Antibiotics

Antibiotics are one of the greatest success of modern medicine. It stands at one step with the discovery of vaccination, and understanding that you shouldn't muddle your drinking water and toilet water. Of course, antibiotics can have some side effects, like all drugs. But their advantages are tremendous.

Nevertheless, some people mistakenly believe the opposite. In fact, a great number of people also believe by mistake that antibiotics at any price should not be combined with any alcohol. In truth, the effects of mixing antibiotics and alcohol can differ, depending on the certain antibiotic.

There exist a version that explaines why people think so. During World War II penicillin was being tested for infected wounds. Because it was in short amount, it had to be regained from the urine of the patients for reuse later. Many soldiers recovering in field hospitals were allowed to drink beer as an encouragement. This increased the amount of urine and made the process of regaining penicillin much longer, so the commanding officer forbid these troops to drink beer, and this resulted in the opinion that alcohol should not be combined with antibiotics.

Alcohol doesn't decrease the potency of most antibiotics. Still, antibiotics and alcohol might motivate similar side effects, such as dizziness, drowsiness or stomach upset. When you mix antibiotics and alcohol, all these side effects may become more intensive.

Seldom, alcohol can decrease the effectiveness of specific antibiotics — such as doxycycline. That means you’ll have to take a higher dose to achieve the same treatment result.

Only a few antibiotics — metronidazole, tinidazole and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole — should not be combined with alcohol because it may cause a harder reaction. Drinking even a small amount of alcohol with these antibiotics can cause bad side effects such as headache, nausea and vomiting, flashing, rapid heart beating, shortness of breath etc. Remember that some mouthwashes also contain alcohol. So read the label attentively and escape such products when you take these antibiotics. Alcohol can diminish the absorption of other antibiotics – doxycyclines and tetracyclines. But these interactions are well known to doctors and pharmacists.

Remember that alcohol can diminish your energy and postpone your recovery from illness. So, you may try to avoid alcohol until you are feeling better.