Alcohol in general has a strong negative effect on the body. If you use it soon after the antibiotic ends, the risk of problems increases significantly. Of course, in some cases the danger will be minimal, but some drugs usually prescribed for serious diseases are categorically incompatible with alcohol.
During antibiotic therapy, doctors recommend refraining from drinking alcohol. Similar restrictions are described in the instructions for use of each antimicrobial agent. If you drink alcohol after antibiotics, the effect of therapy may be weakened or minimized. Perhaps the development of adverse reactions and complications.
How long does it cost to wait after antibiotic treatment before drinking wine, vodka or even beer? Read more about this.
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 a kind of intermediate option. Regardless of the group, all drugs help slow down the development of pathogenic microflora, suppress and destroy it.
The drugs in question can only be used for infections of a bacterial nature: they do not work at all on viruses (even like the flu).
Antibiotics come in various forms:
- capsules;
- pills;
- ointments;
- liquids for injection;
- syrups.
Regardless, drugs work the same way. In addition, even when it comes to external means, the main substance still penetrates 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, they can be prescribed:
- diets;
- Physiotherapy;
- various additional procedures.
At the same time, the doctor has the obligation to minimize the effect of any negative factors potentially capable of delaying treatment, reducing its effectiveness or causing complications. It is for this purpose that experts recommend refraining from drinking alcohol.
Any disease in itself is a heavy burden on the immune system. Also, many antibacterial drugs don't work very well on internal organs. For this reason, their dosage and duration of administration are determined as accurately as possible. Alcohol, taken orally, has a negative effect on the liver and kidneys of even a completely healthy person. As a result, together with a pathogen and antibiotics, it extremely overloads the mentioned organs and increases intoxication.
Even when the course is completed, it is not worth rushing to recover - doctors advise waiting for a certain time. So, in case of acceptance:
- it is allowed to drink conventional antibiotics after at least 3 days (preferably 5);
- long-acting drugs: it is necessary to wait at least 3 weeks.
What antibiotics can not be combined with alcohol
There are many varieties of drugs, in the process of taking it, that it is absolutely impossible to drink alcohol.
Hence, nitroimidazoles are incompatible with alcohol. Combining them with ethanol causes a reaction similar to disulfiram, an acute intoxication used to encode people who want to stop drinking.
In this situation, it is better to start drinking alcoholic beverages at least two days after the end of the course.
The next group are the fluoroquinolones. Here alcohol is allowed after 3 days. 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 taking cephalosporins should give up the idea of drinking alcohol during their cycle. It is necessary to wait at least one day after its completion. If there is any kidney pathology, it will be possible to relax no earlier than 3 days.
Taking tetracyclines is very painful for the liver. These drugs are excreted 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 cannot 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 cause a disulfiram-like reaction. Drink alcohol no earlier than 4 days.
All macrolides increase the risk of developing liver cirrhosis. They are poorly 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: 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 the amount of specific antibiotic metabolites that save activity in the body. If we are talking about simple drugs, then the period is 3 days. In case of prolonged - from 2 or more weeks.
A number of other factors also affect the duration of alcohol withdrawal:
- duration of the course;
- pharmacological 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 best to get a full consultation with a doctor.
What happens if you drink 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 in the pathogenic strain.
It is impossible not to mention the possibility of the transition of the disease to a chronic form. Also 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 causes blood clotting and this, in turn, is fraught with heart attacks or strokes. At best, existing disorders 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 must 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 come out with a rash and itchiness, and in complex cases, Quincke's edema or even anaphylactic shock may develop.
When you can drink alcohol right after antibiotics
There are several medicines with which it is allowed to use ethanol. The above cannot be regarded as an authorization 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 number of glycopeptides;
- ansamycins and others.
Keep in mind that if you have to drink any of the above-mentioned antibiotics, do not forget about the likelihood of an individual reaction to their combination with alcohol.
Admission rules
Antibiotics must be taken correctly - only in this case they will have the correct effect. So, in particular:
- the medicine is prescribed only by a doctor;
- it also determines how much should be consumed and in what doses;
- the drug is washed down with cool, unsweetened drinks (preferably water);
- during treatment, you should follow a diet (fat is prohibited, emphasis on protein foods and long carbohydrates);
- when taking the antibiotic, drink plenty of water;
- even if symptoms have disappeared, continue treatment for a period determined by your 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 sure 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 fact, the truth is somewhere in the middle: it all depends on the general condition of the patient and the type of drug he has been prescribed. What effect does alcohol have on the body if you drink it along with antibiotics? We will talk about this further.
