Almost every one of us has had to struggle with diseases that require the use of antibacterial drugs to achieve a therapeutic effect. These are drugs that are aggressive to microflora. That's why the question arises as to how quickly you can drink alcohol again after taking antibiotics, as many people don't want to give up wine, cognac, beer or vodka for a long time.
The question is ambiguous and there is no direct monosyllabic answer to it. There are different opinions in the media. Some people consider it more correct to refuse to consume alcoholic beverages during a holiday with a feast, based more on their intuition than on reliable information from authoritative sources. Such a person evokes sympathy and understanding in a company, usually no onedon't persuade him to drink. However, there are times when someone refers to an article where a doctor explains in general terms, which does not always affect the healing process.
Why you shouldn't take medication with alcohol
As you know, there is no smoke without fire. Doctors can scientifically justify a ban on the use of antimicrobials and the simultaneous consumption of vodka or beer. In addition, they claim that after drinking alcohol you can take antibiotics after a strictly defined period of time. Experts rely on the following facts:
- At the biochemical level, ethanol significantly reduces the therapeutic effect of antimicrobial agents;
- the combination of alcohol with antibacterial drugs leads to toxic damage to liver cells and other internal organs;
- Alcohol consumption suppresses the immune system and has devastating effects on health, which is the case during the period of drug therapyhighly undesirable.
There is a rational core in the above arguments. The biochemical processes occurring in the body are extremely complex and balanced, so saturation of the tissues of internal organs with a biologically active compound such as ethyl alcohol can only have an impact on metabolism. In fact, alcohol can significantly reduce the therapeutic effects of medications. It either destroys the atomic structure of the active ingredient or prevents the reaction of drugs with proteins of pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, alcohol can lead to accelerated excretion or make it more difficult to absorb medication. This is how it happensreduced effectiveness of therapyor unwanted side effects occur.
Effect on liver function and condition
Scientific research and the practice of clinical medicine confirm the destructive effect on the liver of the combination of antimicrobial drugs with alcoholic beverages. For this reason, the instructions for use of medications indicate contraindications and side effects on this extremely important organ. Many medications are not available for patients with chronic liver disease. If you combine antimicrobial drugs and alcohol, the negative effects are twice as high. How soon should you drink alcohol after a course of antibiotics?depends on the general conditionthe body and its ability to recover.
Under the action of enzymes, ethanol is broken down into water and carbon dioxide, but not immediately, but bypassing the intermediate stage of the formation of an extremely toxic compound - acetaldehyde, which is a tissue poison. The faster alcohol is broken down, the less damage it causes to the body. However, with the simultaneous presence of antimicrobial drugs in the tissues of internal organs, the breakdown of alcohol slows down significantly, since the production of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which is necessary to complete the reaction of ethanol breakdown into simple compounds, is inhibited.
Ethanol does not interact directly with antibiotics
To find out how alcohol affects medications and how many days after finishing a course of antibiotics you can drink alcohol,Laboratory experience. First, scientists conducted animal experiments, and then invited volunteers who were asked to undergo a course of therapy with antibacterial drugs. The participants were divided equally into two groups. Representatives of the first group were offered alcoholic drinks during the experiment, while the second group was not. The main goal that the organizers wanted to achieve was to determine the effect of ethanol on the biological activity of drugs.
The results of the experiment showed that most antibacterial drugs interact little or not at all with ethyl alcohol - this practically did not reduce the effectiveness of the drugs used. A similar conclusion was reached after examining and comparing the results of antibacterial drug therapy between the two groups. It turned out they were identical. The difference did not exceed the allowable error. The absorption rate, the distribution in the tissue of the internal organs and the removal of the active ingredients wereabout the same.
HoweverOne should not jump to the conclusion that taking antibiotics and alcohol at the same time is completely safe. Experts ask you to consider some nuances:
- the experiment was isolated and was not confirmed by other studies, so one should not insist on the safety of the combination of drugs and alcohol;
- subjects were offered small doses of alcoholic beverages, but in real life moderation in the consumption of vodka and beer is rare;
- The studies only addressed drug interactions with ethanol; the effect of this combination on the condition of internal organs has not been studied, so the negative effects cannot be denied.
This was the first preliminary step towards a complete answer to the important question of how long after a course of antibiotics it is permissible to drink alcohol, i. e. the last and final stepno clear results.
Reasons to avoid drinking during treatment
Clinical medicine has the right to say that the combination of alcohol and drugs should be avoided. Although their mutual effects have not been adequately studied, enough is known about the effects of ethanol on health to reach certain conclusions. This cannot be denied:
- Alcohol disrupts metabolic processes if drunk regularly;
- Ethanol causes an increase in sugar levels in the bloodstream;
- Drinking alcohol leads to physical and nervous exhaustion;
- the risk of an allergic reaction increases by an order of magnitude.
