Situations when taking medication coincides with holidays are not uncommon. Therefore, the question arises, is it possible to take antibiotics and alcohol, the compatibility of which is in doubt?
There are many myths that the combination of alcoholic beverages and medications does not harm the body.
Many people know that alcohol should not be drunk during antibiotics. The main question arises: why?
This is what will be discussed in this article. You will also learn about the consequences of drinking alcohol after antibiotics.
Next, consider why you shouldn't drink alcohol with antibiotics.
Possible consequences
Any sane person understands that health is the most important thing, so he does not want to take risks and have serious consequences. This rather popular topic should be analyzed in detail, the opinion of doctors should be taken into account in order to know for sure whether it is possible to drink alcohol while taking antibiotics. Experts say that taking medications implies a complete rejection of products containing alcohol (this also applies to all kinds of low-alcohol cocktails and beer).
Long-term studies have shown that in certain cases, alcohol intake does not interfere with antibiotic treatment at all, but it can have consequences such as:
- headache in the temple area, as well as migraine;
- poisoning;
- negative effects on the kidneys and liver;
- mental disorders;
- dyspeptic syndrome.
Alcohol poisoning
Medicines with antibacterial properties, acting on the causative agent of the disease, destroy it. In the same way, the antibiotic affects the entire body as a whole, but the concentration and dose is insufficient to harm a person. During therapy, the organs of the urinary system and the liver are overloaded, as they fight the toxic effects of antibiotics.
If you add alcohol intake to this, the liver will receive a huge additional burden, as a result, hangover and alcohol poisoning.
The worst case scenario is when the active ingredients of drugs enter into a chemical reaction with fusel oils and ethanol. In these cases, the consequences can be dangerous and unpredictable, sometimes even fatal.
It should be borne in mind that some of the medications taken are aimed at getting rid of alcohol addiction. They include components that react negatively to the appearance of alcohol in the blood. If you drink any alcohol-containing drink and take such a drug, then the destructive processes inside the body cannot be stopped. Because the active substance of medicines will begin to suppress the enzyme responsible for the processing and removal of ethanol from the body. The acetaldehyde cleansing process stops - this is the main reason for the sudden deterioration in well-being. Acetaldehyde is very toxic, and since the body does not have the resources to cleanse itself of it, poisoning continues to develop, which ultimately leads to dire consequences.
If you neglect the warnings of doctors and contraindications noted in the instructions for the pills, there is a high probability of getting serious poisoning, which is accompanied by such problems as:
- tachycardia or arrhythmia;
- confusion, lack of coordination;
- disorders of the central nervous system;
- weakness and chills;
- vomit;
- apathy;
- drowsiness, lethargy;
- dysfunction of the stomach and intestines;
- problems with blood vessels;
- acute heart failure.
When can you drink alcohol after antibiotics? It should be borne in mind that the human body has individual reactions and characteristics, therefore, the cause of these consequences can be many medications taken simultaneously with alcohol. The first symptoms of poisoning may appear 10-15 minutes after drinking alcohol. And to restore health and eliminate the consequences, it will take at least 10 days. Hence the conclusion - you can indulge yourself with wine, cognac or beer after antibiotics after the antibiotic treatment is completed, and more than 3 days have passed since the last dose of the drug. And it is allowed to drink alcohol 2 days before the start of medication.
Antibiotics and beer
The same happens with antibiotics and beer. Many people fell in love with its bitter, bready taste so much that they stopped considering beer an alcoholic drink. However, research results show that taking antibiotics in combination with alcohol is incompatible and has unpredictable consequences. The effect of the active substance of the drug weakens and, accordingly, is more slowly excreted from the body. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that ethanol disrupts the liver, which is responsible for the processing of medicines that enter the body. There are antibiotics that are strictly forbidden to take with beer.
After how many days can you drink non-alcoholic beer?
The widespread belief that non-alcoholic beer is not harmful during treatment is a misconception, since beer marketed as non-alcoholic contains a small percentage of alcohol. It follows from this that the possible consequences of combining antibiotics with this drink are the same as in the case of traditional beer of standard strength. The only caveat is that after antibiotics it is allowed to consume non-alcoholic beer not after 3 days, but after 2. This is due to the fact that a small amount of alcohol is excreted much faster from the body, and the liver works without taking heavy loads.
So, taking antibiotics in combination with alcohol is far from the best solution. Reason sensibly and ask yourself why and what kind of treatment did you start? The answer is obvious, and priorities must be set: you are being treated to improve your health, not make the situation worse by drinking.