If your doctor tells you that you shouldn’t drink alcohol, ask how long you should wait before drinking again. You may need to wait at least 72 hours after finishing your course of antibiotics before having any alcohol. This group of antibiotics includes levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and fluoroquinolone, which are used for various bacterial infections. In 2020, pharmacists at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in New York published a study examining the data regarding alcohol use with certain classes of antibiotics. Some types were deemed safe to use with alcohol, while others were not.
Like many types of antibiotics, alcohol is broken down and processed by your liver before it can exit your body. When your liver is already working to help fight infection, adding alcohol to the mix can overwork it. In rare cases, this can cause drug-induced liver toxicity (swelling of your liver).
- In rare cases, people may experience seizures with fluoroquinolone treatment.
- Taking antibiotics that can also damage the liver may worsen these types of problems.
- If you do accidentally drink while taking antibiotics, your side effects will usually disappear within a few hours.
Stomach problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain can be common with antibiotics, too. If the label on your drug says not to drink alcohol during treatment, follow that advice. Alcohol doesn’t make most antibiotics less effective, but consuming alcohol — especially if you drink too much — might increase your chance of experiencing certain side effects. The biggest concern is that consuming alcohol with medications might increase the risk of unsafe side effects. Speak with the prescribing healthcare provider or a pharmacist about alcohol use while taking antibiotics. Nitroimidazoles, including metronidazole, tinidazole, and secnidazole, are often used for parasitic or anaerobic bacterial infections.
There are plenty of beverages that you can enjoy while taking antibiotics without worrying about how they might interact with your treatment. Nouhavandi says this is partly because when you’re sick, you need to be properly hydrated. One of the side effects of drinking alcohol can be dehydration, which can make it harder for you to get well.
Any abnormal changes to your health or concerns when using antibiotics warrant a call to your healthcare provider. While not all antibiotics will negatively interact with alcohol, it’s vital to practice caution and have clear information regarding alcohol safety with the prescribed medication. Some (but not all) antibiotics interact with alcohol, and different types come with various risks. Following a healthcare provider’s advice is important to determine what is safe for you.
What happens if you drink when taking antibiotics?
A person should speak with a healthcare professional if they have concerns about alcohol consumption and antibiotics. They should also avoid other foods that contain tyramine, such as strong cheeses and smoked meats. Antibiotics are drugs that target bacteria to treat and prevent infections. Talk with your doctor and pharmacist if you’re taking an antibiotic. Usually, drinking alcohol won’t keep your antibiotic from working to treat your infection.
It is important to tell your doctor about all the medications you use, including over-the-counter drugs, vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if your antibiotic has an interaction with any liver enzymes. It’s important to know if there are concerns about how effective the antibiotic might be for your infection based on any drug interactions, including alcohol. It’s important to check with your doctor or pharmacist before you mix alcohol with an antibiotic as this might be dangerous for your liver or cause other reactions.
Which antibiotics should people not drink alcohol with?
It may reduce the chance of complications or side effects brought on by antibiotics. All of these factors can reduce your body’s ability to adderall heal from an infection. Acute alcohol use, binge drinking, and chronic alcohol use can all be harmful, whether you take medication or not.
It’s OK to consume alcohol low in tyramine with this class of drugs. Tyramine is a naturally occurring trace compound from the amino acid tyrosine. High-tyramine alcohols include home-brewed beer, beer on tap, Korean beer, and vermouth. Most bottled beers are lower in tyramine, but it’s always best to ask a healthcare provider if it’s safe to consume alcohol on these antibiotics. These drugs are often reserved for illnesses like community-acquired pneumonia and severe skin and bacterial infections after other antibiotics have not worked.
Effects of mixing alcohol and antibiotics
If you choose to drink alcohol while taking an antibiotic, check on the safety with your doctor or pharmacist first. Mixing alcohol and some antibiotics may cause side effects like liver problems or a “disulfiram-like reaction”. Some antibiotics aa step 1 acceptance is the first step to recovery cannot be taken with alcohol at all, so follow your healthcare provider’s instructions. Keep in mind that antibiotics are often prescribed on a short-term basis. Consider waiting until you’re off the medications to have your next drink.
Doctors use oxazolidinones to treat abdominal, skin, lung, and urinary tract infections. Since alcohol can also have negative effects on the liver, excessive alcohol use and risks to women’s health people should avoid mixing alcohol with minocycline. People should avoid or limit their alcohol consumption while taking doxycycline.
The CDC describes binge drinking as consuming four drinks for women and five drinks for men on a single occasion. Heavy drinking is eight or more drinks for women and 15 drinks or more for men per week. Metronidazole affects the function of a key enzyme that helps the body digest alcohol. When metronidazole inhibits the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, the levels of acetaldehyde accumulate in the blood.
Table 1: Common Antibiotic and Alcohol Interactions
While not all antibiotics interact with alcohol, some do, and the potential side effects can range from mild to severe. Sulfonamides are a broad-spectrum class of manufactured antibiotics, including sulfisoxazole, sulfamethizole, and sulfamethoxazole. These are often used to treat infections alongside other drugs for bacterial infections, such as urinary tract infections. The use of alcohol with sulfonamides has been found to cause facial flushing, but otherwise, data on risk are limited. Drinking any amount of alcohol with these medications can result in side effects such as flushing, headache, nausea and vomiting, and rapid heart rate. Generally, it’s best to practice caution and speak with a healthcare provider about drinking alcohol while on these antibiotics.
This could lower the effectiveness of the antibiotic or increase its toxicity. Various classes of antibiotics are prescribed to treat bacterial infections. One of the most common concerns when taking antibiotics is whether alcohol can still be consumed during treatment.
Excessive alcohol use is well-known to cause liver damage like cirrhosis. Taking antibiotics that can also damage the liver may worsen these types of problems. When alcohol is combined with antibiotics that also have a CNS depressant effect, additive effects may occur. In many cases, you only need to take antibiotics for a week or two to fully recover from an infection.
Alcohol can affect this antibiotic, and it may be less effective for people with a history of excessive drinking or those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although nausea is a common side effect of both antibiotics and alcohol, not all people will experience this when using both at the same time. It is not safe to mix some types of antibiotics, such as tetracyclines and nitroimidazoles, with alcohol. This can cause dangerous side effects or make them less effective at removing bacteria.