The Effects Of Drinking On Antibiotics

Posted on September 29, 2013, by Healthy

by amslerPIX under CC BY

At the current time, alcohol with antibiotics is one of the things most doctors and pharmacists advise you not to do. It’s best to listen to them, but some of us are so fond of their daily dose of alcohol, that they can’t refrain from drinking on antibiotics, even with the risk of slowing down or even stopping their healing process.

There is a popular belief that alcohol ingestion will cause antibiotics have a diminished effect, but this is not the real reason why you should avoid drinking while on antibiotics. The truth is that alcohol consumption increases the risk of side effects caused by the drugs. Moreover, it may cause additional adverse reactions which can go from mild to severe. Such reactions include, but are not limited to: nausea, vomiting, headaches, chest pains, skin flushing, dizziness and sleepiness.

Recent studies showed that indeed, the old myth has a seed of truth: there are some antibiotics that are dangerous to take while drinking alcohol. This group of drugs includes metronidazole, tinidazole and sulfamethoxazole or trimethoprim. All these medicines act by blocking one of the main pathways in the body that metabolize alcohol. This blockage leads to a rapid buildup of acetaldehydes in the body. Acetaldehydes are responsible for the nasty hangovers you may be familiar with. The more you have in your body, the more severe the symptoms will be. This is why most doctors will probably warn you and explain you in great details why you should stay away from alcohol during the treatment.

Another category of antibiotics are those which may cause inflammation of the liver, thus leading to a mild form of hepatitis. If you give your liver the additional task to process large amounts of alcohol, you could irritate it even further. It’s best to stay clear at least until you finish the treatment, if you want to regain your health fast and without sequels.

For other classes of antibiotics, effects aren’t that dramatic; therefore moderate alcohol consumption won’t make a noticeable difference in the recovery speed or in the adverse effects severity. Even so, drinking alcohol on antibiotics isn’t a good idea, because of alcohol effects on the body. For instance, when you drink alcohol, your blood vessels tend to dilate.

This will interfere with your body’s attempt to heal an infection by increasing its internal temperature. Fever helps to slow down the infection, and if your body is unable to raise a proper fever, it means you are more exposed to the harm spreading out. Alcohol intake puts more pressure on the kidneys as well, forcing them to lose more fluid. This may lead to dehydration, which is the last thing you need in case of sickness.

There are patients who are tempted to give up the treatment a few days earlier than they should, only because they have to attend an important celebration and they want to enjoy it to the full by drinking cocktails or spirits. This is another big mistake. By undergoing an incomplete treatment, you won’t heal completely, and you’ll help the viruses that made you sick to develop drug resistance.

You’ll expose yourself to recurring infections, and you’ll have the unpleasant surprise to see that antibiotics and alcohol will have a much diminished effect. Antibiotic treatments should be followed for the entire period of time prescribed by your doctor. This is a very important thing, even if you already feel much better after a few days of taking your pills.

It may be sad not to be able to drink at your office Christmas party or at your birthday celebration, but health is the most important of all and it should be treated as a top priority.

Are You Allergic To Alcohol? Learn How to Recognize it

Posted on August 18, 2013, by Healthy

How To Recognize If You Have Such Allergy

If you experience unpleasant symptoms nearly every time you drink liquor or alcoholic beverages, you might be wondering whether or not you are allergic to alcohol. Especially if these symptoms come on when you have had relatively little to drink relative to when anyone would start to experience unpleasant symptoms from drinking, then worrying about an alcohol allergy can be a very reasonable response.

Part of the immunological problem with trying to figure out whether or not you actually are allergic to alcohol is the fact that, by and large, people are actually not aware what it is exactly. It is much more specific than simply experiencing the negative consequences when you drink – after all, everyone experiences that!

Note: Such beverages can increase the likelihood of allergic reactions (even anaphylaxis) to other foods.

Here are some of the ins and outs of alcohol allergies and some things you can do.

Symptoms

Symptoms of this type of allergy can include nasal congestion, stomach cramps, flushing, nausea, rapid heartbeat, nasal swelling, congestion, asthma, rashes, hives (meaning, skin which is itchy, red and inflamed – and often, hot to the touch), accelerated/rapid heartbeat, aching head, vomiting or otherwise upset stomach, abdominal pain, and a stuffy or runny nose. If you have any of these symptoms after drinking a relatively small amount of such beverages, especially if you experience them consistently when drinking alcohol, then there is a very good chance that you do indeed have an allergic reaction.

