Unfortunately, a stereotype of a non-drunk's disease has developed. If you refuse a glass of vodka during a feast, there will certainly be a person who will ask - "Is she sick? " But few people realize that alcohol is very harmful to the body, and especially during treatment for 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 understand.
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. Centuries ago, the average life expectancy of a person was about forty years, and with the introduction of antibiotics into the masses, a person began to live much longer. Today antibiotics are highly controversial, many new mothers talk about the horrors and consequences of frequent and long-term use of this drug by children. Indeed, like any potent medicine, antibiotics require careful attention and special admission rules. And one of them is the refusal of alcohol during treatment. Otherwise, it can lead to serious consequences.
- Reduction of drug concentration.As you know, the antibiotic does not start acting 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 out the effect of antibiotic therapy by reducing the concentration of the drug in the body. Because of this, taking the drug becomes simply useless, and sometimes dangerous, because the lack of a therapeutic effect leads to the fact that the disease thrives, the number of bacteria increases. Moreover, small doses of an antibiotic lead to the fact that harmful microorganisms develop resistance to this antibiotic, then it becomes ineffective.
- Loads 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 intermediate products of drugs. This means, during the period of taking antibiotics, the liver functions as actively as possible, in combination with the intake of alcohol, the load on the organ is high, sometimes the liver may refuse.
- Disulfiram-like reaction.Sometimes taking alcohol with an antibiotic ends up with a strong reaction in the form of nausea, vomiting, seizures and a feeling of regret. This occurs when certain groups of antibiotics are taken in combination with ethanol. Often this reaction is used to encode a person from drinking 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.
In addition, alcoholic beverages clot the blood very strongly, leading to 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, drinking alcohol during antibiotic therapy is strictly forbidden. This also applies to low-alcohol drinks.
How to take antibiotics correctly
For a medicine to be useful, it must be taken according to certain rules. As mentioned, it is impossible to combine it with alcohol, you have to wait until the medicine is completely removed from the body. This can last from a few hours to a few days after the last dose of the drug. Here are some other guidelines to follow when treating antibiotics.
Antibiotics should be taken at regular intervals, this is very important. If your doctor prescribes injections or pills twice a day, they should be taken strictly after 12 hours. If a dose is prescribed three times, then 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 particular organism.
Any antibiotic should only be taken as directed by a doctor - not even worth talking about. Some diseases, despite the severity of the symptoms, may not be sensitive to antibiotic therapy, for example, viral diseases.
Before prescribing, be sure to inform your doctor that you have previously had an allergic reaction to the medication. 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 drugs 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 medicine you feel better, you should not cancel it, otherwise the bacteria, which are not completely suppressed, will start to multiply again and attack the body. Another consequence of early antibiotic withdrawal is that this type of bacterium will gain resistance to the antibiotic taken. Next time with a similar illness, this medicine will be powerless.
Take antibiotics exactly as instructed, especially when combined with food. As a rule, most drugs of this group should be taken after meals with plenty of water. Medicines are not washed with juice, coffee and milk, this may reduce their effectiveness.
Antibiotics should 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 adhered to, regardless of the group of drugs. Sometimes the doctor may not talk about these simple rules, as they should be familiar to everyone.
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. Under no circumstances should they be combined with alcohol, otherwise a complex disulfiram-like reaction will develop. If you plan to take alcohol, which can not be avoided in any way, you should try to drink alcohol so that it does not cross with the drug in the body. For example, some types of antibiotics are cleared from the blood within 2-3 hours. Through this interval, you can drink a glass of beer, which a man of average body will open within a few hours. This means, with a new intake of the medicine, the body will again be sober and clean. There are many nuances in such a theory, you need to consider the degree of elimination of drugs and alcohol from the body, to know the time interval between taking the drug. Therefore, it is still better to refuse alcohol during treatment for your health.
The first mention of the dangers of alcohol during antibiotic treatment dates back to the 1940s. During World War II, physicians began to actively use penicillin, which was first introduced, in the treatment of extensive masses. Back then the patients were European soldiers who wanted 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 severe consequences of the combination of treatment and alcohol. People in white coats were intuitively right and even then they protected their patients from problems. Take care of yourself, do not drink alcohol during the treatment period!