Everyone knows that it is forbidden to combine alcohol and antibiotics, but few people know when you can drink alcohol after antibiotics. It is not known how many days to expect after the last pill of the drug. Many others wonder what will happen if you skip a few drinks during the treatment period or immediately after it is finished. With these questions we will try to figure it out, for which you will first need to familiarize yourself with the effect of alcohol and antibiotics on the body.
Treatment and contraindications to alcohol
Antibiotics are not only very effective drugs, but also dangerous. Their reception must be agreed with the attending physician. The main indicator of the need for their use is the presence of a bacterial infection, which the body cannot cope with on its own.
If a specialist prescribed antibiotics, then during the period of such treatment you need to adhere to certain rules:
- Strictly observe the time and time of taking the drug, which will maintain a constant concentration of certain substances in the blood.
- The duration of the medication should be determined by the doctor. Usually the course does not exceed 2 weeks, and some drugs are enough to use for 3 days.
- It is recommended to drink the antibiotic with clean water without gas.
- During the treatment period, you need to adhere to good nutrition. From the diet you should exclude fatty foods and, of course, the consumption of alcohol, even in small amounts.
The last rule must be particularly taken into account, especially with regard to the prohibition of drinking. In addition, it is forbidden to consume alcohol immediately and after treatment for a specified period of time. But why not consume alcohol after antibiotic treatment? When ethanol and its constituent substances enter the body, they break down into small elements and turn into simple compounds. And some of the molecules in the alcoholic drink will start to coincide with the molecules in the drugs, which can cause serious dysfunction in the body.
It has been repeatedly proven that after taking alcohol, the effectiveness of antibacterial drugs is significantly reduced. In addition, such a mixture will give a large load to the liver, which reacts unfavorably not only to the work of this organ, but also to the state of the body as a whole. Drinking alcohol after antibiotics or during treatment can cause systems and organs to react unpredictably.
Possible consequences
As already noted, taking alcohol together or immediately after taking antibacterial drugs affects the whole body, not limited to its individual area, which is why it is impossible to predict the consequences. However, the most common are:
- If you drink alcohol while there are antibiotic substances in the body, an acute form of allergy may appear.
- A big danger when drinking drugs is an exacerbation of intoxication and a hangover. Afterwards, the usual amount of drink can lead to loss of control. At the same time, there is a risk of having a mental deviation as a result.
- Alcohol after taking antibiotics significantly reduces the medicinal effect of the latter, which may lead to the need to repeat the treatment or increase the dose of drugs, which will also affect the body. In addition, an increase in the dose of drugs reduces their effect in the future, and therefore the adaptation of the infection to the drug. The infection with the weakening of the antibiotic has time to strengthen and become resistant to it. Thus, after a course of antibiotics, the infection will reappear over time, and more powerful drugs will be needed to eliminate it.
- In addition, the possible consequences include traditional symptoms such as: headache, nausea, mental disorders, liver damage and dizziness.
All of the above consequences can be avoided if you know when to drink alcohol after an antibiotic.
What deadlines do you have to respect?
There is no exact statement on how long you drink alcoholic beverages after taking antibiotics. For each antibacterial drug, it is individually determined how many days after treatment you can drink alcohol, and this should be determined by the doctor. Typically, this period is at least 10 days. This is the minimum period during which the kidneys and liver of a person return to normal and the intestinal microflora is restored. However, these are general recommendations, it all depends on the characteristics of the organism.
If the patient suffers from chronic kidney or liver disease, the time after which it is possible to drink alcohol is slightly increased. And in order to avoid mistakes, it is better to consult a specialist on this matter. The longer after treatment, do not consume alcoholic beverages, the better for the body. After all, alcohol and therefore does not carry anything useful for the body, and even more so during the period of its weakening.
Today, the main contraindications have been studied to find out whether it is possible to drink alcohol during the period of antibiotic treatment, as well as the general conditions regarding abstinence from alcohol, which must be observed.
Observing these recommendations and rules, it will turn out not only to quickly get rid of the disease with the help of antibiotics, but also not to harm the body. But it is important to remember that the consumption of antibiotics without a doctor's prescription is also prohibited.