How strong alcohol interacts with antibiotics
Only a naive person will ask doctors which antibiotics can be combined with alcohol. They will surely say that taking them in parallel is definitely a big mistake. Indeed, they are right, because for them the main task is to get a person back on their feet as quickly as possible.
Why can't you drink antibiotics and drink alcohol at the same time? Doctors note that after taking antibacterial drugs (oral only), their breakdown products are used by the liver. This organ is generally the main filter that removes toxins, that is, it also cleans the blood of substances that have arrived there due to alcohol consumption. If you mix alcohol and drugs, the load increases by about half, this leads to accelerated wear of the liver.
Also, when taking antibiotics, make sure you drink plenty of water, this allows you to speed up the withdrawal process. The same is true in the treatment of alcohol intoxication. Excess moisture increases the load on the kidneys, which is 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 influence will be. If a person mixes drugs and ethanol, as a result, the former can act too weakly or too strongly.
At the same time, there are antibiotics that, once in the human body, bind to alcohol, which leads to an increased negative effect on the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.
Therefore, if you drink the drugs in question, it is worth finding out how they interact with strong alcohol and whether in principle it is permissible to combine them.
Why you shouldn't drink alcohol
If everything is more or less clear with strong alcohol, some difficulties arise with weak alcohol. Many patients are confident that the latter can be drunk even while taking antibiotics, believing that the strength of the negative impact solely depends on the strength of the alcohol.
In fact, this is an illusion. Both vodka and wine contain ethyl alcohol, which works equally in both cases. In addition, the volume of light alcohol drunk is usually greater than in the case of strong alcohol, that is, as a result, we all get an increase in the 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;
- 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 intoxication. 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;
- He retched;
- diarrhea
- migraine;
- hyperthermia;
- convulsions;
- fainting.
In severe situations, a person is urgently hospitalized.
It will certainly not be possible to avoid unpleasant consequences if combined with alcohol:
- Tetracyclines and almost all drugs in this series;
- cephalosporins;
- Nitroimidazoles.
These antibiotics interact quite actively with ethanol, although they are not interfered with, but taken with an interval of 6 or 8 hours. As a result, a reaction called disulfiram-like 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 narcologists, and if the state of health deteriorates excessively, the patient is immediately stabilized with medication. At home, it is impossible to provide adequate care, which is why alcohol should not be mixed with the drugs mentioned.
These drugs cannot be combined with any other chemicals. It is not recommended to mix ethanol with antibacterial drugs that help against tuberculosis and leprosy.
Never drink alcohol if your doctor has prescribed sulfonamides.
Antibiotics conditionally compatible with alcohol
What drugs can be combined with alcoholic beverages? It all depends on their intrinsic pharmacodynamics.
Here such a factor as the half-life of the drug and the length of stay of its metabolites in the body are important. If these indicators do not change significantly when you drink alcohol, you can take antibiotics and not deny yourself alcohol.
Drink ethanol in small amounts without fear when it comes to penicillin-related drugs.
How much is drinking allowed? If we are talking about vodka, the dose is about 50 ml. Dry wine is not allowed more than 150 ml, and dessert - 100.
The types of antibiotics that are not mixed with alcohol are presented in the table:
| Group | Effect |
|---|---|
| Lincomycine | 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. Also, when there are no negative manifestations (for healthy people this is usually normal), 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 drugs 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 are wondering: after what period of time is it okay to drink without fear? Primary excretion of most drugs is completed after one day (18-24 hours). When this period is over, in principle, it is not dangerous to get some on the chest. Antibiotics are completely eliminated from the body after 14 days. That is, in the absence of other contraindications, it is after 2 weeks that you can try to recover.
Another question is also important: How long should you abstain before taking antibacterial drugs? When a non-acute disease is intended, it is better to wait 4 days, in an emergency one day is enough.
If we talk about antibiotics belonging to the tetracyclines group, the patient must wait at least 72 hours.