How to Figure Out If You Have Alcohol Allergies Symptoms

Although you can do their own experiments to gain anecdotal knowledge about the ways that different types and amounts of beer, vodka, red wine, whisky, cider affect you individually, the only sure way to find out if you have such allergy is to visit a doctor and have him or her make a medical determination on that front.

There are several different types of tests that your doctor might perform in order to determine whether or not you have a medical allergy. One of these types of tests is called a “skin prick” test. In this test, the doctor pricks your skin with a small needle that contains a possible allergen – in this case, alcohol or its specific type. If the reaction is visible on your skin, then an allergy is conclusively determined.

There is also another type of test that is sometimes run which is a blood test. In this test, the clinical determination is the presence of immunoglobulin E antibodies because these help to show your reaction to substances. However, this test is less accurate than the skin test.

There are also other determining factors which are not specific medical tests, such as your medical history and the physical examination that the doctor will perform on you.

How to Narrow Down This Allergy

The only way to determine which problematic types of wine, cider, vodka, tequila, beer or whisky for you, outside of a clinical setting, is to drink different types and make sure not to mix them. Spend an entire evening drinking only one kind of beverages (red wine, beer, vodka or whisky) and determine if you have any adverse effects.

Intolerance

Unfortunately, the only way to deal with an alcohol allergy – especially a severe one – in any kind of predictable way is to abstain completely from drinking. Alternatively, you can drink in small amounts to determine how much alcohol you can ingest before starting to experience symptoms.

Now that you are aware of the specific symptoms of alcohol allergies and what you can do about it, you are much better prepared to deal with the situation, whatever that specific situation might be. For additional information about this topic you can check wikipedia.org website and our next article.

Never Mix Ibuprofen and Alcohol

Posted on August 2, 2013, by Healthy

by my prince charming under CC BY-ND

If you ever go to the drug store and pick up a pain killer, read the label. When you read the label, what do you see? You’ll probably find a bunch of warnings about how this can be damaging to your body when taken in excess, and how it can cause liver damage, especially when taken with alcohol. Because of this, you need to follow those warnings religiously and never take at the same time Alcohol and Advil! Ibuprofen also known under brand names: Midol, Advil, Motrin, Caldolor, NeoProfen, Ibu.

You might be saying, come on, is it really that big a deal? Simple answer—yes, it is. Drugs like ibuprofen by themselves are known to cause problems with the liver, especially when taken on an empty stomach. If you add to that the fact that you are consuming alcohol, a substance which also causes liver damage, you are doubling your odds and giving yourself more opportunity to be hurt as a result.

When you mix ibuprofen and alcohol, you can receive stomach tears and extreme pain. This is not superficial pain, it is the type of pain that happens when your internal organs are being damaged. For this reason, no matter how bad you may feel, you should never use ibuprofen as a remedy if you know you will be drinking alcohol, or if you already have alcohol in your system.

Ibuprofen is typically used as a pain killer or an anti inflammatory and does an excellent job providing that kind of work. When you take alcohol with such painkiller, usually two drinks or more, your stomach can even begin bleeding, which is no fun for anybody. If you are the type of person who receives stomach ulcers, your odds of developing problems when mixing the two drugs will increase tenfold.

A lot of people run to painkillers and mix them with alcohol without even thinking. For instance, have you ever had a hangover, which you chose to fix by popping a pill? If so, you might have been guilty of mixing ibuprofen or alcohol and Advil at one point in your life.

Just because you took the pain pill the next morning, doesn’t mean that alcohol is fully out of your system. And because of this, you are running the serious risk of damaging your liver and causing problems with your stomach. You should never run this risk, and should insist on avoiding it whenever possible. Simply put, ibuprofen & alcohol don’t mix, so never hurt yourself by trying to make them mix!

The warning labels are on the pill bottle for a reason, so be sure that you are making an effort to follow it. Otherwise, you are making the mistake of putting your health in jeopardy, which never has to happen since the issue is so avoidable. For more information on this, do some research of your own, or ask your family doctor for their expertise on the matter. This information is valuable because plenty of people consume alcoholic beverages, which is fine by itself, but not in excess or when mixed with painkillers.

