Before prescribing antibiotic treatment, doctors strictly warned that alcohol should never be consumed during treatment. But now that the necessary course of treatment has been completed, the question is how soon after antibiotics can you drink alcohol.
How many days or hours should it take for the body to release the residue from the aggressive drug? Or can you immediately celebrate the successful completion of the treatment? This issue is urgent and should be addressed.
The nature of antibiotic action
Antibiotic drugs are used to treat a variety of infectious and inflammatory lesions. With such diseases, when invasive bacteria attack the internal organs, the body's immune system is sometimes unable to cope on its own.
The effect of antibiotics lies in their effect on the bacterial structure of cells.. This reduces the ability of the pathogenic microflora to multiply at an extremely rapid rate and gradually kills the entire pathogenic microflora.
Antibiotics can improve a patient's condition and help him get rid of bacterial diseases quickly.
But antibiotics have another side: The main burden of removing antibiotics from the body falls on the liver. The liver organ can remove the internal organs from the decaying remnants of the drug.
The liver organ that took the major hit was no longer able to cope with the extra load. If you load your body with alcohol at the same time (during antibiotic treatment), you may experience the following:
- The desired effect of the treatment disappeared completely.
- Unpleasant symptoms such as nausea, profuse vomiting, general weakness, etc. This is a poisoning of the body from an antibiotic mixed with alcohol.
- Liver organ disease (especially if the liver is already weakened). This option is fraught with the development of additional, sometimes life-threatening conditions.
The exact reaction of the body depends on how aggressive the antibiotic drug is. The attending physician will better explain this nuance and prescribe one antibiotic or another.
Which drugs should not be combined with alcohol
But many particularly frivolous people, despite medical bans, take risks and drink alcohol on their chests during antibiotic treatment. People don't even think about the possible negative consequences of this disregard for their health.
Even if all goes well and consuming alcohol and antibiotics at the same time doesn't affect your health, it's never going to go unnoticed for the body to use this cocktail.
The components of ethanol react with the components of antibiotics and can react at a "slow" rate. This effect can suddenly "emerge" years after treatment.
Some antibiotics are absolutely incompatible with ethanol. It was they who had the most depressing and sad consequences after meeting in the course of alcohol treatment.. These are the following tools:
- tetracycline. For the treatment of confirmed infectious diseases.
- Levomycin. Aggressive antibiotics are marked by their "rich" list of various side effects. Alcohol greatly enhances the manifestations of side effects and exacerbates the intoxication of the body.
- Lincosamide. If you combine this family of antibiotic drugs with alcohol, you can pay for the health of your liver and central nervous system.
- Aminoglycosides. They are considered the most powerful drugs. Not only are they not bound to alcohol, but they also do not tolerate the presence of other drugs in the body. The effects of alcohol during treatment with such drugs can lead to the most serious health consequences and, in exceptional cases, cardiac arrest.
- cephalosporins. Even low-grade alcoholic beverages can cause disulfiram-like reactions in combination with these drugs. Patients who dare to diversify their cephalosporin treatment by drinking alcohol will surely face serious poisoning.
- Macrolides. The combination of this antibiotic family of drugs and alcohol has a particularly strong disruptive effect on the state of receptors in the brain and liver cells (liver cells).
Antibiotics used to treat leprosy and tuberculosis also fall under the ban. All strict prohibitions must be specified in the drug's notes. But manufacturers don't always write down such taboos. For example, the fact that you can't drink alcohol is not mentioned in the directions for the following medicines:
- antibiotics in the ansamycin group;
- tricyclic glycopeptide antibiotics;
- topical antibiotics produced by irradiated fungi;
- antifungal drugs;
- Penicillin series of antibiotics.
To the dismay of drinkers, the absence of a ban does not mean that alcohol can be combined with the drug. Remember, people are unique creatures. One's body really doesn't even "notice" the outside alcohol interference, while for others it can have a severe poisoning reaction.
When can I drink alcohol after taking antibiotics?
Usually, the time allowed to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics is specified in the instructions that come with the medicine.. On average, this time is 10-14 days. Doctors can change this time by taking into account the following factors:
- A person's weight, size and age.
- The aggressiveness of the drug and the duration of its administration process.
- The patient's initial health status, whether there are other chronic diseases.
The rate at which antibiotic drug residues are excreted from the body, so how much time you can't drink after antibiotics depends on these data. You also shouldn't rush into an intoxicating drink if the instructions don't address this nuance. In this case, you should wait at least 2-3 days after the course of treatment.
frivolous consequences
Even if a patient is familiar with the instructions and knows when to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics, he may sometimes not pay attention to the prohibition. Or don't wait for the marked time for "quarantine". Antibiotic residues that don't have time to safely leave the body will begin to actively block the absorption of ethanol.
What would happen if ethanol would accumulate in all internal tissues and organs? Poisoning, manifested in varying degrees of severity - it all depends on the state of health. The following unpleasant symptoms are guaranteed:
- profuse vomiting;
- increased sweating;
- bouts of severe nausea;
- shortness of breath, difficulty breathing;
- a jump in blood pressure;
- Dizziness and disorientation;
- allergic reactions (hives, itching, swelling);
- Sternum squeezing (crushing) pain;
- The migraine is so intense that it cannot be stopped with pain medication.
And that's not all the trouble for someone who ignores common sense. After taking antibiotics, you can really drink. Otherwise, a person simply runs the risk of developing severe symptoms of poisoning in a hospital bed.
It should be remembered that not all antibiotic drugs have undergone specific clinical trials.Not all modern antibiotics have been shown to be incompatible with alcohol.. But that doesn't mean you should be the test subject.
Don't risk your own health! Alcohol doesn't go anywhere, but frivolity can significantly and irreversibly deteriorate health. Waiting for all due dates after antibiotic treatment is over, preferably without a drink.Give you health!