Everyone gets sick from time to time, and many of them have to take antibiotics. It is widely believed in society that these drugs are incompatible with alcohol, but what if the duration of treatment coincides with a holiday? Where is the truth, and where are the legends in our understanding of the interaction of antibiotics with alcoholic beverages?
Antibiotics and alcohol
Antibiotics are drugs designed to fight bacteria. They penetrate pathogenic microorganisms or interfere with their metabolism, interfering in whole or in part.
The question of the compatibility of antibiotics with alcohol and about when you can drink after therapy, doctors still have a different attitude. There are many doctors who strongly recommend that patients avoid alcohol completely during therapy to avoid the consequences of taking antibiotics and alcohol at the same time. They explain this by the fact that these drugs, along with ethanol, destroy the liver and negate the effectiveness of treatment.
To date, many studies have been conducted, the results of which allow us to safely assert that the pharmacological effect of most antibiotics under the influence of alcohol does not worsen, and the burden on the liver does not increase.
However, alcohol itself causes intoxication and dehydration. If you take antibiotics with large doses of alcohol, the body will weaken, and in this case, the effectiveness of treatment, of course, will decrease.
A number of antibiotics are also isolated, which enter into a disulfiram -like reaction with ethanol. Their simultaneous intake with alcohol is contraindicated, as this will cause intoxication, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, seizures. In very rare cases, death is possible.
Myths and realities
Historically, there have been myths in society about the complications of drinking alcohol during antibiotic treatment.
The main myths are as follows:
- Alcohol neutralizes the effects of antibiotics.
- Alcohol, along with antibiotics, increases liver damage.
- Alcoholic beverages reduce the effectiveness of experimental therapy.
In fact, this thesis is only partially true, which is confirmed by the results of many studies on compatibility. In particular, the available data suggest that alcohol intake does not affect the pharmacokinetics of most antibiotics.
At the beginning of the 20th and 21st centuries, much research was conducted on the combined action of antibacterial drugs and alcohol. The experiments involved humans and laboratory animals. The results of antibiotic therapy were similar in the experimental and control groups, but there were no significant deviations in the absorption, distribution and excretion of the active substance of the drug from the body. Data from this study suggest that it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics.
Back in 1982, Finnish scientists conducted a series of experiments among volunteers, the results of which showed that antibiotics of the penicillin group did not enter any reaction with ethanol, so you can use them with alcohol. In 1988, Spanish researchers tested amoxicillin for compatibility with alcohol: only insignificant changes in the rate of absorption of the substance and the delay time were found in a group of subjects.
It was also found that the pharmacokinetic parameters of some antibiotics, for example, the tetracycline group, decreased significantly under the influence of alcohol. However, fewer drugs with this effect have been identified.
The common belief that alcoholic beverages, along with alcohol, increase liver damage, is also refuted by scientists around the world. On the other hand, alcohol can increase the hepotoxicity of antibacterial drugs, but only in very rare cases. This fact becomes the exception rather than the rule.
The scientists also proved that ethanol did not affect the antibiotics used in the treatment of experimental pneumococcal infections in experimental rats.
The reason for the incompatibility
Despite the fact that the safety of simultaneous use of most antibiotics with alcohol has been proven, there are some drugs that are incompatible with alcohol. These are drugs whose active ingredient enters a reaction such as disulfiram with ethyl alcohol - especially nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins.
The reason why it is impossible to take both antibiotics and alcohol at the same time lies in the fact that the composition of the above drugs contains certain molecules that can alter the exchange of ethanol. As a result, there is a delay in the excretion of acetaldehyde, which accumulates in the body and leads to intoxication.
This process is accompanied by characteristic symptoms:
- severe headache;
- rapid heartbeat;
- nausea with vomiting;
- heat in the face, neck, chest;
- hard to breathe;
- seizures.
Reactions such as disulfiram are used in coding for alcoholism, but this method can only be used under the close supervision of a specialist. Even small doses of alcohol cause poisoning during treatment with nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins. Alcohol abuse in this case can result in death.
Doctors allow small amounts of alcohol in treatment with penicillin, antifungal drugs, and some broad -spectrum antibiotics. A serving of fortified drinks while taking this medication will not affect the effectiveness of the therapy and will not cause negative health effects.
When
Although alcohol is allowed with most antibiotics, it should not be taken at the same time. It is better to take such drugs, it is indicated in the instructions.
For example, the effectiveness of erythromycin and tetracyclines increases drinking alkaline mineral water, and sulfonamides, indomethacin and reserpine - with milk.
If the antibiotic does not enter a reaction like disulfiram with ethanol, you can drink alcohol, but not earlier than 4 hours after medication. This is the minimum time that antibiotics circulate in the blood, respectively, and is the answer to the question of how much you can drink after taking the medication.
In any case, during the treatment period, only allowed to take small doses of alcohol, otherwise dehydration will begin in the body, and antibacterial drugs will only be excreted in the urine.
The combination of alcohol with any antibacterial composition is harmful to the body. Having found out how long after taking the drug is allowed to drink alcohol, you can exclude all possible side effects.
conclusion
The myth of the incompatibility of antibiotics and alcohol emerged in the last century, while there are several hypotheses about the causes of its occurrence. According to one of them, the author of the legend belonged to a venereologist who wanted to warn their patients against intoxication.
There is also the assumption that the myth was invented by European doctors. Penicillin was a drug that was in short supply in the 1940s, and soldiers liked to drink beer, which had a diuretic effect and removed the drug from the body.
It has now been proven that alcohol in most cases does not affect the effectiveness of antibiotics and does not increase liver damage. If the active ingredient of the drug does not enter a reaction such as disulfiram with ethanol, you can drink alcohol during treatment. However, 2 main rules should be followed: do not abuse alcohol and do not take antibiotics with it.