Don’t Mix Advil and Alcohol!

Posted on July 31, 2013, by Healthy

by chelzerman under CC BY-SA

Did you know that you are essentially playing with your own life any time you choose to pop a pill and drink alcohol? Alcohol alone can cause significant liver problems, but you are increasing those chances by a lot whenever you choose to take Advil and alcohol. Instead of taking this risk, you should be mindful of it and make sure that it never happens.

Advil well known under name ibuprofen (brand names: Midol, Motrin, Caldolor, NeoProfen, Ibu).

But what about hangovers? Hangovers are actually the most common reason that people mix these two drugs. Whenever you have a hangover, body aches or soreness, your first response is to take a pill. While this is fine when on its own, you can make your stomach bleed if you do this when drinking alcohol.

People who suffer from ulcers also have a higher likelihood of running into the stomach and liver damage problems whenever they decide to take alcohol and Advil together. There are some things you can do to prevent yourself from feeling the need to pop a painkiller, and you should follow these tips diligently in order to protect your health.

For one, stay hydrated at all times. The majority of hangover symptoms is actually a result of severe dehydration. If you drink plenty of water before, during and after a night of drinking, you will cut these symptoms in half. You need to take a multivitamin, dietary supplement (like vitamin c, soda, stevia) and stock up on potassium rich foods, such as bananas.

Also, make sure that you never, ever, drink on an empty stomach. This increases the chance of a hangover and will make you regret it in the morning. Instead, stock up on plenty of food and check that you get your fill of it before drinking.

Alcoholic beverages can increase risks of stomach problems caused by Advil or ibuprofen tablets. This includes coughing up blood, or bloody, black, or tarry stools, or vomit that looks like black coffee grounds.

However, even if you do feel hungover, never make the mistake of mixing ibuprofen with alcohol. This is a problem that is just not worth it in the end, and will cause you huge problems over time. You should never have to deal with stomach bleeding, stomach tears or liver damage, but this is exactly what you are exposing yourself to when you take this risk.

Follow the warnings on the label of the pill bottle. These are here for a reason! If you will be drink and use pills at the same time, your body will turn on you, for example, we long-term damage that may not be reversible.

Instead of allowing this to happen, take matters into your own hands and be sure that you protect your body from all harm.

Pills are fine by themselves and so is alcohol, as long as neither are done in excess. But above all, never mix the two, because the situation will become very problematic over time. Allow yourself the benefit of enjoying a fine night out, without having to worry about significantly hurting your body in the process. It is never worth it, no matter how bad a hangover you are dealing with because it will hurt your liver in the end & make it hard for you to recover.

Check also our other article about the dangers of mixing advil & alcohol.

Taking Acetaminophen And Alcohol – What Are The Risks?

Posted on July 27, 2013, by Healthy

by tonystl under CC

Every one of us suffers from everyday aches and pains. One of the most common medications people take for these ailments is over the counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol). In the last couple of years, there has been a lot of publicity about the dangers of taking acetaminophen with alcohol. Acetaminophen and alcohol – what are the health risks you may be wondering.

The manufacturer of Tylenol recommends that if you drink more than three alcoholic beverages each day that you should not take this drug without consulting your physician or practitioner. Why is this so? To answer that question, it is very important to analyze how acetaminophen is metabolized in the body.

Normally, there are enzymes that are in the liver that oxidize acetaminophen, and in that process, it creates a byproduct that is toxic called NAPQI. In general, only a tiny part of the Tylenol gets oxidized and the liver can easily remove that harmful by product by using one of its antioxidants.

Now when alcohol is added to the mix, the process changes a bit. Chronic drinking increases the activity of those enzymes that oxidize acetaminophen into NAPQI– so when Tylenol is taken, more NAPQI is produced. Alcohol also inhibits the storage of the antioxidant that removes those harmful byproducts, so your body cannot handle the accumulation of them.

Because of this fact, it lowers the safe dosage of acetaminophen; even a normal amount that is approved by the FDA can cause a lot of liver damage or death. Studies have noticed that drinking a significant amount of alcohol in one dose is usually less likely to cause damage, as opposed to those individuals who drink chronically. This is due to the fact that alcohol competes with the liver enzymes that oxidize Tylenol- so if these enzymes are oxidizing your alcoholic beverages, they are too busy to oxidize the acetaminophen.

