Antibiotics today are one of the most common and very effective ways to treat many different diseases. Thanks to antibacterial drugs, a number of diseases that before, just over 100 years ago, were often life-threatening, are now successfully treated without consequences. Modern pharmacology is releasing a large number of antibacterial drugs designed to be administered successfully even in infancy: some of the antibiotics, at least, are used successfully even for the treatment of babies.
Of course, antibacterial drugs are among those agents, the incidental and unauthorized use of which is excluded. Therefore, the use of this group of drugs must always be justified and also agreed with the doctor: their uncontrolled use instead of the curative effect always carries serious risks. But what can I say? Risks are present even when antibiotics are used as directed, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases have unpleasant consequences.
And one of the warnings that applies to absolutely all antibacterial agents without exception is a warning about the impossibility, harm and high risk of combining such drugs with alcohol. In the instructions for any of the antibiotics, you will definitely read in black and white - the use of alcoholic beverages in the context of therapy with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty prohibition: drinking alcohol along with a drug "snack" can have extremely negative consequences.
The use of alcoholic beverages is prohibited not only as a means of "washing" medications. Alcohol after antibiotics is prohibited and a few hours after taking the drugs and for several days (or better weeks) after the end of the course of treatment. Unless, of course, the person being treated does not want to have health problems of a slightly different kind after having healed a "sore", and therefore they are no less serious and complicated.
Refraining from alcohol after taking antibiotics should be for the simple reason that each of these drugs has its own period of elimination from the body. That is, even at the end of the course of treatment, active medicinal substances still remain in the blood, tissues and liver. And until the process of their elimination from the body is finished, antibiotics, in the case of drinking alcoholic beverages after treatment, will react with alcohol in the same way that they react to alcohol drunk directly during the therapy period.
And these reactions can be completely different, but at the same time, in each individual case, they are unequivocally negative. So, one of the reasons that alcohol after antibiotic therapy, in fact, as well as during the duration of treatment, is not recommended, is explained by the property of alcoholic beverages to significantly reduce the effect of the use of drugsSo when alcohol and antibiotics are taken together, the active ingredients of the latter, instead of being absorbed into the blood and providing a therapeutic effect, accumulate in the liver. As a result, the burden on the liver of a pronounced mixture of drugs and alcohol is colossal, and the long-awaited cure is indefinitely delayed.
Alcohol after antibiotics is also contraindicated by the fact that it additionally overloads the liver - the natural "filter", and thus in the course of taking antibacterial drugs, it works better and the additional load in the form of alcoholic beverages deals an even bigger blow to the organ. Going into a chemical reaction with alcohol, antibiotics, which try to break down and process the liver, in this case it cannot provide a healing service, but rather cause very unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache or even mental cloudiness . In some cases, a "cocktail" of antibiotics and alcohol can cause shortness of breath and, in extremely severe cases, lead to death. And those cases, sadly, have occurred more than once in medical practice.
The body's response to the mixture of alcohol and antibiotics is unpredictable. Against the background of the joint intake of such drugs and alcohol, there are cases, for example, of exacerbations of chronic diseases from severe reactions of the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems.
The combination of alcoholic beverages with antibiotics can also become a major factor in the development of allergic reactions, even if the patient has never had an allergy of any kind before. So, if during the period of antibacterial treatment, the immune system is still able to provide protection to the body at "higher speed", then alcohol consumption is quite capable of disrupting the functions of the immune system, which is manifested by the appearance of allergies .
Summing up the intermediate result, we can confidently say: antibiotics and alcohol are simply not in any way, in no way compatible. The reasons for this prohibition are given above, they also underlie the statement that it is better to exclude any alcoholic beverage from life for some time after such treatment. If you don't want to risk your life and health in vain and in vain, of course.
When to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics
The question of when to drink alcohol after antibiotics has no definitive answer. Each of the antibacterial drugs has its own individual period of elimination from the body. Consequently, in each individual case, the decision about when to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made on an individual basis.
The minimum period during which alcoholic beverages should be stopped after antibiotic therapy is completed is three days. At the same time, there are drugs that are excreted from the body for a much longer period, and in this case, the period of abstinence from alcohol can be 10, 14 days or even several weeks. This is necessary so that the liver can eliminate from the body even the residual effects of taking antibiotics without an additional burden in the form of alcohol.
By the way, doctors adhere only to the last opinion and recommend that all patients practice sobriety at the end of the course of treatment with antibacterial agents as long as possible. The more time the patient gives his liver for the elimination of antibiotics and for the subsequent restoration of work in a normal mode, the lower the risk of conflict between alcohol and antibacterial drug.
This is more important for people taking antibiotics for liver and kidney problems. In such cases, the period of alcohol prohibition after the end of antibiotic therapy is extended: a liver that is no longer completely healthy must be neutralized, and the remnants of the antibiotic must be removed from the body. If, with such increased loads on the liver, it is even more loaded, then it is unlikely that it will do so without complications.
For many people who are used to indulging at least one glass of good red wine a day, it is quite difficult to give up their favorite habit, even during antibiotic treatment. These people often dismiss reminders of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, and for whatever reason they justify themselves by saying that "nothing will come out of a glass of wine. "And it is completely in vain: even specialists will never take responsibility for reflecting on the possible seriousness of the consequences. In some cases, a glass of wine after taking antibiotics may not show serious results. But in another situation, even at first glance, a negligible amount of alcohol drunk while taking antibacterial drugs can have serious consequences. Therefore, before dismissing the sympathizers who warn about the impossibility of combining alcohol and antibacterial agents, it is better to think a hundred times: is a glass of wine really more important than our own health?