Antibiotics today are one of the most common and very effective ways to treat many different diseases. Thanks to antibacterial drugs, a series of diseases that before, just over 100 years ago, were often life-threatening, are now successfully treated without consequences. Modern pharmacology is releasing a huge number of antibacterial drugs designed to be successfully taken even in childhood: some of the antibiotics, if nothing else, are also successfully used for the treatment of newborns.
Of course, antibacterial drugs are among those agents whose casual and unauthorized use is excluded. Hence, the use of this group of drugs should 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: the risks are also present when antibiotics are used as directed, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases manifest unpleasant consequences.
And one of the warnings that applies to 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 certainly read in black and white: the use of alcoholic beverages against the background of therapy with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty ban: drinking alcohol along with a "snack" on drugs can have extremely negative consequences.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited for use not only as a means of "washing" medicines. 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 wants to have health problems of a slightly different kind later, having treated a "pain", and for that reason they are no less serious and complicated.
Abstaining 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, the active medicinal substances still remain in the blood, tissues and liver. And until the process of their elimination from the body is over, antibiotics, in the case of alcoholic beverages after treatment, will react with alcohol in the same way as 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 why alcohol after antibiotic therapy, in fact, as well as for the duration of treatment, is not recommended, is explained by the property of alcoholic beverages to significantly reduce the effect of drug use. Hence, 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 for the reason that it further overloads the liver: the natural "filter" and so on in the course of taking antibacterial drugs, works in an enhanced way, and the additional load in the form of alcoholic beverages inflicts a even stronger blow to the organ. Getting into a chemical reaction with alcohol, antibiotics, which are trying to break down and process the liver, in this case cannot provide a healing service, but cause very unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache or even mental fog. In some cases, a "cocktail" of antibiotics and alcohol can cause shortness of breath and, in extremely severe cases, lead to death. And such cases, unfortunately, have occurred more than once in medical practice.
The body's response to the mixing 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 due to severe reactions of the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems.
The combination of alcoholic beverages with antibiotics can also become an important factor in the development of allergic reactions, even if the patient has never suffered from allergies 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 an "increased rate", alcohol consumption is quite capable of disrupting the functions of the immune system, which is manifested by the appearance of allergies.
Summarizing the intermediate result, we can confidently say: antibiotics and alcohol are simply not in any way, in any way compatible. The reasons for this prohibition are given above, they also underlie the statement that it is better to exclude any alcoholic beverages 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 you can drink alcohol after antibiotics does not have a definitive answer. Each of the antibacterial drugs has its own individual period of elimination from the body. Consequently, in each individual case, the decision on when to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made on an individual basis.
The minimum period during which alcoholic beverages should be given up after the end of antibiotic therapy 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 alcohol withdrawal period can be 10, 14 days or even several weeks. This is necessary in order for the liver to be able to remove from the body even the residual effects of taking antibiotics without an additional load on it in the form of alcohol.
By the way, doctors adhere only to the latter opinion, recommending all patients to practice sobriety at the end of the course of treatment with antibacterial agents for as long as possible. The longer the patient gives his liver for the removal of antibiotics and for the subsequent restoration of work in the normal mode, the lower the risk of a conflict between alcohol and antibacterial drug.
This is very important for people taking antibiotics for liver and kidney problems. In such cases, the alcohol ban period after the end of antibiotic therapy is extended: an already not completely healthy liver 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 complications are unlikely to be done without.
For many people accustomed to indulging in 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 memories of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, for some reason justifying 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 actually show no serious results. But in another situation, even at first glance, an insignificant amount of alcohol drunk while taking antibacterial drugs can lead to serious consequences. Therefore, before dismissing the advocates of the warning 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 health?