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 previously, a little more than 100 years ago, were often dangerous even for life, today are successfully treated without any consequences. Modern pharmacology is releasing a huge number of antibacterial drugs designed to be taken successfully even in infancy: some of the antibiotics, if nothing else, are successfully used even for the treatment of infants.
Of course, antibacterial drugs are among those drugs, the haphazard and unauthorized use of which is excluded. So, the use of this group of drugs should always be justified, and also agreed with the doctor: their uncontrolled use instead of the cure effect always carries with it serious risks. But what can I say - there are risks even when antibiotics are used as directed, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases manifest themselves as 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 against the background of therapy with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty prohibition: drinking alcohol together with a "snack" on medications can have extremely negative consequences.
Alcoholic drinks are prohibited for use not only as a means for "washing down" 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 does not want to have health problems of a slightly different kind afterwards, having cured one "sore", from this - no less serious and complex.
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 after the end of the course of treatment, the active medicinal substances still remain in the blood, tissues, and the liver. And until the process of their elimination from the body is over, antibiotics, in the case of taking alcoholic beverages after treatment, will react with alcohol in the same way as they react to alcohol drunk directly during therapy.
And these reactions can be completely different, but at the same time, in each individual case, they are unambiguously 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 the use of drugs. So, when alcohol and antibiotics are taken together, the active substances of the latter, instead of being absorbed into the blood and providing a therapeutic effect, accumulate in the liver. As a result, the load on the liver from a pronounced mixture of medicines and alcohol is colossal, and the long-awaited cure is delayed indefinitely.
Alcohol after antibiotics is also contraindicated for the reason that it additionally overloads the liver: the natural "filter", and so on the course of taking antibacterial drugs, works in an enhanced mode, and the additional load in the form of alcoholic beverages inflicts an even greater blow on the organ. Entering into a chemical reaction with alcohol, antibiotics, which are trying to break down and process the liver, can in this case provide not a service in healing, but provoke very unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache, or even mental clouding. In some cases, a "cocktail" of antibiotics and alcohol can provoke shortness of breath, and in extreme severe cases, lead to death. And such cases, unfortunately, have occurred more than once in medical practice.
The body's response to mixing alcohol and antibiotics is unpredictable. Against the background of the joint intake of such drugs and alcohol, there are cases, for example, exacerbations of chronic diseases by severe reactions from 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 suffered from an allergy of any kind before. So, if during the period of antibacterial treatment, the immune system is still able to provide protection of the body at "increased 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 say with confidence: antibiotics and alcohol are simply in no way, in no way compatible. The reasons for such a ban are given above, they also underlie the assertion 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 has no definite answer. Each of the antibacterial drugs has its own individual period of elimination from the body. Accordingly, in each case, the decision about when it is possible to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made on an individual basis.
The minimum period during which one should give up alcoholic beverages 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 period of abstinence from alcohol 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 to just the latter opinion, recommending that all patients practice sobriety at the end of the course of treatment with antibacterial agents as long as possible. The longer the patient gives his liver for the removal of antibiotics and for the subsequent restoration of work in a normal mode, the lower the risk of a conflict between alcohol and antibacterial drug.
This is most important for people who take antibiotics for liver and kidney problems. In such cases, the period of prohibition on alcohol after the end of antibiotic therapy is extended: an already not completely healthy liver has to be neutralized and the remains of the antibiotic must be removed from the body. If, with such increased loads on the liver, we load it even more, then it will hardly do without complications.
For many people who are used to indulging themselves at least a glass of good red wine a day, it is quite difficult to give up their favorite habit even during antibiotic treatment. Such people often dismiss reminders of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, for some reason justifying themselves by saying that "nothing will come from a glass of wine. "And it is completely in vain: even specialists will never take the responsibility to reflect on the possible severity of the consequences. In some cases, a glass of wine after taking antibiotics may indeed not show any 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 well-wishers 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 own health?