Antibiotics and alcohol, fact or fiction?

[buksida]

Since the Polyclinic has furnished me with more pills than a Mancunian pub following an infection from a rather tenacious jellyfish sting I thought I'd look into the myths surrounding alcohol and antibiotics.

Although it is sensible to avoid drinking alcohol when taking any medication, it is unlikely that drinking alcohol in moderation will cause problems if you are taking most common antibiotics.

It should be noted that antibiotics may have a variety of side effects that might be made worse by alcohol, for example, sleepiness and dizziness. Alcohol is likely to worsen these effects.

Source & more info: NHS Direct

There are many myths about mixing alcohol and antibiotics and most of them are just myths and nothing more! It's one of the great myths that mixing antibiotics with alcohol can seriously mess you up. While it's unwise to mix medicine with alcohol, only few drugs are affected by the action of it. The truth is that antibiotics have different routes of leaving the body, some broken down in the liver, excreted in the urine or passing straight through in the faeces. To a large extent this determines how long they stay active in the body and how often you need to take them. Alcohol may increase the excretion rate or slow down the rate drugs are broken down.

Source & more info: SteadyHealth.com

The situation is not as grim as you might’ve heard. There is a general consensus among pharmacists that you can imbibe one or two drinks while on antibiotics, though there are some specific medicines in the “never” category, such as Flagyl (metronidazole) or Fasigyn (tinidazole). Washing these meds down with firewater can cause intense vomiting and nausea, abdominal cramping, flushing, and a rapid heartbeat. In fact, it is recommended that no alcohol be consumed until 72 hours after you’ve stopped taking them. Other antibiotics, though, don’t seem to be as much of a problem.

Source & more info: ScienceLine.org

However ...

In general, alcohol should be avoided when taking antibiotics as it causes a variety of things to happen in the body, and some of them can impair the effectiveness of antibiotics. It also competes with liver enzymes, which break down the antibiotics. Additionally, certain antibiotics chemically react with alcohol, leading to serious body reactions (severe vomiting, nausea, etc.). These include (but not limited to): Metronidazole, Tinidazole, co-trimoxazole, cephamandole, ketoconazole. Such antibiotics are explicitly prohibited to be used with alcohol.

Source & more info: Wikipedia


So there you have it if you're on the common stuff such as Amoxicillin bevvies are generally ok but don't go overboard.

[lomuamart]

That's pretty much the rule of thumb that I've always followed. Most doctors are going to say don't drink on antibiotics, but I was told years ago in the UK, by a doctor, that there were only a couple of types that could produce adverse reactions. This seems to be totally borne out by your quotes.
However, drinking the demon booze might slow the healing process down and if I've ever had to clear up a wound that's got badly infected, I do stop drinking - for a few days and that's a hardship
I think you should always finish the course of tablets as well, even if the infection seems to have cleared up.

[niggle]

The myth originated during WW1. Troops were returning from France after a dalliance wih French prostitutes with a dose of syphillis.
The (then) department of morals wanted a way to discourage troops from this and as syphillis was treated with antibiotics, they were told they could not drink alcohol. Thus not only couldnt they risk having a session on their return to their wives but also couldnt go to the pub withpt admitting what they had been up to.
Sounds unlikely but actually is true
Generally speaking antibiotics are ok to drink but with the exception of metronidazole

[STEVE G]

I’ve done it in the past without ill effects and I just found this on an NHS site:http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:32 ... clnk&cd=35

[Big Boy]

niggle,

I'm obviously wrong, but I was always under the impression that so many died in WW1 because there were no antibiotics to treat basic wounds.

[JD]

niggle,

I'm obviously wrong, but I was always under the impression that so many died in WW1 because there were no antibiotics to treat basic wounds.

No, I think you are correct BB.


Fleming, Alexander (1881-1955)

Scottish bacteriologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for his discovery of the bactericidal effect of penicillin in 1928. In 1922 he had discovered lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme present in saliva, nasal secretions, and tears. While studying this, he found an unusual mould growing on a culture dish, which he isolated and grew into a pure culture. This led to his discovery of penicillin, which came into use in 1941. He shared the award with Howard W Florey and Ernst B Chain, whose research had brought widespread realization of the value of penicillin with its isolation and its development as an antibiotic drug.

[redzonerocker]

i believe the myth was invented to try to control the behaviour of the sailors in the royal & merchant navy when they hit the various ports around the world.
most people have different reactions to drugs/medicines & the same with alcohol.
mixing the two will suerly add extra strain on the system, so personally i lay off the alcohol when on anti's.

[Korkenzieher]

I have used various preps of Tinidazole, usually Fasigyn (2000mg one time for Giardiasis), and have drunk alcohol the next day (not the same day) without ill effect. Flagyl is horrible anyway - best avoided (but not easily done in the US or Europe!). Tinidazole is a better bet - quicker, and more effective for the same range of intestinal infestations and fungal problems (check a pharmacopia).

With AntiBio's, I have always been under the impression that it is the diuretic effects of alcohol that is the problem (likewise tea, coffee) rather than any interaction.

----

My understanding was that STD's traditionally invalided a service man out of fighting at the front, and thousands opted for it. Getting yourself a dose could save your life. Many in the high command apparently rejected the use of penicillin in these cases as a trivial misuse, supporting 'moral hazard', as we might call it today. Memory fails me, but I think there was something like 33,000 people absented from active service because of STD's. Apparently Churchill, aware of the disapproval of the Army high command,simply told the medical corp to use the drug in the manner which would be most effective in returning people to the front and in 1941 they started to treat STD infected soldiers and sailors specifically for those diseases. I can't find a site I can quote, but it is somewhere in my 'boys history of WW2'.

An interesting aside, is that in WW1, the move to tin helmets was expected to reduce the number of head wounds but in fact, the numbers soared. HC didn't realise, apparently, that getting shot in the head is normally fatal. Because of tin helmets, many more survived and thus the numbers grew, apparently inexplicably.

[DawnHRD]

Buksi & Lomu,

In moderation means 1 or 2 small (330ml) beers in a 24 hr period. Now, be truthful - is that what you chose to interpret from those wise words on the internet?