Can alcohol and antibiotics be combined? Even doctors don't give an exact answer to this common question. And if some are against such duets, others believe it's important to consider the type of alcohol you drink and how much. There is also a third opinion that by approaching the problem competently, a person can be successfully treated while remaining socially active.
Is it really necessary to abstain from alcohol in conjunction with a course of antibiotics? Let's find it.
Much depends on the active ingredient of the drug. Some antibiotics are not friends with alcohol at all, while others can interact normally. Of course, mixing alcohol with drugs after reading this article is not worth it. However, knowing a few things will help you not to panic, but to understand the problem properly, if for some reason you still drink alcohol during antibiotic treatment.
Antibiotics and alcohol: myths and legends
There is a version that the scary stories that alcohol and antibiotics should not be combined began to circulate after the war. The first legend tells that during this period, venereal clinics in our country and abroad were simply overwhelmed. Patients were soldiers and officers who had fully tasted the "gravity" of martial law. The medical staff especially threatened the patient, talking about the serious consequences of combining alcohol and antibiotics, because after drinking alcohol, the patient could be in serious trouble again, and the outcomeThe result of those "exploits" could be a new sexually transmitted infection.
Another legend has it that due to the painstaking work of obtaining penicillin, it was evaporated from the urine of treated soldiers. For this reason, soldiers are forbidden to drink beer during their treatment.
The dangers of drinking alcohol while taking antibiotics are present and modern people want to avoid such mixtures. But what does evidence-based medicine think about this?
What do the studies say?
At the beginning of the 21st century, studies were carried out on the effect of ethanol on antibiotics. In experiments on laboratory animals and volunteers, it has been shown that alcohol does not affect most antibiotics.
Therefore, in the experimental group and the control group, the studied antibiotics were equally effective. Significant deviations in the mechanisms of absorption, distribution and excretion of decay products were not identified.
By the way, there is a theory that drinking a lot of alcoholic beverages increases the side effects of antibiotics on the liver. In the medical literature, such cases are rarely described because their occurrence is rare (up to 10 cases per 100, 000). At the same time, no further research has been done on this issue. Are all fears unfounded?
What antibiotic cannot be combined with alcohol?
No, the fear is not unfounded: there are certain antibiotics that, when exposed to alcohol, cause extremely unpleasant symptoms - the so-called disulfiram-like reaction. The reaction occurs during the chemical interaction of ethanol with some specific antibiotic molecules, resulting in an altered metabolism of ethyl alcohol in the body. In particular, there is an accumulation of an intermediate - acetaldehyde. This toxicity causes the following symptoms:
- severe headache
- nausea and want to vomit
- increase heart rate
- face, neck, chest red, "hot inside".
- Intermittent heavy breathing
- limb cramps
Large doses of alcohol can be fatal!
These symptoms are difficult to tolerate, often leading to fear of suffocation or death. The disulfiram-like reaction is used in clinics to treat alcoholism ("coding").
Antibiotics can cause the following symptoms:
- active ingredient metronidazole
- the active ingredient ketoconazole (prescribed for thrush, for example, in the form of suppositories)
- active ingredient furazolidone (prescribed for food poisoning or diarrhea of unspecified nature)
- active ingredient chloramphenicol (toxic, rarely used: for urinary tract infections, biliary tract and some other diseases)
- active ingredient co-trimoxazole (may be prescribed for respiratory tract, kidney and ureter infections, prostatitis)
- active ingredient lornoxicam (used to treat bacterial infections of the respiratory and ENT organs, kidneys, urinary tract, etc. )
- the active ingredient tinidazole (often prescribed for infection with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach ulcers)
- active ingredient cefamandol (injection for infections not indicated)
- the active ingredient cefoperazone (available in injections, they treat the respiratory tract, including pneumonia, bacterial diseases of the genitourinary system and others)
- active ingredient moxifloxacin (broad-spectrum antibiotic, prescribed for serious conditions, including fever, if a bacterial infection is suspected)
During treatment with these drugs (both oral and suppositories or eye drops), alcohol should be avoided!
To make sure your antibiotic is not in the group of drugs that are banned in combination with alcohol, check with your doctor and read the instructions for use carefully.
Reasonable decision
When treating any disease with antibiotics, in no case should you overload your body with alcoholic beverages. After all, like any toxic substance, ethanol needs to be "neutralized" in the body. To fight the poison, the body throws out additional reserves, often the last ones, especially if the illness is protracted. Spending energy on cleansing can damage the immune system and dramatically increase recovery time.
In addition, studies and medical practice confirm that both alcohol and antibiotics have an adverse effect on the liver.
Despite the fact that the opinions of experts on the compatibility of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial substances are divided (with the exception of those drugs with classification restrictions), most tend to believe that it is betterIt is advisable to refuse alcohol during antibiotic treatment. You should also know: if during therapy you still drink a glass of alcohol, you should not refuse the next antibiotic (of course, if it is a drug that has no contraindications to alcohol).