In life, there are often situations when we need to take antibiotics and at the same time be invited to some kind of party. Therefore, the question of whether it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics is particularly acute in such cases. Below we will provide full information on this issue.
Treatment with antibacterial drugs is prescribed in a number of cases of bacterial and, rarely, fungal infections. It is important to remember that the course of antibiotic treatment should never be interrupted. Its duration can be different, depending on the type of disease and its severity (from 3-7 days or more). The thought that it is necessary to "get out" of the festive life and not accept invitations to any meal scares a lot. But in practice, not everything is so scary.
If you approach this problem competently, from a medical point of view, then you can attend parties with relatives and undergo antibiotic treatment.
The golden rule: always drink in moderation.
Under certain conditions, described below, you can certainly combine alcohol with antibiotics. But when prescribing antibiotics, you need to be careful not to overload the body with excess alcohol. In any case, ethanol gets inside you and all your defenses will be thrown into the fight against it. And in the case of, for example, a persistent illness, these forces may be the last. Immunity will be further weakened and recovery will be delayed indefinitely. And in some cases describedlower, even death is possible.
Myths of antibiotic and alcohol compatibility
Scary rumors that it is categorically impossible to combine antibacterial drugs and alcohol, most likely, began to spread immediately after World War II. At that time, venereal disease clinics were simply overcrowded with soldiers and officers who endured all the hardships of military life.
Doctors then categorically forbade their patients to take alcohol during antibiotic therapy, but not because of the damage to their health from mixing the latter, but for a very banal reason - after drinking a glass, a soldier could"came out completely" and get a new one. genital infection.
According to another version, the ban arose because of the high labor costs when receiving penicillin, surprisingly, it evaporated from the urine of treated military personnel. Therefore, to get a pure medical medicine, they were forbidden to drink beer throughout the treatment period.
Since then, the theory of the dangers of mixing alcohol with antibiotics has become popular among people and many still believe that they can not be combined. But what is your opinion on this issue of evidence-based medicine?
Research facts
It is known that in the late 20th - early 21st century, a series of studies were conducted on the effect of ethanol on different types of antibacterial drugs. The experiments were performed on both laboratory animals and human volunteers. The results clearly showed that most types of antibiotics are not affected by alcohol consumption.
All the antibiotics investigated were effective in both the control and experimental groups, no global deviations in physico-chemical reactions were found (drug delivery throughout the body, mechanisms of absorption and secretion of decay products).
However, there is a hypothesis that alcohol enhances the negative effects of antibacterial drugs on the liver. But in the scientific medical literature, cases of description of such situations are quite rare (up to 10 cases per 100, 000) and no special studies have been conducted in this area.
There are antibiotics incompatible with alcohol
There are several types of antibacterial drugs that interact with alcohol and produce very unpleasant symptoms - called disulfiram-like reactions in medical practice.
This reaction occurs during the chemical interaction of ethanol and some specific antibiotic molecules, due to which there is a change in the metabolism of ethyl alcohol in the body and the accumulation of acetaldehyde is observed.
Signs of acetaldehyde poisoning:
- Vomiting, nausea.
- Severe headache.
- Cramps in the arms and legs.
- Increased heart rate.
- Heavy, intermittent breathing.
- Fever and redness on chest, face and neck.
In such cases, when you take large doses of alcohol, a fatal outcome is possible!
All of the above symptoms are very difficult for a person, therefore, a disulfiram-like reaction is used in many medical clinics in the treatment of alcoholism (so-called "coding").