Today, antibiotics are one of the most common and very effective ways to treat many different diseases. Thanks to antibacterial drugs, a number of diseases that in the past, a little more than 100 years ago, were often life-threatening, are now successfully treated without any consequences. Modern pharmacology releases a huge number of antibacterial drugs designed to be taken successfully even in early childhood: some of the antibiotics, if nothing else, are used successfully even to treat infants.
Of course, antibacterial drugs are among those agents whose accidental and unauthorized use is ruled out. So the use of this group of drugs must always be justified and agreed with the doctor: their uncontrolled use instead of the curative effect always carries with it serious risks. But what can I say - the risks are there even when antibiotics are used as directed, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases have unpleasant consequences.
And one of the warnings, which applies to absolutely all antibacterial agents without exception, is the 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 on the background of therapy with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty ban: drinking alcohol together with a "snack" of drugs can have extremely negative consequences.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited not only as a means of "washing" drugs. Alcohol after antibiotics is prohibited for several hours after taking the drugs, and a few 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 after he has cured a "wound", and they are no less serious and complex.
Abstinence 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 drugs still remain in the blood, tissues and liver. And until the process of their elimination from the body is complete, antibiotics, in the case of alcohol consumption after treatment, will react with alcohol in the same way as they react to alcohol tested directly during the period of therapy.
And these reactions can be completely different, but at the same time in each case they are unequivocally negative. Thus, one of the reasons why alcohol after antibiotic therapy, in fact, as well as the duration of treatment, is not recommended, is explained by the property of alcoholic beverages to significantly reduce the effect of drug use. 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 burden on the liver of a pronounced mixture of drugs and alcohol is enormous, and the long-awaited cure is postponed indefinitely.
Alcohol after antibiotics is also contraindicated due to the fact that it further overloads the liver: the natural "filter" and so while taking antibacterial drugs, acts in an enhanced mode, and the additional load in the form of alcoholic beverages causes an even greater impact on the bodyEntering into a chemical reaction with alcohol, antibiotics that try to destroy and process the liver, in this case can provide not a service in treatment, but cause many unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache or even mentalIn 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 happened more than once in medical practice.
The body's reaction to a mixture of alcohol and antibiotics is unpredictable. Against the background of the joint intake of such drugs and alcohol there are cases, for example, exacerbation of chronic diseases from severe reactions of 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 any type of allergy. So, if during antibacterial treatment the immune system is still able to provide protection to the body at an "increased rate", then the consumption of alcohol is fully capable of disrupting the functions of the immune system, which manifests itself with 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 this ban are given above, they are also the basis of the statement that it is better to exclude any alcoholic beverages from life for some time after such treatment. If you do not 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 elimination period from the body. Accordingly, in each case the decision when to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made individually.
The minimum period during which a person must give up alcohol 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 so that the liver can remove from the body even the residual effects of antibiotics without additional strain on it in the form of alcohol.
By the way, doctors adhere only to 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 to remove antibiotics and then resume normal work, the lower the risk of conflict between alcohol and an antibacterial drug.
This is most important for people who are taking antibiotics for liver and kidney problems. In such cases, the period of prohibition of alcohol after the end of antibiotic therapy is extended: the no longer completely healthy liver must be neutralized and the remnants of the antibiotic must be removed from the body. If with such an increased load on the liver it is even more loaded, then it is unlikely to occur without complications.
For many people who are accustomed to enjoying at least a glass of good red wine a day, it is quite difficult to give up their favorite habit, even during treatment with antibiotics. Such people often reject reminders of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, for some reason justifying that "nothing will come from a glass of wine. " And this is in vain: even experts will never take responsibility for considering the possible severity of the consequences. In some cases, a glass of wine after taking antibiotics may not really show serious results, but in another situation, even at first glance, a small amount of alcohol drunk while taking antibacterial drugs can lead to serious consequences. rejecting the warnings of well-wishers 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?