Each person has individual characteristics of internal biological processes, so it is possible to predict the body's reactionalmost impossible, but it is unlikely to be positive.
Interaction of alcohol with antimicrobial drugs
According to the experiment, consumption of alcoholic beverages does not affect the pharmacological properties of most antimicrobial agents and does not cause significant side effects. However, there are antimicrobial drugs that should in no case be taken together with alcoholic beverages, as such a combination leads to truly dangerous consequences.
Just a few days laterAfter taking antibiotics that affect metabolism, you can drink alcohol. For example, such drugs for fungal infections and analogues require the participation of an enzyme in the biochemical reaction, which is also necessary for the breakdown of ethanol. His supplies are limited. When consuming significant amounts of ethanol, a conflict arises. There simply isn't enough enzyme to interact with the drug or react with ethyl alcohol. In the first case, we will definitely observe a decrease in the therapeutic effectiveness of the drug, as well as possible allergic reactions and increased side effects of the drug. If you do not break down ethanol, acute poisoning with all the ensuing consequences cannot be avoided. Therefore, you should not take antimicrobials of this type at the same time as alcohol.
A disulfiram-like reaction is the main reason for prohibiting alcohol consumption during antimicrobial therapy. Impairment of the catabolism of ethanol in the body leads to the accumulation of the previously mentioned acetaldehyde - acetaldehyde. This is a powerful toxin that has negative effects on the body worldwide. The most common andunpleasant symptoms of poisoning:
- nausea with vomiting;
- upset stomach;
- acute headache;
- heavy sweating;
- general weakness, dizziness;
- tachycardia;
- Pressure increase.
Agree that this physical condition most clearly proves the thesis that after a course of alcohol treatment, antibiotics should be used a few days later so that ethanol and its toxic breakdown products have time to leave the body naturally.
By the way, the disulfiram-like reaction is due to the drug disulfiram, which is used for drug therapy for chronic alcoholism. Its consumption forces alcoholics to stop drinking alcohol precisely due to the development of panic fear of symptomsacute poisoning. The drug is injected (implanted) into the subcutaneous layer, from where it gradually enters the body and blocks the production of the enzyme responsible for the breakdown of ethanol.
What complications can be expected?
How long it takes to safely drink alcohol again after a course of antibiotics depends on the antimicrobial drug (the rate of its absorption and excretion), as well as the individual characteristics of a person's metabolism.
Doctors emphasize that the ban applies not only to a glass of cognac or vodka. You have to forget about wine, beer and low-alcohol drinks. In addition, ethyl alcohol is often found in other foods, as well as in medications, so you should pay attention to this aspect.
You often hear that someone you know has been drinking alcohol and taking antimicrobial medications without any ill effects. However, no one knows what happened to this man's body. how effectiveIt turned out that the treatment took, how long it lasted, what his health is now. Meanwhile, in the practice of clinical medicine, many cases have been recorded in which people did not adhere to the recommendation about how long to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics, but drank it during treatment and ultimately became victims:
- Violationsliver function;
- anaphylactic shock;
- Disturbances in the functioning of the brain and the central nervous system in general (severe headaches accompanied by dizziness, nausea with vomiting, seizures);
- gastrointestinal diseases;
- Sleep disorders;
- high blood pressure;
- negative skin reactions (dermatitis);
- cardiac arrhythmias;
Our natural filter, the liver, suffers the most. Despite the ability to renew cells, it is so negatively affected that it eventually loses its functionality.
The final word in the debate about combining alcohol and antibiotics
After completing drug therapy, you must wait a few days before starting to drink alcohol. This is because the breakdown products of medications are removed from the body and this takes a certain amount of time. For all medicines, it takes a different amount of time until the maximum concentration is reached in the blood and is excreted. Its everstated in the instructions.
It is not recommended to simultaneously consume alcoholic beverages not only with antimicrobials, but also with other medications. However, antimicrobial medications are among the few that are strictly banned. If you are scheduled to undergo medication treatment, be sure to ask your doctor how long you can continue drinking alcohol after taking antibiotics.
Despite the fact that the expert opinion of specialists is divided on the admissibility of the simultaneous consumption of alcoholic beverages and antibacterial drugs (with the exception of those drugs that did this).The limitations are clear), most doctors tend to conclude that it is better for patients to stop drinking alcohol during treatment.
In any case, alcoholic drinks are far from being a product worth risking your health for, even if the risk seems insignificant. Nothing bad will happen if you become an avid abstainer for two weeks. Even a healthy person's body succumbs to alcohol over time. Long-term consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to the development of a variety of different somatic and psychological disorders. If a person does not give up alcohol during an illness, we can safely say that this is physical and mentalThe dismantling will accelerateDuring this time. Although you could drink alcohol at the same time as taking medication, you should still not do so. Ethanol is poison, but it is impossible to count how many fates vodka has destroyed