Is it possible to combine alcohol and antibiotics? Even doctors don't give an exact answer to this popular question. And if some are categorically against such duets, others believe it's important to consider what kind of alcohol you drink and how much. There is also a third opinion that by approaching the subject competently, one can successfully deal with it 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 substance of the drug. Some types of antibiotics are not alcohol-friendly, while others may interact normally. Of course, it's not worth mixing alcohol with pills after reading this article. However, knowing certain things will help you not to panic, but to correctly understand the problem, if for some reason you still drank alcohol during antibiotic therapy.
Antibiotics and alcohol: myths and legends
There is a version that scary stories that alcohol and antibiotics should not be combined started to spread after the war. The first legend says that in this period the venereal clinics in our country and abroad were simply overcrowded. The patients are soldiers and officers who have fully tasted the "charms" of martial law. The medical staff specifically bullied the patients, talking about the dire consequences of the combination of alcohol and antibiotics, because after drinking, patients could again have serious problems, and the result of such "exploitations" could be a new sexual infection.
Another legend says that due to the laboriousness of obtaining penicillin, it was evaporated from the urine of treated soldiers. For this reason, soldiers were prohibited from drinking beer during 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 carried out on the effects of ethanol on various types of antibiotics. During experiments on laboratory animals and human volunteers, alcohol has been proven not to affect most types of antibiotics.
Thus, in the experimental and control groups, the antibiotics studied were equally effective. Significant deviations in the mechanisms of absorption, distribution throughout the body and excretion of decomposition products were not identified.
By the way, there is a hypothesis that drinking alcohol potentiates the adverse effect of antibiotics on the liver. In the medical literature, such cases are rarely described due to their rare occurrence (up to 10 cases per 100, 000). At the same time, no further studies were carried out in this regard. Are all fears unfounded?
Which antibiotics cannot be combined with alcohol
No, the fears are not unfounded: there are a number of antibiotics that, when in contact with alcohol, give extremely unpleasant symptoms - the so-called disulfiram-like reaction. The reaction takes place during the chemical interaction of ethanol with some specific molecules of the antibiotic, as a result, the exchange of ethyl alcohol in the body changes. In particular, there is an accumulation of an intermediate substance - acetaldehyde. Intoxication with this substance gives the following symptoms:
- severe headache
- nausea and the urge to vomit
- increased heart rate
- redness of the face, neck, chest area, "heat" in them
- intermittent heavy breathing
- limb cramps
Large doses of alcohol can be fatal!
These symptoms are very difficult to tolerate, 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 these symptoms:
- metronidazole active ingredient
- active substance ketoconazole (prescribed for thrush, for example, in the form of suppositories)
- active ingredient furazolidone (prescribed for food poisoning or diarrhea of an unspecified nature)
- active substance chloramphenicol (toxic, rarely used: for infections of the urinary tract, bile ducts and some other diseases)
- active substance co-trimoxazole (can be prescribed for infections of the respiratory tract, kidneys and ureters, prostatitis)
- active ingredient lornoxicam (used to treat bacterial infections of Organs respiratory and ENT organs, kidneys, urinary tract, etc. )
- active ingredient tinidazole (often prescribed for infection with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach ulcers)
- active ingredient cefamandole (injections for infections of an unspecified nature)
- active ingredient cefoperazone (available in injections, treats the respiratory tract including pneumonia, bacterial diseases of the genitourinary system and other ailments)
- active substance moxifloxacin (broad-spectrum antibiotic, prescribed for serious conditions, including fever, if bacterial infection is suspected)
During therapy with these drugs (both oral medications and suppositories or eye drops), alcohol should be avoided!
To make sure your antibiotic is not included in the group of drugs prohibited from being combined with alcohol, consult your doctor and read the drug's instructions carefully.
rational 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. To fight the poison, the body sheds additional reserves, often the last, especially if the illness is prolonged. Spending energy on cleansing the body can damage the immune system and significantly increase the recovery period.
Furthermore, studies and medical practice confirm that both alcohol and antibiotics have a depressant effect on the liver.
Although expert opinions on the compatibility of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial agents are divided (with the exception of drugs for which restrictions are categorical), most tend to believe that it is better to refuse alcohol during a course of antibiotic therapy. You should also know: if during therapy you still drank a glass of wine, you should not refuse the next antibiotic (of course, if it is a drug for which there is no contraindication for alcohol).