What happens if you drink a glass or two of alcohol after taking an antibiotic tablet?When can you drink alcohol, how many hours or days after taking antibiotics can you drink alcohol so as not to harm your health?
Antibiotics and alcohol
A mandatory consequence of alcohol and antibiotic consumption is a deterioration in the effectiveness of treatment.When drinking alcoholic beverages, inflammatory processes occur in the intestines and local immunity decreases.
At the same time, the antibiotic-associated disorder in the intestines caused by taking the antibiotic increases.
Violation of drug concentration
The antibiotic begins to work as soon as it has reached a sufficiently high therapeutic concentration in the blood.By consuming alcoholic beverages, the amount of the drug in the body decreases.
This type of medication can be considered pointless and even dangerous when trying to take antibiotics after drinking alcohol.
Violation of the treatment regimen, a decrease in the concentration of the drug, increases the resistance of pathogenic microflora to the action of the antibiotic.And the disease itself, for which an antibiotic is prescribed, can turn from acute to chronic.
The concentration of the drug decreases because the nephrotoxic metabolite of ethyl alcohol, acetaldehyde, disrupts the process of reabsorption of nutrients in the renal tubules.
Water reabsorption is also impaired, increasing blood viscosity, and the concentration of the antibiotic in the blood may change in unpredictable ways.
Features of metabolism
Antibiotics are drugs that are metabolized in the liver.Since the liver is busy processing ethyl alcohol, it does not have time to neutralize all possible metabolic intermediates of the drug.
In addition, ethanol can affect the activity of liver enzymes and even react directly with the antibiotic or its metabolites.These properties are expressed differently in antibacterial drugs.
One of the most dangerous features of combining a drug with ethyl alcohol is the interaction of these chemical compounds with the development of a disulfiram-like reaction.
Let's find out whether it is possible to drink alcohol and beer while taking antibiotics.After that, drinking alcohol is not dangerous and after that it is absolutely forbidden.
Disulfiram-like reaction
The disulfiram reaction codes for alcoholism, which is accompanied by nausea, cramps, cough, vomiting, shortness of breath and a drop in blood pressure.
A similar effect often occurs when taking medications containing ethanol.
Below you will find a list of which antibiotics you should take and for how long you should not drink alcohol.
The consequences of taking ethanol during antibiotic treatment are dose-dependent.
When you can drink alcohol after taking tablets or antibiotic injections is calculated based on the time it takes for the antibiotic to be excreted from the body.
List of antibiotics
Do not drink with alcohol:
- Nitroimidazoles – do not combine with alcohol for up to 48 hours (drugs cause a disulfiram-like reaction);
- Cephalosporins - the chemical structure of this group is similar in structure to the disulfiram molecule, which causes a disulfiram-like reaction with ethyl alcohol.You can drink alcohol every other day;in case of kidney failure, the interval is extended;
- Fluoroquinolones – synthetic antibiotics weaken the nervous system and can lead to coma.Take alcohol no earlier than 1.5 days;
- Tetracyclines – a high risk of damage to liver hepatocytes;they are excreted from the body for a long time.After 3 days you can drink alcohol;
- Aminoglycosides are ototoxic, nephrotoxic, drug side effects increase, and drug toxicity increases.Drink alcohol no earlier than 0.5 months;
- Lincosamide - the central nervous system and liver are affected, a disulfiram reaction occurs.You can drink alcohol 4 days after treatment;
- Macrolides - the risk of liver cirrhosis increases, especially when taking erythromycin, they are slowly eliminated from the body.Alcohol is allowed after 3.5 days;
- Anti-tuberculosis drugs – can cause drug-induced hepatitis with a fulminant course.Alcoholic drinks are prohibited!
The elimination rate of antibacterial drugs from different body environments is different.So, if aminoglycosides are excreted from the blood of adults in an average of 2.5 hours, then from the fluid of the inner ear this time can be up to 350 hours.
If we consider the ototoxicity of aminoglycosides, it is easy to understand that alcohol consumption can cause deafness within 2 weeks after treatment.
interaction
A disulfiram-like reaction during treatment with antibiotics and alcohol consumption develops due to blocking the synthesis of enzymes that break down the ethanol molecule into simple substances.
The result is an increase in the blood concentration of the intermediate breakdown product of ethyl alcohol – acetaldehyde.The ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde is more toxic than ethyl alcohol itself.
And the lack of liver enzymes resulting from a toxic effect on the liver leads to a decrease in the synthesis of norepinephrine, which is why the symptoms of intoxication appear brighter the next morning and are more difficult to endure.
Consequences
The combination of small doses of alcohol and medication may not cause symptoms, but drinking large doses of alcohol increases the side effects of both the medication and ethyl alcohol.
One of the most dangerous consequences of combining alcohol with an antibiotic is a disulfiram-like reaction.The danger of this condition is that it is masked by alcohol intoxication and is not recognized by others as a distress signal.
The disulfiram reaction is caused by an increase in the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood and is manifested by the following symptoms:
- heartbeat;
- nausea, vomiting;
- hot flash, feeling of heat;
- Dizziness;
- abdominal pain;
- a sharp drop in pressure.
If the patient's blood alcohol level is above 125 mg/100 ml and timely assistance is not provided to the victim, even death is possible.
How to combine
Some drugs should not be combined with ethyl alcohol in any dosage:
- nitroimidazoles;
- group of cephalosporins;
- fluoroquinolones;
- Aminoglycosides.
How many days after antibiotics can you drink alcoholic beverages?Is it possible to interrupt the course of treatment for a while?
It is best not to combine antibiotics and alcohol at all and not to take ethanol during treatment.If for some reason this is not possible and you have to drink alcohol, you can use a special alcohol calculator to calculate how long will pass after taking an antibiotic.
The alcohol calculator takes into account the person's weight as well as the amount and strength of the drink drunk.So, in men weighing 70 kg, 100 g of vodka is completely excreted from the body in 5.8 hours, and 200 g of beer in 1.44 hours.
It must be borne in mind that all these calculations are approximate and the actual rate of excretion from the body depends not only on the properties of these chemical compounds, but also on the condition of the kidneys, intestines and liver.
Conclusion
For the complete removal of the antibacterial drug from the body it should take 1 to 3.5 – 5 days.The elimination time depends on the health status, age and metabolic characteristics of the person.
In most cases, alcohol consumption while taking antibiotics weakens the effectiveness of treatment, increases the side effects of the drug, triggers a disulfiram-like reaction and is fraught with serious consequences.