Antibiotics are one of the most common and effective ways to treat many different diseases today. Thanks to antibacterial drugs, a number of diseases that a little over 100 years ago were often dangerous even for life, today are successfully treated without any consequences. Modern pharmacology releases a large number of antibacterial drugs designed to be taken with success even in early childhood: some of the antibiotics, at the very least, are used successfully even for the treatment of infants.
Of course, antibacterial drugs are among those agents whose random and unauthorized use 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 curative effect always carries serious risks. But what can I say - risks are present even when antibiotics are used according to the instructions, because each of these drugs has its own side effects, which in some cases lead to 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 these drugs with alcohol. In the instructions for one of the antibiotics, you will certainly read in black and white: the use of alcoholic beverages as part of treatment with such drugs is strictly prohibited. And this is not an empty ban: drinking alcohol with a "snack" on drugs can have extremely negative consequences.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited for use not only as a means of "flushing out" drugs. Alcohol after antibiotics is prohibited and a few hours after taking the drugs, and for several days (or better weeks) after the end of treatment. Unless, of course, the person being treated does not later want to have health problems of a slightly different kind, having healed a "wound", and from that, they are no less serious and complicated.
Refraining 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 treatment, the active medicinal substances remain in the blood, tissues and liver. And until the process of their removal from the body is completed, antibiotics, in the case of taking alcoholic beverages after treatment, will react with alcohol in the same way that they react to alcohol drunk. directly during the treatment period.
And these reactions can be completely different, but at the same time, in each individual case, they are clearly negative. So, one of the reasons why alcohol after antibiotic therapy, in fact, as well as during the course of treatment, is not recommended, is the property of alcoholic beverages to significantly reduce the effect ofthe 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 having a therapeutic effect, accumulate in the liver. As a result, the load on the liver from a pronounced mixture of drugs and alcohol is colossal, and the long-awaited healing is delayed indefinitely.
Alcohol after antibiotics is also contraindicated because it also overloads the liver: the natural "filter", etc. , during taking antibacterial drugs, works improved, 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 try to break down and treat the liver, in this case may not be helpful in healing, but can cause very unpleasant conditions in the form of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache or even mental disorder. 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 mixture of alcohol and antibiotics is unpredictable. Against the background of the joint consumption of these drugs and alcohol, there are cases, for example, of exacerbations of chronic diseases by severe reactions of the nervous, digestive and cardiovascular systems.
The combination of alcoholic drinks and antibiotics can also become a major factor in the development of allergic reactions, even if the patient has never had an allergy of any kind before. Thus, if during the period of antibacterial treatment the immune system is still able to provide protection to the body at "increased speed", then the consumption of alcohol is quite capable of disrupting the functions of the immune system, whichmanifests itself by the appearance of allergic people.
Summarizing the intermediate result, we can say with confidence: Antibiotics and alcohol are simply by no means, by no means compatible. The reasons for this ban are given above, they also underlie the claim that it is better to exclude any alcoholic drink from life for a certain time after such treatment. If you don't want to risk your life and your health in vain and in vain, of course.
When to drink alcohol after taking antibiotics
The question of when to drink alcohol after antibiotics has no definitive answer. Each of the antibacterial drugs has its own period of elimination from the body. Accordingly, in each individual case, the decision to drink alcohol after antibiotics is made on a case-by-case basis.
The minimum period during which alcoholic beverages must 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 time, 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 additional burden in the form of alcohol.
By the way, doctors adhere only to the latter advice, recommending all patients to be sober at the end 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 normal mode, the lower the risk of conflict between alcohol and the antibacterial drug.
This is very 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: an already not completely healthy liver must be neutralized, and the remains of the antibiotic must be removed from the body. If with such increased loads on the liver it is even more loaded, complications are unlikely to happen.
For many people who are used to indulging themselves 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 reminders of the dangers of combining alcohol and antibiotics, for some reason justifying that "nothing will come out of a glass of wine. "And it is totally in vain: even specialists will never take the responsibility of thinking about the possible seriousness of the consequences. In some cases, a glass of wine after taking antibiotics may indeed not give 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 sympathizers warning against the inability to combine alcohol and antibacterial agents, it is better to think a hundred times - is a glass of wine really more important than our own health?