So the bottom line for people who normally consume more than three drinks a day, or for those who like to drink regularly, it is not a safe idea to take alcohol with acetaminophen. Even for those who drink less often, a weekend of heavy drinking can drastically increase the chance of liver damage. You may wonder if this applies for the times you may want to take acetaminophen for a hangover; studies are still inconclusive but if you want to be cautious it would probably be best to avoid using this medication all together.

To sum it all up, acetaminophen & alcohol are two very common drugs out there on the market. Both are both consumed regularly by many individuals. However, when you closely examine the research on the subject, it is quite apparent that there are some very severe and dangerous risks for combining the two. It would be easy to substitute on or the other in order to protect your health and the health of your loved ones around you- otherwise you will soon see the disastrous consequences of the mixture of these two drugs. Check also article about the dangers of advil in mix with alcoholic beverages.

Can I Mix Alcohol And Antibiotics: Is It Safe To Combine The Two?

Posted on July 24, 2013, by Healthy

by rbrwr under CC BY-SA

Everyone at one time or another has had to take antibiotics for some reason. The first thing any doctor, general practitioner, nurse, or family member will say is, “Do not take your antibiotics with alcohol! It will cancel out the effect of them, make them ineffective!” However, is this age old advice true? Alcohol and antibiotics: is it dangerous to combine?

Some individuals think that this advice dates back to the 1950s, when penicillin began to be used for treatment for a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. At this time, doctors were worried that their patients would drink alcohol, have their inhibitions lowered, and the subsequent actions would undo the expensive treatment they were under with these new miraculous medications. So patients would be advised to keep away from it while being treated with antibiotics.

As studies later showed, in this scenario, people being treated for STDs were more likely to engage in sexual activity when under the influence of wine, whisky, beer, cider or vodka.

Alcohol with antibiotics are still recommended being avoided when taking a select few types of medications, i.e. Flagyl, Bactrim, and Simplotan. These particular types of antibiotics block one of the major ways that alcohol is metabolized out of the body. So when you drink while taking this type of medication, you will experience all of the awful side effects of drinking, such as fainting, vomiting, tiredness, dizziness, an upset stomach and flushed skin, with as little as one beer.

Most physicians will give you quite the lecture on these side effects, though, when prescribing these particular antibiotics. They are used for very specialized conditions such as intestinal worms or parasites from contaminated drinking water. However, for the majority of other antibiotics on the market, there is no evidence that proves that there is harm from a controlled alcohol intake.

There are still reasons not to drink excessive amounts of alcohol & antibiotics. The effects of alcohol are heightened, and if you are already feeling ill the nauseating and sedative effects of beer, red wine, vodka, whisky, cider or tequila are probably going to increase.

When your body is fighting an illness, it tries to raise a fever to slow the infection from spreading. However, when people drink beer, vodka, whisky, wine or cider, it dilates blood vessels which interfere with the human body’s defense mechanisms.

Your risk of dehydration increases as well because your kidneys are forced to lose more fluid due to the effects from the alcohol. Additionally, the muscle aches and pain you experience when you are sick could lead to muscle damage when combined with heavy drinking.

So in conclusion, if you are contemplating drinking while taking antibiotics for an infection, you still might want to think twice. While it is not as bad as everyone makes it seem, the alcohol can still have an effect on your health by prolonging your recovery and interfering with your body’s natural mechanisms for healing.

Is It Safe To Mix Zoloft And Alcohol?

Posted on July 24, 2013, by Healthy

by RobotSkirts under CC BY

It is becoming more commonplace for people to be prescribed an antidepressant. Whether it is due to a chemical imbalance or an unfortunate series of events, many people rely on these medications to enjoy daily activities. Another common “drug” is alcohol- many people incorporate these drinks into their normal lives, some on a daily basis. However, is it safe for these two categories to mix?

Zoloft (Sertraline) is one of the most popularly prescribed antidepressants. Its primary ingredient is a drug called sertraline: individuals on this medication most likely has dealt with depression for the majority of their lives. So when you break down the facts, you are trying to fight the depression with Zoloft. Alcohol on the other hand, is considered a depressant, it causes depression.

