antibiotics and alcohol.

[Jimbob]

for the first time since i was a nipper i,ve been put on a course of antibiotics (penicillin v)for a nasty bout of tonsillitis. The problem is i,ve got a wedding to go to on saturday and would like to sink a few scoops if only to ease the pain in my throat. i,ve always been aware of the saying not to drink alcohol when taking antibiotics, is there any substance in this. jb.

[Brendan]

yes there is and some people react quite badly. Well they basically just get legless and feel ill very quickly. Thing is it is different for different people.

I have always been able to have 2 or 3 drinks while on antibiotics and not feel that bad but I know some people who can't even have 1.

If you are unsure either abstain or test it out before hand.

[HonaloochieB]

It's never stopped me, and I can say that I've not suffered any ill-effects and the various lurgies that were being treated cleared up. That said I always gave it a few days into the course before indulging.

I am not of course medically qualified to give advice, but take this as my experience and nothing more.

[Drxyster]

I understand that taking alcohol with antibiotics totally destroys any effects that the antibiotics have, it makes it totally pointless to take them. Alcohol destroys the efficacy of antibiotics.

[indiepanda]

I've tried it once and ended up with a seriously bad hangover despite only have about 3-4 units, which usually wouldn't affect me. If you react the same as me, you could expect to feel like men with hammers were standing by your bed walloping your head when you wake up the next day.

[muffintop]

Instead of penicillin, could'nt you ask your doctor to put you on metronizadole? it is an anti-biotic, and my dentist gave me this when I had an abscess (dreadful things those!) purely for the reason that he said they were the only antibiotics that you can take whilst consuming alcohol, (was going to my sister's wedding!)

[buggie]

metronidazole is a regularly used anti biotic for treatment of abcesses - it isn't used in relation to tonsilities so would be daft to be prescribed - also it might be ok to drink with it but think the possible side effects ie- gastro upset are more likely to occur.

[RosieH]

I might be wrong in this, but I think there are a few.antibiotics that you can drink with - certainly when I was on antibiotics for pneumonia I was allowed a drink. Buggered if I can remember which they were. But the issue is with efficacy - can I be an utter dullard and suggest you check with the doctor.

Or go totally crazy - forget the booze and get off your tits on smack instead.

[dc]

NHS Direct advice

[Huguenot]

Much as I hate to be the voice of reason ;-) Muffintop, you're heading the bunnet on this one and grinning like a loon.

Antibiotics are neither big nor clever. They're chemicals designed to stop life. Usually, like a hoodie on a wet Sunday, they've only got one target and hopefully it isn't you! The fact that you don't notice the damage they're doing on the way through is just lucky.

One doesn't just 'take a swig' of 'antibiotic'. You're prescribed a very specific poison based on your apparent ailment. You don't not finish the course because you'll leave one microbe alive to tell his mates how to duck the damage. You don't take a different antibiotic because that's like hitting yourself in the face to cure a broken toe.

Antibiotics will be cleared (like most toxins) by the liver, which (lacking nerves) doesn't complain until it goes on strike. Then you pop your clogs.

Given that your liver will also deal with the other toxins like alcohol, overloading the poor baby is about as bright as playing chicken on the motorway.

Sometimes if your liver's overloaded you'll process the toxins through your skin (like pushing tomatos through a sieve), which is why after a particularly heavy night you smell of whisky no matter how much you clean your teeth. This is a placard from the union saying they can't keep up.

That doesn't mean this is wrong. I've been waging an increasingly ferocious war on my liver for the best part of forty years and the mean spirited b@stard has yet to walk away. However, know your enemy!

[georgia]

Metronidazole is one anitbiotic that you should not have alcohol with. Most antibiotics are ok, penicillin should be fine

[Keef]

I asked my doctor about this, and she said as long as you don't go mad you can drink on most antibiotics. If the label says DO NOT DRINK, then don't.

I too have thrown everything at my liver, and as yet it's still doing it's thing... I also smell of drink sometimes, which makes me want to go to the pub :)-D

[mockney piers]

While Hugenot has a very good point indeed (and I smell like gin, regardless of what I've drunk), Keef pretty much sums it up perfectly. Read the little bit of paper inside the box.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I was prescribed metronidazole. My dentist and pharmacist told me not to drink (possible vomiting/fitting). My gp friend poo poohed it and we downed quite a lot of wine together and I had no ill effects.

However, as Brendan said, you might be the one who does have a reaction. Best to test it at home with someone holding your hand just in case.

[Jimbob]

mockney piers Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> While Hugenot has a very good point indeed (and I

> smell like gin, regardless of what I've drunk),

> Keef pretty much sums it up perfectly. Read the

> little bit of paper inside the box.

would have done if only they came in a box instead of a little brown coloured bottle, bloody pharmacists can get nothing right.

[Keef]

Most make no mention of alcohol on the label on the little bottle (the one with the dosage and your name). If they make a point of telling you to avoid alcohol on that label, then avoid it. If it says nothing, then you'll probably be okay.

[SteveT]

Why not do as you have been told, and give up alcohol whilst on drugs.

Are you an alky(?):)-D

You should be grateful someone has taken the trouble to prescribe them in the first place, giving up the booze for a few days sounds like it will do you a lot of good.

You are going to a lot of trouble to persevere, perhaps if you took the same amount of energy to cease, you would be the better for it.

[Jimbob]

i should be grateful someone prescribed them in the first place, maybe if they had come to my house instead of me traipsing to the surgery, maybe if they had given me a thorough examination instead of a cursuory 30 second glance i might have done, but as they tend to get pretty well paid for their "trouble", i dont feel that its neccessary.

so anyway the general concensus is that you dont know. in the interests of providing a service i,ll have a few scoops on sat and report back with the findings.

[Annasfield]

Isn't there one particularly strong type of antibiotic that contains something they put in pills that alcoholics take? Apparently this ingredient reacts with booze and makes you quite violently sick.

A nurse friend of mine told me about it as I'd been prescribed them for an infected root in my tooth. I was due to go skiing and as the pain had subsided I decided to stop taking them the day before I went. I usually have quite a good tolerance for alcohol and ended up completely smashed on the first night. I had to drink though - some of my ski friends would have assumed I was pregnant if not. :-S

[Annasfield]

P.S - My Dad tells me you can drink on amoxycillin (sp), but it must reduce the effect of it somehow. ;-)

[Jimbob]

still alive but chickened out a bit and stuck to shandy all day, but that was also to do with the fact that it was hotter than the pits of hell at the reception. but main this is no adverse reactions.phew.

[dianecollins]

Anything with cin on the end eg penicillin,amoxycillin,eurythomyacin is ok to drink with BUT u may get a reaction but not often but please don't ask for metronizadole as this will make you ill if you drink with that

[Annasfield]

What about prescribed pain killers?

[Jimbob]

as far as i know from a previous experiment any opiate based or anything similar to diazepam, sedative type is a no no. but hey as your going to be drinking who needs painkillers, think of it as self-medicating.

[Annasfield]

They're called Tramadol? :-S