If you drink wine while taking antibiotics, your body’s capacity to fight infection will be hampered. Thus, until you finish your antibiotic medications and feel better, it’s best to avoid wine or any other sort of alcohol.
Some antibiotics, such as metronidazole (Flagyl) and Bactrim, can induce vomiting, cramps, and a fast heart rate if consumed with alcohol. In most circumstances, you can safely resume drinking alcohol three days following your final antibiotic dosage.
Can I Take An Antibiotic With Alcohol?
It is not advisable to combine an antibiotic with alcohol. This is due to the fact that taking modest amounts of alcohol with an antibiotic may create adverse effects and impair your body’s natural capacity to repair itself.
With the being mentioned, it is also important to consider that when some antibiotics are consumed with alcohol, they might cause nausea, vomiting, stomach discomfort, sweating, and liver damage.
Moreover, alcohol can also have an impact on how certain antibiotics are metabolized (broken down) in the body for disposal. This might reduce the antibiotic’s efficacy or raise its toxicity.
Considering the same, here are some of the antibiotics that have a particularly severe sensitivity to alcohol:
- Metronidazole (Flagyl): It is an antibiotic that is used to treat bacterial and parasite infections in the stomach, brain, vagina, and liver.
- Tinidazole (Tindamax): It is an antibiotic used to treat vaginal and gastrointestinal infections.
When taking these antibiotics, you should avoid alcohol, wine, and beer, as well as anything containing alcohol, such as cough syrup and mouthwash.
Moving ahead, other frequent antibiotics that should not be taken with alcohol, despite the fact that the adverse effects may be less, include:
- Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (Bactrim DS): It is typically used for UTIs or skin infections. Its adverse effects are comparable to those of metronidazole.
- Cefotetan (Cefotan): It is used to treat bacterial infections of the lungs, skin, and bones, and has side effects comparable to metronidazole.
- Linezolid (Zyvox): It is used to treat skin infections and pneumonia. It has high interactions with beer, including non-alcoholic beer, and red wine. If you drink while taking linezolid, your blood pressure may rise.
- Isoniazid (Nydrazid): It is used to treat TB and, when coupled with alcohol, can overwhelm your liver, resulting in toxicity.
Thus, you can start drinking once the antibiotic has exited from your system. And which normally takes three days following the final dosage.
Why Can’t You Drink Alcohol While Taking Antibiotics?
When the body breaks down alcohol, acetaldehyde is produced which can cause nausea. Many people who use antibiotics already have stomach or digestive side effects, and consuming alcohol while on these drugs might exacerbate nausea.
Furthermore, both alcohol and antibiotics can impair cognitive function, focus, and coordination, in addition to gastrointestinal difficulties.
Also, alcohol is substantially metabolized (broken down) in the liver by enzymes. The same or related enzymes also metabolize several medications. Changes in these enzymes may affect how medications are broken down in your body depending on how frequently and how much alcohol is ingested. For example:
- When a significant amount of alcohol is drunk in a short period of time, specific enzymes do not operate as efficiently to break down the medication for metabolism. Because the antibiotic is not fully digested and eliminated, its levels in the body may rise, potentially leading to increased drug toxicity and adverse effects.
- Alternatively, when alcohol is consumed on a daily (chronological) basis, enzyme levels can be “stimulated.” This suggests that the medicine is being broken down faster in the body and that the levels of antibiotics in the blood may be decreasing. Your illness would not be healed, and antibiotic resistance could develop.
Another factor to consider with alcohol and antibiotics is that drinking interferes with vital bodily functions such as sleep and hydration, which are critical components of recovery from a bacterial infection. Because of these risks, it is advised to avoid alcohol during antibiotic therapy.
What Are The Effects Of Drinking Alcohol While Taking Antibiotics?
It is almost never a good idea to combine alcohol with antibiotics. Both alcohol and antibiotics can have negative effects on the body, such as:
1. Disulfiram-Like Reaction
Alcohol and antibiotic interactions are prevalent with antibiotics such as cefotetan (Cefotan), tinidazole (Tindamax), and metronidazole (Flagyl). When these antibiotics are used with alcohol, a response known as a “disulfiram-like reaction” may occur.
Symptoms of a “disulfiram-like response” may include the following.:
- vomiting and nausea
- skin flushing
- stomach pains
- Headache
- accelerated heart rate
- chest discomfort
- breathing difficulties
Other antibiotics, such as cefotetan (Cefotan), a cephalosporin antibiotic, and tinidazole (Tindamax), belong to the same family as metronidazole and may have a similar response.
Do not consume alcohol prior to, during, or up to three days after taking these antibiotics.
