Almost all of us have faced diseases that require the use of antibacterial drugs to achieve a therapeutic effect. These are drugs that are aggressive towards microflora. That is why the question arises as to how soon you can drink alcohol after antibiotics, because many people would not want to give up wine, cognac, beer or vodka for a long time.
The question is ambiguous and there is no direct one-syllable answer to it. There are different opinions in the media. Some people, during the holidays with a feast, consider it more correct to refuse to drink alcoholic beverages, based more on intuition than on reliable information from authoritative sources. Such a person in society causes sympathy and understanding, usually no onedoes not persuade him to drink. However, there are times when someone refers to an article in which a doctor popularly explains what does not always hinder the healing process.
Why you shouldn't take medication with alcohol
As you know, there is no smoke without fire. Doctors can scientifically justify the ban on the use of antimicrobial agents and the simultaneous consumption of vodka or beer. Moreover, they claim that you can take antibiotics after drinking alcohol after a strictly defined period of time. Experts refer to the following facts:
- ethanol at the biochemical level significantly reduces the therapeutic effect of antimicrobial agents;
- the combination of alcohol with antibacterial drugs causes toxic damage to liver cells, as well as other internal organs;
- Alcohol consumption suppresses the immune system and has a detrimental effect on health, which in the period of drug therapyvery undesirable.
There is a grain of rationality in the above arguments. The biochemical processes taking place in the body are extremely complex and balanced, so the saturation of the tissues of the internal organs with such a biologically active compound as ethyl alcohol cannot but affect the metabolism. Alcohol can really significantly reduce the therapeutic effect of drugs. It either destroys the atomic structure of the active substance or prevents the reaction of drugs with the proteins of pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, alcohol can cause accelerated elimination or make absorption of drugs more difficult. That's how it happensreduced effectiveness of therapy, or develop unwanted side symptoms.
Influence on the function and condition of the liver
Scientific research and the practice of clinical medicine confirm the destructive effect of the combination of antimicrobial drugs with alcoholic beverages on the liver. That is why the instructions for the use of medicines indicate contraindications and side effects for this extremely important organ. For patients with chronic liver diseases, many drugs are not available. If you combine antimicrobial drugs and alcohol, the negative impact will be twofold. How soon should you drink alcohol after a course of antibiotics?it depends on the general conditionthe body and its ability to recover.
Under the action of enzymes, ethanol is broken down into water and carbon dioxide, but not immediately, but bypassing the intermediate stage of creating an extremely toxic compound - acetaldehyde, which is a tissue poison. The faster alcohol breaks down, the less harm it does to the body. However, with the simultaneous presence of antimicrobial drugs in the tissues of internal organs, the catabolism of alcohol slows down significantly due to the inhibition of the production of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, which is necessary to complete the reaction of breaking down ethanol into simple compounds. .
Ethanol does not interact directly with antibiotics
To find out how alcohol affects medicines, as well as how many days after the end of the course of antibiotics you can drink alcohol,laboratory experience. First, scientists conducted experiments on animals, and then invited volunteers who were asked to undergo a therapeutic course using antibacterial drugs. The participants were equally divided into two groups. Representatives of the first group were offered alcoholic beverages during the experiment, while the others were not. The main goal that the organizers tried to achieve was to determine the effect of ethanol on the biological activity of drugs.
The results of the experiment showed that most antibacterial drugs interact slightly or not at all with ethyl alcohol - this practically did not reduce the effectiveness of the drugs used. A similar conclusion was reached after studying and comparing the results of antibacterial drug therapy between the two groups. They turned out to be identical. The difference did not exceed the permissible error. The rate of absorption, distribution in the tissues of internal organs, as well as the removal of active substances wasabout the same.
HoweverOne should not make hasty conclusions that the simultaneous use of antibiotics and alcohol is completely safe. Experts ask you to consider some nuances:
- the experiment was isolated and was not confirmed by other studies, therefore one should not insist on the safety of the combination of drugs and alcohol;
- experimental subjects were offered small doses of alcoholic beverages, but in real life moderation in the consumption of vodka and beer is quite rare;
- Research has only dealt with the interaction of drugs with ethanol, and the effect of this combination on the condition of the internal organs has not been studied, so the negative impact cannot be denied.
This was the first tentative step towards a complete answer to the important question of how long after a course of antibiotics you can drink alcohol, so the final andno clear results.
Reasons to avoid drinking during treatment
Clinical medicine has every right to say that the combination of alcohol and drugs should be avoided. Even if their mutual effects are not well studied, enough is known about ethanol's health effects to draw certain conclusions. It's impossible to deny that:
- alcohol disrupts metabolic processes if drunk regularly;
- ethanol causes an increase in blood sugar levels;
- alcohol consumption leads to physical and nervous exhaustion;
- the risk of an allergic reaction increases by an order of magnitude.
