with alcohol are listed in the table:
| GROUP | effect |
|---|---|
| Linkomicina | Damage to the CNS |
| Macrolides | Strong negative effect on the liver |
The effects shown in the table often occur during long-term drug treatment, even in people who do not drink alcohol at all. Moreover, when there are no negative manifestations (for healthy people this is generally normal), then taking any of the mentioned antibiotics is not a contraindication. At the same time, it is worth remembering that it is better not to mix the medicines listed in the table with alcohol if you want to recover faster.
After how many days it is allowed to drink alcohol without special restrictions
So you have stopped taking an antibiotic and you are wondering: after what period of time are you allowed to drink without fear? Primary excretion of most drugs ends after one day (18-24 hours). When this period is over, in principle it is not dangerous to get a little in the chest. Antibiotics are completely eliminated from the body after 14 days. This means, in the absence of other contraindications, it is possible to try to achieve after 2 weeks.
Another question is also important: how long should you abstain before taking antibacterial drugs? When a non-acute illness is implied, it is better to wait 4 days, in urgent cases one day is enough.
If we are talking about antibiotics belonging to the tetracycline group, then the patient should wait at least 72 hours.