Can I still drink alcohol with anitbiotics?

[AllyH]

Leaflet doesn't say anything about drinking, but have heard the antibiotics don't work if you drink (only had 1/2 bottle wine last night, but with it being the weekend thought I'd get your advice first!!)

Ta

A doctor once told me that the only antibiotics that you musn't drink alcohol whilst taking are the metronidazol ones (but I don't know what their commercial names are). Having said that, I don't think I'd drink to excess whilst taking any antibiotics - it's not going to help you recover from whatever it is the antibiotics are supposed to cure!! Unless I were going to the mother of all parties, in which case what the heck!

Um, no. I think it's a bad idea to drink anything. sorry.

drink anything alcoholic, obviously.

asked this question a while ago as was on amoxicillin....more than one or two drinks can interfere with the proper absorption of the tablets, so not worth it really !

The absorption may be affected if you drink but won't harm you, unless they are metronidazole , which causes huge reactions if taken with alcohol.

nnnoooo otherwise antibiotics wont work

I thought the antibiotics would still work but you might get an upset stomach.

You can check drug interactions on the British National Formulary site. You need to register first but it should give you a definitive answer .

AFAIK you can drink moderately on most antibiotics, but that does mean only one or two drinks.

Metronidazole (brand name Flagyl) is believed to have the ability to block the body's breakdown of alcohol. A substance is then released in the bloodstream which can cause nausea and vomiting - sometimes wihtin minutes.

With all anti-biotics, they are broken down by the liver, so liver function reduced, therefore it's harder to break down alcohol, or you can overload the liver and neither anti-biotic or alcohol gets metabolised properly. However, if you have properly functioning liver and only have a couple of drinks, this is far less likely.

(This is from internet research by the way. I don't have a medical background or anything!)

Just found this on the internet.....

Question

I have been given a ten day course of amoxicillin for tonsillitis. I would like to know how much alcohol I can drink and what could be the side effects.

Answer

I do hope that you are starting to feel better from your tonsillitis. Ten days is quite a long course of antibiotics to take so I suspect that you have been quite poorly with your throat. There are no particular side effects to drinking alcohol with amoxicillin, which is a penicillin based antibiotic. Like all antibiotics, it is best taken on an empty stomach and I normally suggest that it is taken some time before drinking alcohol so that there is plenty of time for the antibiotic to get absorbed from the stomach. The main side effects of penicillin-based antibiotics are nausea and diarrhoea and as these can also be the side effects of an overdose of alcohol, it can sometimes be difficult to tell which side effects are which! For this reason, I usually suggest that people keep their alcohol to the minimum when on medication. Get better soon!