Is it possible to combine alcohol and antibiotics?Even doctors do not give an exact answer to this popular question.And while some are categorically against such duets, others believe that it is important to take into account what kind of alcohol you drink and how much.The third opinion is that with a wise approach to this issue, one 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 figure it out.
Much depends on the active ingredient of the drug.Some types of antibiotics are not friendly at all with alcohol, while others can interact normally.Of course, after reading this article, you should not mix alcohol with pills.However, knowing certain 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 scary stories about not combining alcohol and antibiotics began to spread after the war.The first legend says that during that period venereology clinics in our country and abroad were simply overcrowded.The patients are soldiers and officers who have fully tasted the "pleasures" of the state of emergency.Medical staff deliberately intimidated patients, talking about the terrible consequences of the combination of alcohol and antibiotics, because after drinking, patients could again engage in all difficult activities, and the result of such "feats" could be a new sexually transmitted infection.
Another legend says that due to the difficulty of obtaining penicillin, it evaporated from the urine of 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 mixtures.But what does evidence-based medicine think about it?
What do the studies say?
At the beginning of the 21st century, studies were conducted on the effect of ethanol on different types of antibiotics.During experiments on laboratory animals and human volunteers, it has been proven that most types of antibiotics are not affected by alcohol intake.
Thus, the tested antibiotics were equally effective in the experimental and control groups.No significant deviations were found in the mechanisms of absorption, distribution throughout the body or elimination of decomposition products.
By the way, there is a hypothesis that drinking alcoholic beverages increases the harmful 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 was done in this regard.Are all fears unfounded?
Which antibiotics should not be combined with alcohol?
No, the fears are not unfounded: there are a number of antibiotics that, when in contact with alcohol, produce extremely unpleasant symptoms - the so-called disulfiram-like reaction.The reaction occurs when ethanol reacts chemically with certain specific antibiotic molecules, resulting in changes in the metabolism of ethyl alcohol in the body.In particular, the intermediate substance, acetaldehyde, accumulates.Poisoning with this substance gives the following symptoms:
- severe headache
- nausea and vomiting
- increased heart rate
- redness of the face, neck, chest, "heat" in them
- occasional heavy breathing
- limb spasms
Large doses of alcohol can be fatal!
These symptoms are very difficult to bear, often causing fear of suffocation or death.A reaction similar to disulfiram 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 suppository form)
- active ingredient furazolidone (prescribed for food poisoning or unspecified diarrhea)
- active ingredient chloramphenicol (toxic, rarely used: for infections of the urinary tract, biliary tract 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 Helicobacter pylori infection, which causes stomach ulcers)
- active ingredient cefamandole (injections for infections of unspecified nature)
- active ingredient cefoperazone (available by injection, treats the 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 drinking alcohol!
To make sure that your antibiotic is not included in the group of drugs that are forbidden to combine with alcoholic beverages, check with your doctor and carefully read the instructions for the drug.
Smart 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 requires "neutralization" in the body.The body uses additional reserves to fight the poison, often the last, especially if the disease is long-term.Spending energy on cleansing the body can damage the immune system and significantly prolong 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 on the compatibility of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial agents is divided (with the exception of those drugs for which restrictions are categorical), the majority is inclined to believe that it is better to avoid alcoholic beverages during antibiotic therapy.You should also know: if you drank a glass of wine during therapy, you should not refuse the next dose of antibiotics (of course, if it is a medicine for which there are no contraindications for alcohol).