Unfortunately, a stereotype of the disease of a non-drinker has developed. If you turn down a glass of vodka during a party, there will surely be a person who will ask, "Are you sick? " But few people understand that alcohol is very harmful to the body, and especially during the treatment of other diseases. In this article, we will talk about the compatibility of alcoholic beverages and antibiotic therapy. Is it possible to drink during treatment? Let's try to find out.
Consequences of taking antibiotics in combination with alcohol.
Antibiotics are one of the most powerful, effective and efficient groups of drugs that have completely changed science and medicine. A few centuries ago, the average life expectancy of a person was about forty years, and with the introduction of antibiotics in the great masses, a person began to live much longer. Today antibiotics are very controversial, many young mothers talk about the horrors and consequences of frequent and prolonged use of this drug by children. In fact, like any potent drug, antibiotics require careful attention and special rules of admission. And one of them is the rejection of alcohol during treatment. Otherwise, it can have serious consequences.
- Decreased drug concentration.As you know, the antibiotic does not begin to act immediately, but only after the accumulation of a certain amount of the drug in the body. And alcohol significantly reduces the absorption of the drug into the walls of the stomach and intestines. This means that alcoholic beverages simply cancel the effect of antibiotic therapy by reducing the concentration of the drug in the body. Due to this, taking the drug becomes simply useless and sometimes dangerous, because the absence of a therapeutic effect leads to the fact that the disease thrives and the number of bacteria increases. Also, small doses of an antibiotic lead to the fact that harmful microorganisms develop resistance to this antibiotic, subsequently it becomes ineffective.
- Load on the liver.Another negative consequence of combining alcohol with antibiotics is an extremely high load on the liver. This organ is involved in the processing of ethyl alcohol and the neutralization of metabolic intermediates of drugs. That is, during the period of taking antibiotics, the liver works as actively as possible, in combination with alcohol intake, the load on the organ is high, sometimes the liver can refuse.
- Reaction similar to disulfiram.Sometimes drinking alcohol with an antibiotic ends with a strong reaction in the form of nausea, vomiting, seizures, and malaise. This occurs when certain groups of antibiotics are taken in combination with ethanol. This reaction is often used to code for a person to drink alcohol. A special tablet with a substance is sewn into the subcutaneous space, which in equal doses enters the body for a long time - several months. If alcohol enters the human body during this period, all of the above symptoms appear. A person develops a persistent dislike for alcohol.
Also, alcoholic beverages thicken the blood very strongly, causing dehydration of the body. How an antibiotic will behave in such conditions is a mystery, because each organism is individual. Sometimes the consequences of such a combination can be dangerous and irreversible. Therefore, it is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol during antibiotic therapy. This also applies to low-alcohol drinks.
How to take antibiotics correctly
For a drug to be beneficial, it must be taken according to certain rules. As noted, it is impossible to combine it with alcohol, you need to wait until the drug is completely eliminated from the body. This can take from several hours to several days after the last dose of the medicine. Here are some more guidelines to follow when treating antibiotics.
Antibiotics must be taken at regular intervals, this is very important. If the doctor prescribes injections or pills twice a day, they must be taken strictly after 12 hours. If a three-time dose is prescribed, you should take antibiotics every 8 hours, for example at 6: 00, 14: 00 and 22: 00.
Antibiotics may not work if the bacteria are very resistant to this group of drugs. Before starting treatment, ideally, you should undergo a bacteriological culture to identify the most sensitive drug in a particular case for a given organism.
Antibiotics should only be taken as directed by a doctor - they're not even worth talking about. Some diseases, despite the severity of symptoms, may not be sensitive to antibiotic therapy, for example viral diseases.
Before prescribing it, be sure to tell your doctor that you have previously had allergic reactions to medications. You should also inform your doctor about the medications you are taking all the time: hormonal contraceptives, blood thinners, antihistamines, etc. The combination of some medications with antibiotics can have unwanted consequences.
Antibiotics should not be taken for less than 5 days, usually the course is about 7-10 days. Even if on the third day of taking the drug you feel better, you should not cancel it, otherwise the bacteria, which are not completely suppressed, will begin to multiply again and attack the body. Another consequence of the early withdrawal of the antibiotic is that this bacterial strain will acquire resistance to the antibiotic taken. The next time you have a similar illness, this drug will be powerless.
Take antibiotics exactly as directed, especially when you combine them with food. As a general rule, most of the drugs in this group should be drunk after meals with plenty of water. Medications are not washed with juice, coffee, and milk, so their effectiveness may be reduced.
Antibiotics must be combined with the intake of beneficial bacteria, because antibiotic therapy can completely kill the intestinal microflora, leading to dysbiosis, diarrhea or diarrhea. To avoid this, you should drink probiotics and prebiotics in parallel.
These are the basic rules for taking antibiotics, which must be strictly observed, regardless of the group of drugs. Sometimes the doctor may not talk about these simple rules, as everyone should know them.
When can antibiotics be combined with alcohol?
There are some antibiotics, the combination of which with alcohol is strictly contraindicated. These are fluoroquinolones, nitroimidazoles, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, erythromycin, and a drug for tuberculosis. In no case should they be combined with alcohol, otherwise a complex reaction similar to disulfiram will develop. If you plan to drink alcohol, which cannot be avoided in any way, you should try to drink alcohol so that it does not cross over with the drug in the body. For example, some types of antibiotics clear from the blood in 2-3 hours. Throughout this interval, you can drink a glass of beer, which a man of average complexion will hatch in a couple of hours. That is, with a new intake of the drug, the body will be sober and clean again. There are many nuances in such a theory, you need to take into account the rate of elimination of the drug and alcohol from the body, to know the time interval between taking the drug. Therefore, it is better to refuse alcohol during treatment for your own health.
The first mention of the dangers of alcohol during antibiotic treatment dates back to the 40s of the last century. During the Second World War, doctors began to actively use penicillin, which was first introduced, in the treatment of broad masses. Then the patients were European soldiers who loved to drink beer. And beer, as you know, had a pronounced diuretic effect and simply removed the drug from the body. The doctors then decided to "scare" the soldiers and told them about the serious consequences of the combination of treatment and alcohol. The people in white coats were intuitively right and even then they protected their patients from trouble. Take care of yourself, do not drink alcohol during the treatment period!