When people mix these two drugs, it is basically enhancing their depression, as opposed to fighting it. This can lead to detrimental effects, even causing people to commit suicide because of the severity of their depression. Studies have shown too that people struggling with alcoholism have problems with depression. Add that to someone already suffering with this condition and it is easy to see that it will only exacerbate that problem.

There are many interactions that you may face when mixing Zoloft and alcohol. For a normal individual, it is common knowledge that drinking alcohol just intensifies the feelings you have. If you are sad when you start to drink, you will probably be even more melancholy when you finish; if you are happy when you start drinking, you become more happy-go-lucky when you finish.

So you can imagine the potential for problems when someone that is currently being treated for depression or another mental health disorder takes alcohol and Zoloft (or Prozac) together- the mood swings that they already suffer with only becomes more intense.

Additionally, the side effects of Zoloft by itself can be unpleasant. These include insomnia, lightheadedness, moodiness, and nausea- these also have been proven to become more intensely experienced when the drug is taken with alcohol.

The sertraline in Zoloft helps the brain to stabilize the levels of different chemicals that are produced by our bodies. When we lack some of these chemicals, it leads to depression or other anxiety disorders.

As you can imagine, any medication that works with the chemicals in our body is very important and serious. Because of this, it is common that when people take both alcohol and Zoloft, they can receive DUIs and public intoxication charges because of their susceptibility to heightened effects of alcohol – not to mention the increased risk of hurting someone while under this deadly influence.

In conclusion, the data and studies show very clearly that it is extremely dangerous to drink alcohol & take Zoloft together. It can have serious negative impacts on the individual’s mood – which is already struggling due to depression. The side effects in their body as well as for their emotions are very severe and should be avoided at all costs.

Also, do not combine alcohol and Citalopram together.

Dangers of Citalopram and Alcohol Drinking

Posted on July 24, 2013, by Healthy

Is it safe to use citalopram and alcohol together, asks the Prozac nation often. With the use of drugs to treat depression on the rise, it is important to understand the health risks of citalopram mixed with liquors.

by schoschie under CC BY

Millions of people have depression, and they resort to various ways to treat it. Some pay a visit to psychiatrists or psychologists and discuss what causes their feelings of negativity and low self-esteem. Others take several anti-depressants to feel better, and one of the popular ones is Citalopram.

Celexa belongs to a class of anti-depressants called SSRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and is primarily used to balance chemicals such as serotonin in the brain.

However, aside from being strictly prescribed by a doctor, this drug cannot be taken with other drugs, or if one is allergic to alcohol. In fact, a concoction of alcohol and citalopram is a deadly mix.

A Deadly Mix

Depression, instead of being reduced becomes more pronounced if this drug (or celexa) and alcohol are taken together. The only time that citalopram should be taken with such beverages is when healt hcare providers explain to the patients how this drug affects them, but even then it is a health risk.

Furthermore, patients can only drink lightly or moderately if they also take this drug to treat their depression. Most of the time, patients are not encouraged to take citalopram with this type of beverages because their motor skills will be affected. Moreover, there is a risk that depressive symptoms will be more severe than before.

Read the new report on is alcohol a depressant and how it can cause depression disease.

A mix of alcoholic beverages with citalopram can be taken together only if a healthcare provider recommends it (but few, if any, will recommend it!). Women may be allowed one drink a day while men can drink two, although it will depend on the alcoholic content of the drink.

In most cases, though, education on the effects of citalopram is required because it can affect a person when he is operating a machine or driving any type of vehicle. Still, a citalopram alcohol mixture is not for everyone because each individual’s situation is different, and their doctors know what is best for them.

If taken together, there should be constant communication with doctors and healthcare providers, because of the known citalopram side effects. One of the worst things that can happen when one is taking citalopram with alcohol is that a person may contemplate killing himself. If one has suicidal feelings, he or she must inform a doctor about this.

Be as it may, the secret to ingesting the citalopram antidepressant & alcohol is simply moderation. Some studies suggest that there can be no problems when they are taken at the same time. Many others, however, have found the citalopram alcohol interaction to pose high risks.

