UKC

It seems accepted that they shouldn't be mixed. Is this just pharm companies covering themselves just in case or is there a reason? Maybe if you mix you'll have an adverse reaction, or alcohol reduces the efficacy of the drugs. Anyone know?

In reply to aln:

I think it's only one of the groups that doesn't work with booze. Last time I had them, the doc said there wasn't a problem, but that maybe I should lay off the booze 'till I was feeling better (I asked about a medicinal malt)

In reply to aln:
Depends on the antibiotic. Some are ok with alcohol, others it lessens their effectiveness and some will really mess you up if you mix them.

In reply to aln:

Try metronidazole and a can of special brew. If you survive, you'll be clean as a whistle.

In reply to aln:

I thought a lot of this was to do with alcohol being a diuretic and washing the drug out of your system?

In reply to DaveHK:


Interesting. I started a course of AB's on Monday, which don't warn against alcohol. I started feeling crap within a few hours of my 1st dose. I was out last night and had a few drinks. Felt much better, today back to feeling crap.

In reply to aln:


Another victory for the scientific method.

In reply to toad:

I'm taking Clarithromycin.

In reply to DaveHK:


Yip, empirical observation says I should keep drinking till I finish the course.

In reply to aln:

Metronidazole, and other azoles, are the ones.

Mixed with alcohol the effect is similar to disulfam (Antabuse), i.e. violent and sudden vomiting.

The rest are fine. Most will give you the runs with or without alcohol.

In reply to aln:
Pharmacists have always said to me they wish they could say no Drinking, but its actually fine

In reply to aln:

According to QI it was always stated to not drink as the anti-biotics were used to cure some STD (I forget which) and it was more likely to be passed on if someone got drunk and had sex before the course of antis were finished.

In reply to Dispater:


Clarithromycin, probably a brand name, dunno if it's an azole. I'll Google.



9

In reply to Dispater:
. violent and sudden vomiting.

Most will give you the runs

No vomit but persistent nausea, tired and just feel weird. No runs so far. Also horrible taste in my mouth.

In reply to aln:
For Choss.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=56dxJjXbnjg&feature=kp

In reply to aln:

As said above, a few types are a problem, but most are OK. Although if you need antibiotics it wouldn't do any harm to lay of the booze for a week anyway.
I can confirm that Phenoxymethyl penicillin ( penicillin V ) is fine with alcohol. I've been mixing them every day for six years now, sometimes I wash the pills down with a whisky.
The best advice I can give is don't look on the internet for advice on this. There are three places to go: the leaflet in the box, a pharmacist or a doctor. None of them will lie to you.

In reply to Hooo:


Why are you taking them? Coz I'm thinking after 6 years maybe that combo isn't working. Not judging coz I don't know your circumstances.

None of them will lie to you.

Not sure about that.

In reply to aln:

It's prophylactic, due to having no spleen. Certain infections would be very serious, so I take penicillin for the rest of my life to prevent me catching them.
Of course, I'd never know if they weren't working...
Do you really think you'd get false information from an of those sources? They might not know, but they won't tell you anything that they know is untrue.

In reply to Hooo:


F*ck. Dunno what else to say. Wanna say hope you get better but doesn't sound like u can.


>

In reply to aln:

It won't get better, but it's no big deal. I just take pills twice a day. At least I can drink with them, it'd be tough otherwise. That was the first thing I asked when they told me I'd be on antibiotics for life

In reply to Hooo:

. At least I can drink with them, it'd be tough otherwise. That was the first thing I asked when they told me I'd be on antibiotics for life
Nice one, good luck.

In reply to aln:

Some antibiotics are fine with alcohol - others really mess you up. It will tell you on the little leaflet that comes with the pills. If it's ok with alcohol, it will usually say something like "no known interactions". Alternatively, a pharmacist will be able to give you advice.

I recently had a course of Trimethoprim and that was fine.

In reply to aln:

I think the rule of thumb is that the ones used to target primarily anaerobic bacteria are the ones the don't mix well with alcohol. That usually means antibiotics for a dental infection. The vast majority of the rest are fine.

In reply to aln:

In addition to what has been said already about different types of antibiotics, it's worth pointing out that whenever I have had to take antibiotics, this was usually because I needed to recover from some illness and alcohol generally does not aid this type of recovery. When I am not a 100%, I don't drink, whether I am on medication or not.

In reply to aln:
"Alcohol can interact with certain medicines.

In the case of Clarithromycin:

•there are no known interactions between alcohol and Clarithromycin"

http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/MedicineOverview.aspx?condition=Bac...

As has been said a few times, it's only really metronidazole and very similar drugs (which are indeed the ones targetting anaerobic bacteria, and are so commonly used for dental infections) where it's a real problem, and it just gets extrapolated to all antibiotics.

Clearly it's not a great idea to drink heavily whilst your body's trying to fight off an infection...

In reply to Carolyn:





Thanks for this and the other replies. As for drinking, I was at a gig and being shamefully weak willed I couldn't resist....

In reply to aln:

Apart from the above mentioned caution with Metronidazole, the main reason for advising against alcohol whilst taking other antibiotics is because alcohol in moderate to high intakes, taken often will induce liver enzymes. Often the same enzymes are responsible for the metabolism of the antibiotic, which in theory will lead to blood drug concentrationds to become subtherapeutic more quickly. So unless you are particularly sensitive to alcohol, a pint or two is unlikely to do harm.