2. Central Nervous System (Cns) Side Effects
Alcohol is also a depressant of the central nervous system (CNS). Some antibiotics, such as metronidazole (Flagyl), can have adverse effects on CNS, such as:
- Drowsiness
- sedation
- dizziness
- confusion
Alcohol may have additional effects when used with antibiotics that also have a CNS depressive effect. These side effects can be dangerous when driving or operating machinery, in the elderly, or in patients taking other CNS depressant drugs.
3. Side Effects Of The Stomach
Antibiotics can also cause stomach issues such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach discomfort. The use of alcohol might exacerbate these gastric adverse effects.
4. Damage To The Liver
Excessive alcohol use is widely recognized to induce liver diseases such as cirrhosis. Taking antibiotics that might harm the liver may aggravate these symptoms.
These side effects usually go away on their own. If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, contact your local emergency services immediately.
Which Antibiotics Interact With Alcohol?
Alcohol must be avoided while taking antibiotics in general. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications may also contain alcohol in their composition. These might include:
- cough medicines
- cold or flu products (for example, Nyquil which has 10% alcohol)
- mouthwashes
Here is a compiled list of all possible antibiotic-alcohol drug interactions:
- Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole- Fast heartbeat, warmth or redness under the skin, tingling sensation, nausea, and vomiting
- Metronidazole – Disulfiram-like reaction: stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and flushing may occur; absorption of vaginal cream into the bloodstream is also likely.
- linezolid (Zyvox) – The risk of hypertensive crises increased. As a result, you should limit your intake of tyramine-containing alcoholic beverages.
- Tindamax – Disulfiram-like response characterized by stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and flushing.
- cefotetan – Disulfiram-like response to cefotetan, including stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and flushing. As a result, avoid combining cefotetan with alcohol during therapy and for 72 hours after ceasing cefotetan medication.
- doxycycline – Increased elimination of doxycycline may result in a lower level of doxycycline in individuals who consume alcohol on a regular basis. The mechanism appears to be the alcohol-induced elevation of liver enzymes.
- Rifadin – When used with alcohol, the risk of liver damage increases.
- Isoniazid – Increased risk of liver damage if alcohol is consumed on a daily basis. Disulfiram-like symptoms include stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and flushing, as well as trouble breathing, sweating, thirst, chest discomfort, fast pulse, palpitation, low blood pressure, dizziness, lightheadedness, blurred vision, and disorientation. More serious responses may occur in rare cases, including irregular cardiac rhythm, heart attack, heart failure, unconsciousness, convulsions, and death.
- Seromycin – The combination may raise the risk of central nervous system toxicity (dizziness, sleepiness, depression, stress, psychoses, impaired memory, and confusion) as well as seizures.
- erythromycin ethyl succinate (E.E.S.) – Might delay antibiotic absorption into the circulation and reduce antibacterial action.
- Trecator (ethionamide) – The combination may raise the risk of central nervous system poisoning.
- ketoconazole – Combining ketoconazole with alcohol may raise the risk of liver damage and a disulfiram-like response.
- pyrazinamide – When combined with alcohol, the risk of liver damage increases.
- Thalomid – When used with alcohol, the risk of additive sedation, sleepiness, and disorientation increases.
- Lampitt – A “disulfiram response” might develop, causing unpleasant side effects such as redness, headache, trouble breathing, nausea, and so on. More serious responses may occur in rare cases, including irregular cardiac rhythm, heart attack, heart failure, unconsciousness, convulsions, and even death.
Patients should consult with their healthcare provider before beginning a new prescription or OTC medication to discover whether there are any significant drug interactions. When these antibiotics are used with alcohol, a potentially harmful response might occur.
Faqs
1. What happens if you drink on antibiotics?
Drinking alcohol while on antibiotics can be dangerous. Some drugs interact poorly with alcohol, resulting in significant side effects. Some antibiotics might cause nausea or dizziness, which can be aggravated by consuming alcohol.
2. Is it ok to drink alcohol while taking amoxicillin?
Yes, While taking the antibiotic amoxicillin, you may consume alcohol. Amoxicillin will not be rendered ineffective by the alcohol. However, moderation is essential.
Many doctors may advise you to avoid alcohol in order to give your body the best opportunity to fight the illness. Can You Drink Wine With Antibiotics
3. Does drinking alcohol cancel out antibiotics?
Although moderate alcohol use does not decrease the efficacy of most antibiotics, it can deplete your energy and cause you to recover more slowly.
So, avoid alcohol until you’ve finished your antibiotics and are feeling better. Can You Drink Wine With Antibiotics
Also Read:- Why Does Wine Give Me A Headache