On the other hand, too much alcohol intake will significantly lessen the effectiveness of citalopram. In this case, citalopram (Celexa) & alcohol do not mix because the former is a medication while the latter depresses the central nervous system.

For the drug to work, patients should practice discipline as well as avoid any unnecessary complications, such as exceeding a safe daily intake of these beverages. For now, there is no evidence to support the claims that citalopram taken with can affect one’s psychomotor functions even if that person drinks moderately.

Additionally, studies are still being conducted on whether this concoction can affect the liver’s function of metabolizing the drug. Only further research can tell if these concerns are unfounded or not.

Citalopram is also known as Celexa. Do not mix such beverages with this medication due to the aforementioned health risks.

Combining this drug with liquors has resulted in overdoses and fatalities. You could enter a coma (serotonin factors) and become a long-term patient of a clinic and later an alcohol rehab center. So stay away from that problem mixing drugs & such beverages together.

Withdrawal symptoms will be accompanied with those of withdrawing from the antidepressant. Whether it is Prozac, zoloft and alcohol, acetaminophen and alcohol, antidepressants with such beverages together are a dangerous mix.

Question – Is alcohol a depressant or not?

Posted on July 24, 2013, by Healthy

We just received a question via email – Is alcohol a depressant? Here is our detailed answer.

by stuartwjones under CC BY-ND

Among the symptoms of alcohol depressant effects are often discussed. Depression has many causes that have an emotional basis, often related to private matters. Alcohol stands as one of the most tested and proven methods of causing an individual depression. It one from major social anxiety and depression triggers.

This means that a person suffers a mixture of emotions that include unhappiness, hopelessness, psychosis, hallucinations, sadness, anxiety, and a heavy heart. It may seem as if a dark cloud is hovering above your life. When you are a victim of depression, it is hard to concentrate on anything as your problems are always on your mind and they may seem bigger than they actually are.

You may feel weak and experience a withdrawal from your friends and family. A shorter attention span is another symptom of alcoholic depression. These symptoms also fall under the banner of “depression disease”. Manic depression can be added to this list as well.

Netdoctor.co.uk writes:

Up to 40 per cent of people who drink heavily have symptoms that resemble a depressive illness. However, when these same people are not drinking heavily, only 5% of men and 10% of woman have symptoms meeting the diagnostic criteria for depression – not that different from the rates of depression in the general population. About 5 to 10 per cent of people with a depressive illness also have symptoms of an alcohol problem.

Alcohol is a depressant because it causes the same chemical imbalance in the brain as depressants. The depression starts tackling a person on a physical level. It lowers the levels of norepinephrine and serotonin in one’s brain. These chemicals help you feel good in general and lead a normal life.

When you drink such beverages, activity in these chemicals declines. If you drink alcohol for a long period of time, you can expect these chemicals in your body to be less active. This can be problematic as restoring these good chemicals to normal levels is not at all an easy task. If you consume too much alcohol depressant effect will most certainly include a chemical imbalance.

An alcoholic depression also abolishes the stress hormones in the human body, and this is mainly the reason why you do not feel good after consuming these beverages. Your brain and nerves are damaged due to the depression.

If you want to try a test on your post-alcohol depression, try cutting down on your alcohol consumption and see how it affects your depression levels.

In addition to the above stated mental health concerns, it also washes away all the vitamins in the human body once you consume it. This is the reason why old people who drink may have dementia because the folic acid and vitamin c is removed from the body and depression settles in instead.

The antioxidants in your blood slow down and are completely washed out of your body as well because alcohol enhances their speed in this task. Since these antioxidants help your body fight against disease, your immune system is in more danger.

Lastly, it plays a huge role in triggering genes in the body that link together depression and other states of mind. As a result, you may be more prone to seizures, manic depression and other conditions as a drinker.

Even though the masses believe that consuming this type of beverages can help a person get rid of mental problems, the truth is that alcoholic beverages only contribute further to the depression.

Hope now you know the answer to the question is alcohol can cause depression or not. Yes, it can, and it can also lead to other mental diseases.

If you are drinking too much, alcoholic depression should be expected. Check out our new alcohol and antidepressants guide, which will explain to you all the dangers of depression, anxiety and alcoholism. It’s very important to understand this disease, because it can damage your mental and physical health and even lead to death.

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