Is it possible to combine alcohol and antibiotics?Even doctors do not give an exact answer to this popular question.And while some are adamantly against such duos, others think it's important to be mindful of what alcohol you drink and how much.There is also a third opinion that by approaching the matter sensibly, you can successfully undergo treatment while maintaining social activity.
Is it really necessary to abstain from alcohol in combination with a course of antibiotics?Let's find out.
Much depends on the active ingredient of the drug.Some types of antibiotics are not alcohol-friendly at all, while others may interact normally.Of course, after reading this article, you should not mix alcohol with pills.However, knowing some things will help you not to panic, but to understand the problem intelligently, if for some reason you still drank alcohol during antibiotic therapy.
Antibiotics and alcohol: myths and legends
There is a version that after the war, scary stories began to spread about the incompatibility of alcohol and antibiotics.The first legend states that during this period venereological clinics in our country and abroad were simply overcrowded.The patients are soldiers and officers who have fully tasted the "charms" of martial law.Medical staff deliberately intimidated patients, talking about the terrible consequences of the combination of alcohol and antibiotics, because after drinking, patients could again indulge in any serious actions, and the result of such "feats" could be a new sexually transmitted infection.
Another legend states that due to the laboriousness of obtaining penicillin, it evaporated from the urine of the treated soldiers.For this reason, the soldiers were forbidden to drink beer during the therapy.
The danger of drinking alcohol while taking antibiotics is in the air and modern people prefer to avoid such concoctions.But what does evidence-based medicine think about it?
What do the studies say?
At the beginning of the 21st century, research was conducted on the effects of ethanol on various types of antibiotics.During experiments on laboratory animals and human volunteers, it has been shown that most types of antibiotics are not affected by alcohol intake.
Thus, in the experimental and control groups, the studied antibiotics were equally effective.No significant deviations in the mechanisms of absorption, distribution in the body or elimination of breakdown products were found.
By the way, there is a hypothesis that drinking alcoholic beverages enhances the adverse effects of antibiotics on the liver.Such cases are rarely described in the medical literature due to their rare occurrence (up to 10 cases per 100,000).At the same time, no additional research has been conducted in this direction.Are all fears unfounded?
What antibiotics should not be combined with alcohol?
No, the fears are not groundless: there are a number of antibiotics that, when in contact with alcohol, give extremely unpleasant symptoms - the so-called disulfiram-like reaction.The reaction occurs when ethanol reacts chemically with certain specific antibiotic molecules, leading to changes in the metabolism of ethyl alcohol in the body.In particular, an intermediate, acetaldehyde, accumulates.Intoxication with this substance gives the following symptoms:
- severe headache
- nausea and vomiting
- increased heart rate
- redness of the face, neck, chest area, "heat" in them
- periodic heavy breathing
- spasms of the limbs
Large doses of alcohol can be fatal!
These symptoms are very difficult to bear, often causing fear of suffocation or death.The disulfiram-like reaction is used in clinics in the treatment of alcoholism ("coding").
Antibiotics that can cause the following symptoms:
- active ingredient metronidazole
- active ingredient ketoconazole (prescribed for thrush, for example in the form of suppositories)
- active substance furazolidone (prescribed for food poisoning or unspecified diarrhea)
- active ingredient chloramphenicol (toxic, rarely used: for urinary tract infections, biliary tract infections and some other diseases)
- active ingredient co-trimoxazole (can be prescribed for infections of the respiratory tract, kidneys and ureters, prostatitis)
- active ingredient lornoxicam (used to treat bacterial infections of the respiratory and ENT organs, kidneys, urinary tract, etc.)
- active ingredient tinidazole (often prescribed for infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach ulcers)
- active substance cefamandole (injections for infections of unspecified nature)
- active ingredient cefoperazone (available by injection, treats respiratory tract including pneumonia, bacterial diseases of the genitourinary system and other diseases)
- active ingredient moxifloxacin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribed for severe conditions, including fever, if a bacterial infection is suspected)
When taking these medications (both oral medications and suppositories or eye drops), you must avoid alcohol!
To make sure that your antibiotic is not included in the group of drugs that are prohibited to be combined with alcoholic beverages, consult your doctor and carefully read the instructions for the drug.
Smart decision
When treating any disease with antibiotics, in any case, you should not overload your body with alcoholic beverages.After all, like any toxic substance, ethanol requires "neutralization" in the body.The body uses additional reserves to fight the poison, often the latter, especially if the illness is prolonged.Spending energy on cleansing the body can damage the immune system and significantly increase the recovery period.
In addition, research and medical practice confirm that both alcohol and antibiotics have a depressing effect on the liver.
Despite the fact that the opinion of experts regarding the compatibility of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial agents is divided (with the exception of those drugs for which restrictions are categorical), most tend to believe that it is better to avoid alcoholic beverages during a course of antibiotic therapy.You should also know: if you drank a glass of wine during therapy, you should not refuse the next dose of antibiotic (of course, if it is a medicine for which there are no contraindications for alcohol).