Antibiotics are today one of the most common and very effective ways to treat many different diseases. Thanks to antibacterial drugs, many diseases that were once, more than 100 years ago, often life-threatening, are now successfully treated without any consequences. Modern pharmacology publishes a large number of antibacterial drugs designed for successful use even in childhood: some of the antibiotics, if nothing else, are successfully used even to treat infants.
Of course, among these means are antibacterial drugs whose accidental and unauthorized use is excluded. Thus, the use of this group of drugs should always be justified, and also agreed with the doctor: their uncontrolled use instead of the effect of treatment always carries with it serious risks. But what can I say - the risks are present even when antibiotics are used according to instructions, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases manifest unpleasant consequences.
One of the warnings that applies to absolutely all antibacterial drugs without exception is a warning about the impossibility, harmfulness 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 in the background of therapy with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty ban: the consumption of alcohol together with "snacks" on medicines can have extremely negative consequences.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited for use not only as a means of "rinsing" drugs. Alcohol after antibiotics is also prohibited for a few hours after taking the medication, and for a few days (or better weeks) after the end of treatment. Unless, of course, the person being treated afterwards doesn’t want to have health problems of a slightly different kind, after having healed one "wound, " so they are no less serious and complicated than that.
Abstinence from alcohol after taking antibiotics should be for the simple reason that each of these drugs has its own elimination period from the body. That is, even at the end of treatment, the active drug substances remain in the blood, tissues and liver. And until the process of their elimination from the body is completed, antibiotics will, in the case of taking alcoholic beverages after treatment, react with alcohol in the same way as they will react to alcohol drunk directly during therapy.
These reactions can be completely different, but at the same time they are unequivocally negative in each individual case. Thus, one of the reasons why alcohol is not recommended after antibiotic therapy, as well as during treatment, is explained by the property of alcoholic beverages to significantly reduce the effect of drug use. Thus, 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 due to the pronounced mixture of drugs and alcohol is colossal, and the long-awaited drug is postponed indefinitely.
Alcohol after antibiotics is also contraindicated for the reason that it additionally overloads the liver: the natural "filter", and thus while taking antibacterial drugs, has an intensified effect, and the additional load in the form of alcoholic beverages inflicts an even greater blow on the organ. Entering a chemical reaction with alcohol, antibiotics, which try to break down and process the liver, in this case can not provide a service in treatment, but can cause very unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache or even mental blurring. In some cases, a "cocktail" of antibiotics and alcohol can cause shortness of breath, and in extremely severe cases, it can lead to death. And such cases, unfortunately, have occurred multiple times in medical practice.
The body’s reaction to mixing 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 with 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 allergies of any kind before. Thus, if in the period of antibacterial treatment the immune system is still able to provide protection to the body "at an increased rate", 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 average result, we can say with certainty: antibiotics and alcohol are simply not compatible in any way, in any way. The reasons for this ban are listed above, they also support the claim 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 clear answer. Each of the antibacterial drugs has its own individual period of elimination from the body. Accordingly, in each individual case, the decision on when to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made individually.
The minimum period in which you 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 so that the liver can remove from the body even the residual effects of taking antibiotics without putting additional strain on it in the form of alcohol.
By the way, doctors adhere only to the last opinion, recommending that all patients practice sobriety at the end of therapy with antibacterial agents for as long as possible. The longer a patient gives his liver to remove antibiotics and subsequently resume normal work, the lower the risk of a 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 consumption is extended after the end of antibiotic therapy: the already neutralized liver must be neutralized, and antibiotic residues must be removed from the body. If with such an increased load the liver is even more burdened, it is unlikely to pass 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 antibiotic treatment. Such people often dismiss reminders of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, for some reason justifying that "nothing will come from a glass of wine. "And it is completely in vain: even experts will never take responsibility to think about the possible seriousness 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, the negligible amount of alcohol consumed while taking antibacterial drugs can lead to serious consequences. Therefore, before dismissing the well-intentioned 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?