24 December 2017
Antibiotics & Alcohol are Mostly Fine
Antibiotics & alcohol: mostly fine
According to the NHS, there are two antibiotics that can cause a serious reaction when combined with alcohol:
- Metronidazole
- Tinidazole
Apart from those two, it’s fine to drink while taking antibiotics.
You still don’t believe it, so here’s the Mayo Clinic:
Although alcohol doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of most antibiotics, it can reduce your energy and delay how quickly you recover from illness. So, it’s a good idea to avoid alcohol until you finish your antibiotics and are feeling better.
Apparently, the myth was intentionally propagated during WWII:
Doctors prescribed antibiotics to treat sexually transmitted diseases. As drunk people are more likely to engage in risky sexual encounters, telling patients to abstain was, presumably, a tactic to reduce the number of repeat visits.