Everyone gets sick from time to time and many of them have to resort to taking antibiotics. It is widely accepted 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, completely or partially disrupting it.
The question of the compatibility of antibiotics with alcohol and when you can drink after treatment, doctors always have different attitudes. Many doctors strongly recommend that patients completely avoid alcohol during treatment in order to avoid the consequences of taking antibiotics and alcohol at the same time. They explain this by the fact that these drugs, combined with ethanol, destroy the liver and cancel the effectiveness of the treatment.
To date, many studies have been conducted, the results of which allow us to safely say that the pharmacological effect of most antibiotics under the influence of alcohol does not worsen, and the load onthe 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 will, of course, decrease.
A number of antibiotics are also isolated which enter into a disulfiram-like reaction with ethanol. Their simultaneous consumption of alcohol is contraindicated, as this will cause intoxication, accompanied 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 alcohol consumption during antibiotic treatment.
The main myths are:
- Alcohol neutralizes the effect 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, which is confirmed by the results of numerous compatibility studies. In particular, the available data suggest that the consumption of alcoholic beverages does not affect the pharmacokinetics of most antibiotics.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, a lot of research was conducted on the combined action 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 differences in the absorption, distribution and excretion of the active substances of the drugs from the body. Data from these studies showed that it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics.
In 1982, Finnish scientists conducted a series of experiments on volunteers, the results of which showed that antibiotics from the penicillin group do not enter into any reaction with ethanol, so you can use them withalcohol. In 1988, Spanish researchers tested the compatibility of amoxicillin with alcohol: only insignificant changes in the rate of absorption of the substance and the delay time were found in a group of subjects.
It was also found that the pharmacokinetic parameters of some antibiotics, for example, the group of tetracyclines, are significantly reduced under the influence of alcohol. However, fewer drugs with this effect have been identified.
The common belief that alcoholic beverages, along with alcohol, increase liver damage is also disproven by scientists around the world. On the contrary, alcohol can increase the hepatotoxicity of antibacterial drugs, but only in very rare cases. This fact becomes the exception rather than the rule.
Scientists also proved that ethanol does not affect antibiotics used in the treatment of experimental pneumococcal infection in experimental rats.
Incompatibility reasons
Although the safety of the simultaneous use of most antibiotics with alcohol has been proven, a number of drugs are incompatible with alcohol. These are drugs whose active substances enter a disulfiram-like reaction with ethyl alcohol - mainly nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins.
The reason why it is impossible to take both antibiotics and alcohol is that the composition of the above 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:
- severe headache;
- rapid heartbeat;
- nausea with vomiting;
- heat in the areas of the face, neck, chest;
- difficult breathing;
- seizures.
A disulfiram-like reaction is used to code for alcoholism, but this method should only be used under the strict supervision of a specialist. Even a small dose of alcohol causes intoxication during treatment with nitroimidazoles and cephalosporins. Alcohol abuse in this case can lead to death.
Doctors allow a small amount of alcohol in treatment along with penicillins, antifungals, and some broad-spectrum antibiotics. A serving of a fortified drink while taking these medications will not affect the effectiveness of the treatment and will not have negative health effects.
when can
Although alcohol is allowed with most antibiotics, they should not be taken at the same time. To better drink such drugs, it is indicated in the instructions.
For example, the effectiveness of erythromycin and tetracyclines increases the intake of alkaline mineral water, and sulfonamides, indomethacin and reserpine - with milk.
If the antibiotic does not enter a disulfiram-like reaction with ethanol, you can drink alcohol, but no earlier than 4 hours after the drug. This is the minimum time for which antibiotics circulate in the blood, respectively, and this is 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. Having determined how long after taking the drug it is permissible to drink alcohol, you can exclude all possible side effects.
conclusion
The myth of the incompatibility of antibiotics and alcohol appeared in the last century, while 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 against drunkenness.
It is also assumed that the myth was invented by European doctors. Penicillin was a rare drug in the 1940s and soldiers liked to drink beer, which has a diuretic effect and removes 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 enter a disulfiram-like reaction with ethanol, you can drink alcohol during treatment. However, 2 main rules must be respected: do not abuse alcohol and do not drink antibiotics with it.