Each person has individual characteristics of internal biological processes, so it is possible to predict the reaction of the bodyalmost impossible, but it is unlikely to be positive.
Interaction of alcohol with antimicrobial drugs
According to the experiment, a drink containing alcohol does not affect the pharmacological properties of most antimicrobial agents and does not cause significant side effects. However, there are antimicrobial drugs that absolutely cannot be taken with alcoholic beverages, because such a combination leads to really dangerous consequences.
Just a few days laterAfter taking antibiotics, you can drink alcohol, which affects the metabolism. For example, such anti-fungal drugs and analogues require the participation of an enzyme in a biochemical reaction that is also necessary for the breakdown of ethanol. Its supplies are limited. When consuming significant doses of ethanol, conflict occurs. There simply isn't enough enzyme to interact with the drug or react with ethyl alcohol. In the first case, we will definitely notice a decrease in the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug, plus possible allergic reactions and increased side effects of the drug. If you do not break down ethanol, then acute intoxication with all the resulting consequences cannot be avoided. That is why you should not take antimicrobial agents of this type at the same time as alcohol.
A disulfiram-like reaction is the main reason for not drinking alcohol during antimicrobial therapy. Disruption of the catabolism of ethanol in the body leads to the accumulation of the previously mentioned acetaldehyde - acetaldehyde. This is a powerful toxin that has a global negative effect on the body. The most common andunpleasant signs of intoxication:
- nausea with bouts of vomiting;
- stomach problems;
- acute headache;
- profuse sweating;
- general weakness, dizziness;
- tachycardia;
- increasing pressure.
Agree that this physical condition most clearly proves the thesis that antibiotics should be used after drinking alcohol a few days later, so that ethanol and its toxic decomposition products have time to leave the body naturally.
By the way, the disulfiram-like reaction is so named because of the drug for prohibitive therapy of chronic alcoholism - disulfiram. Its use forces alcoholics to give up drinking alcohol precisely because of the development of panic fear of symptomsacute intoxication. The drug is injected into the subcutaneous layer (implanted), from where it gradually enters the body and blocks the production of the enzyme responsible for breaking down ethanol.
What complications to expect
How long it takes to drink alcohol safely again after a course of antibiotics depends on the antimicrobial drug (the speed of its absorption and elimination), as well as on the individual characteristics of the person's metabolism.
Doctors emphasize that the ban does not apply only to a glass of cognac or vodka. You must forget about wine, beer, low-alcohol drinks. Moreover, ethyl alcohol is often found in other foods, as well as in medicines, so attention should be paid to this aspect.
You can often hear that someone you know has been drinking alcohol and taking antimicrobial drugs, with no negative consequences. However, no one knows what happened to this man's body, how effectiveIt turned out that the treatment lasted, how long it lasted, what is his health now. Meanwhile, in the practice of clinical medicine, numerous cases were recorded when people did not adhere to the recommendation of how long to drink alcohol after antibiotics, but drank it during treatment and eventually became victims:
- violationsliver function;
- anaphylactic shock;
- disorders in the functioning of the brain and the central nervous system in general (severe headaches accompanied by dizziness, nausea with vomiting attacks, convulsive attacks);
- gastrointestinal diseases;
- sleep disorders;
- High blood pressure;
- negative skin reactions (dermatitis);
- heart rhythm disorders;
Our natural filter, the liver, suffers the most. Despite its ability to regenerate cells, it is so negatively affected that it eventually loses functionality.
The last word in the debate on the combination of alcohol and antibiotics
After completing drug therapy, it is necessary to wait a few days before drinking alcohol. This is due to the removal of the products of drug catabolism from the body, which takes a certain amount of time. All drugs have different times to reach maximum blood concentration and elimination. It's always like thatindicated in the instructions.
It is not recommended to consume alcoholic beverages at the same time not only with antimicrobial agents, but also with other drugs. However, antimicrobials are one of the few that are strictly prohibited. If you are going to undergo drug therapy, be sure to ask your doctor how long you can drink alcohol after taking antibiotics.
Despite the fact that the professional opinion of experts on the permissibility of simultaneous use of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial drugs is divided (excluding those drugs that havethe limitations are clear), most doctors tend to conclude that it is better for patients to stop drinking alcohol during treatment.
In any case, alcoholic beverages are far from being a product worth risking your health for, even if the risk seems insignificant. Nothing bad will happen if you become a passionate teetotaler for 2 weeks. Even a healthy person's body succumbs to alcohol over time. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to the development of a large number of different somatic and psychological disorders. If a person does not give up alcohol during the illness, then we can safely say that it is physical and psychologicaldegradation will accelerateduring this time period. Even if you could drink alcohol at the same time as taking your medication, you still shouldn't. Ethanol is poison, but it is impossible to count how much fate has broken vodka