Before prescribing antibiotics for treatment, the doctor strictly warns that it is absolutely impossible to drink alcohol during therapy. But now the necessary course of treatment has been completed and the question arises how long after antibiotics can you drink alcohol.
How many days, or perhaps hours, must be spent in ridding the body of the remains of aggressive drugs? Or can you immediately celebrate the successful completion of treatment? The issue is urgent and must be addressed.
The essence of antibiotic action
Antibiotics are used to treat numerous infectious and inflammatory conditions. With these diseases, when aggressive bacteria attack the internal organs, the body's immune system is sometimes unable to deal with them on its own.
The job of antibiotics lies in their effect on bacterial cell structure.. This reduces the ability of the pathogenic microflora to multiply at a tremendous rate and gradually kills the entire colony of pathogenic bacteria.
Antibiotics improve the patient's condition and help him to quickly get rid of bacterial diseases.
But antibiotics have another side of the coin: the main burden of removing them from the body falls on the liver. It is the organ of the liver that cleanses the internal organs of the remains of drug decomposition.
The liver organ, taking the main hit, is no longer able to cope with the additional load. If you simultaneously load your body with alcohol (during antibiotic treatment), you can expect the following:
- Complete disappearance of the expected effect of therapy.
- The appearance of unpleasant symptoms in the form of nausea, profuse vomiting, general weakness. This is an intoxication of the body with antibiotics mixed with alcohol.
- Liver organ diseases (especially if the liver is already weakened). This option is fraught with the development of additional and sometimes life-threatening pathologies.
How exactly the body reacts depends on how aggressive the antibiotic is. This nuance will be better explained by the attending physician, prescribing one or another antibiotic.
What drugs are prohibited to combine with alcohol
But many especially frivolous individuals, despite medical bans, still take risks and take chest alcohol during antibiotic treatment. People do not even think about the possible negative consequences of such neglect on their own health.
Even if everything went well and the simultaneous intake of alcohol and antibiotics did not affect your well-being, for the body the use of such a cocktail never passes without a trace.
Ethanol components, reacting with antibiotic ingredients, are able to react at a "slow" rate. Such effects can "come on" suddenly years after treatment.
There are antibiotics that are absolutely incompatible with ethanol. They are the ones who cause the most depressing and sad consequences after they met in the alcohol treatment process.. These are the following tools:
- Tetracyclines. Used for therapy in diagnosed infectious diseases.
- Levomycetins. Aggressive antibiotics are marked by their own "rich" list of all sorts of side effects. Alcohol greatly increases the manifestation of side effects and exacerbates the intoxication of the body.
- Lincosamides. If you combine antibiotics from this series with alcohol, you can pay for liver and central nervous system health.
- Aminoglycosides. They are considered the most powerful drugs. Not only do they not combine with alcohol, but they also do not tolerate the presence of other drugs in the body. The influence of alcohol during the period of treatment with such drugs causes the most serious consequences for health and, in special cases, can lead to cardiac arrest.
- Cephalosporins. Even low-grade alcoholic beverages in combination with these drugs cause a reaction similar to disulfiram. A patient who dares to diversify treatment with drinking cephalosporins is guaranteed to face severe intoxication.
- Macrolides. The drug combination of this series of antibiotics and drink has a particularly strong and destructive effect on the state of brain and hepatocidal (liver cells) receptors.
Antibiotics, which are used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis, are also prohibited. All strict prohibitions are necessarily prescribed in the notes on medicines. But manufacturers do not always write about this taboo. For example, nothing is said about the fact that you cannot drink alcohol in the instructions for the following drugs:
- an antibiotic of the ansamycin group;
- tricyclic glycopeptide antibiotic;
- an antibiotic for external use produced by a radiant fungus;
- antifungal drugs;
- penicillin series antibiotics.
To the consternation of those who suffer from drinking, the absence of a ban does not mean that it is possible to combine alcohol and this drug. Keep in mind that man is a unique creation. One's body doesn't really even "perceive" strange interferences from alcohol, while for others it will react with severe poisoning.
When can you drink alcohol after taking antibiotics?
Usually, the period that allows drinking alcohol after taking antibiotics is prescribed in the instructions attached to the drug.. On average, this time is 10 to 14 days. Your doctor may change this time, taking into account the following factors:
- Weight, constitution and age of a person.
- The aggressiveness of the drug and the duration of the course of its administration.
- The initial state of health of the patient, the presence of additional chronic diseases.
The rate of excretion of antibiotic residues from the body and, accordingly, the time you cannot drink after antibiotics depends on this data. If the instructions say nothing about this nuance, neither should you rush with intoxicating libations. In this case, you should wait at least 2-3 days after finishing the therapeutic course.
The consequences of frivolity
Even if the patient is familiar with the instructions and knows when to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics, sometimes he may not heed the prohibition. Or don't wait for the marked "quarantine" time. The remnants of the antibiotic, which have not had time to safely leave the body, will begin to actively block the absorption of ethyl alcohol.
What to expect in a situation where ethanol will accumulate in all tissues and internal organs? Intoxication, manifested in various degrees of severity - it all depends on the state of health. The following unpleasant symptoms are guaranteed for a person:
- profuse vomiting;
- increased sweating;
- bouts of intense nausea;
- shortness of breath, difficulty breathing;
- jumps in blood pressure;
- dizziness and disorientation;
- allergic reactions (hives, itching, swelling);
- pressing (squeezing) type pain on the sternum;
- migraine-like headache of such intensity that it cannot be stopped with painkillers.
And this is not the entire list of problems that befall a person who neglects common sense. Wait until you can actually drink alcohol after taking antibiotics. Otherwise, a person simply risks being in a hospital bed with symptoms of severe poisoning.
It should be borne in mind that not all antibiotic agents have undergone specific clinical trials.Not all modern antibiotics have proven to be incompatible with alcohol.. But that doesn't mean you should be the test subject.
Don't risk your own health! Alcohol isn't going anywhere, but health can be significantly and irrevocably worsened by frivolity. Wait for all expiration dates after your antibiotic treatment is over and it's best not to have a glass.Health for you!