All people get sick from time to time, and many of them have to resort to antibiotics. There is a widespread belief in society that these drugs are incompatible with alcohol, but what if the treatment period coincides with the holidays? Where is the truth, and where is the legend in our understanding of the interaction of antibiotics with alcoholic beverages?
Antibiotics and alcohol
Antibiotics are drugs designed to fight bacteria. They penetrate pathogenic microorganisms or interfere with their metabolism, disrupting it completely or partially.
Regarding the compatibility of antibiotics with alcohol and when it is allowed to drink after therapy, doctors still have different views. There are many doctors who warmly recommend patients to completely avoid alcohol during therapy in order to avoid the consequences of taking antibiotics and alcohol at the same time. This is explained by the fact that these drugs, together with ethanol, destroy the liver and deny the effectiveness of treatment.
To date, many studies have been conducted, the results of which allow us to state with certainty that the pharmacological effect of most antibiotics under the influence of alcohol does not worsen, and the burden on the liver does not increase.
However, alcohol itself causes intoxication and dehydration. If you drink antibiotics with large doses of alcohol, the body will weaken, and in this case, the effectiveness of treatment, of course, will be reduced.
It is also isolated through antibiotics that react with ethanol similar to disulfiram. Their simultaneous intake with alcohol is contraindicated, because it will cause intoxication, followed by nausea and vomiting, convulsions. In very rare cases, death is possible.
Myths and reality
Historically, there have been myths in society about the complications of drinking alcohol during antibiotic treatment.
The main myths are as follows:
- Alcohol neutralizes the action of antibiotics.
- Alcohol, along with antibiotics, increases liver damage.
- Alcoholic beverages reduce the effectiveness of experimental therapy.
In fact, these theses are only partially true, as confirmed by the results of numerous compatibility studies. In particular, the available data indicate that alcohol consumption does not affect the pharmacokinetics of most antibiotics.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, much research has been conducted on the combined effects of antibacterial drugs and alcohol. The experiments involved humans and laboratory animals. The results of antibiotic therapy were the same in the experimental and control groups, but there were no significant deviations in the absorption, distribution and excretion of active drug substances from the body. Data from these studies have shown that it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics.
Back in 1982, Finnish scientists conducted a series of experiments among volunteers, the results of which showed that antibiotics of the penicillin group do not react with ethanol, so you can use them with alcohol. In 1988, Spanish researchers tested amoxicillin for compatibility with alcohol: only slight changes in the rate of absorption of the substance and the delay time were found in a group of subjects.
It has also been found that the pharmacokinetic parameters of some antibiotics, for example the tetracycline group, are significantly reduced under the influence of alcohol. However, fewer drugs with this effect have been identified.
The widespread belief that alcoholic beverages, along with alcohol, increase liver damage, is also refuted by scientists around the world. Instead, alcohol may increase the hepatotoxicity of antibacterial drugs, but only in very rare cases. This fact becomes the exception rather than the rule.
The scientists also proved that ethanol does not affect the antibiotics used in the treatment of experimental pneumococcal infection in experimental rats.
Reasons for incompatibility
Despite the fact that the safety of co-administration of most antibiotics with alcohol has been proven, there are a number of drugs that are incompatible with alcohol. These are drugs whose active substances react similar to disulfiram with ethyl alcohol - primarily nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins.
The reason why it is impossible to take both antibiotics and alcohol at the same time lies in the fact that the composition of these drugs contains specific molecules that can change the exchange of ethanol. As a result, there is a delay in the excretion of acetaldehyde, which accumulates in the body and leads to intoxication.
The process is accompanied by characteristic symptoms:
- intense headache;
- rapid heart rate;
- nausea with vomiting;
- heat in the face, neck, chest;
- difficulty breathing;
- convulsions.
A disulfiram-like reaction is used to encode alcoholism, but this method should only be used under the strict supervision of a specialist. Even a small dose of alcohol causes poisoning during treatment with nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins. Alcohol abuse in this case can lead to death.
Doctors allow a small amount of alcohol in the treatment of penicillins, antifungal drugs and some broad-spectrum antibiotics. A portion of fortified drink while taking these drugs will not affect the effectiveness of therapy and will not cause negative health consequences.
When I can
Although alcohol is allowed with most antibiotics, they should not be taken at the same time. The better to drink such drugs, it is indicated in the instructions.
For example, the effectiveness of erythromycin and tetracycline increases drinking alkaline mineral water, and sulfonamides, indomethacin and reserpine - with milk.
If the antibiotic does not react like disulfiram with ethanol, you can drink alcohol, but not before 4 hours after taking the medicine. This is the minimum time for which antibiotics circulate in the blood, ie the answer to the question of how much you can drink after taking the drug.
In any case, during the treatment period, it is allowed to take only a small dose of alcohol, otherwise dehydration will begin in the body, and the antibacterial drug will simply be excreted in the urine.
The combination of alcohol with any antibacterial composition is dangerous for the body. By realizing how long you are allowed to drink alcohol after taking the drug, you can rule out all possible side effects.
conclusions
The myth of incompatibility of antibiotics and alcohol appeared in the last century, and there are several hypotheses about the reasons for its appearance. According to one of them, the authorship of the legend belongs to venereologists who wanted to warn their patients about drunkenness.
There is also a presumption that the myth was invented by European doctors. Penicillin was a scarce drug in the 1940s, and soldiers loved to drink beer that had a diuretic effect and removed the drug from the body.
It has now been proven that alcohol in most cases does not affect the effectiveness of antibiotics and does not increase liver damage. If the active substances of the drug do not react similar to disulfiram with ethanol, you can drink alcohol during treatment. However, two main rules should be followed: do not abuse alcohol and do not take antibiotics with it.