Is it Dangerous to Drink on Medication? Medicine with Alcohol - All you need to know

Is it Dangerous to Drink on Medication? Medicine with Alcohol - All you need to know / Can i take alcohol with medicine
Drinking alcohol has harmful effects on our body. There are certain medicines that should not be taken with alcohol.

The reaction starts immediately after taking the medicine 10 to 30 minutes after drinking alcohol.

In this, you may have a headache in the beginning, which increases gradually. Then you might feel dizzy and start vomiting.
There is excessive sweating and your face and upper chest part starts turning red.

Later you may experience difficulty in breathing and have blurred vision. One might even have chest pain and palpitations


And if the level of this toxic compound increases too much in the body, then there can be a dangerous situation like heart failure, which can also lead to death.

This reaction is called disulfiram-like reaction.

Which medicine can cause disulfiram-like reactions?

The most important medicine that you must remember is Metronidazole.

Normally we know it by the name of metrogyl/flagyl. This medicine is prescribed normally in stomach, dental and vaginal infections. Commonly this medicine is also prescribed after tooth extraction. Many of us also tend to take this medicine on our own to treat diarrhoea.

Tinidazole also belongs to the same group, and it is even prescribed for the same reasons.

How many days after taking the medicine one can drink alcohol and after how many days after drinking alcohol one can take medicine?
If you are taking metronidazole then you should not drink alcohol for 2 days after taking the last tablet.
And if you had alcohol today and you want to start the course of this medicine, then you can start that medicine after 12 hours. So there should be a minimum gap of 12 hours in which the toxic compounds of alcohol can get flush out of our body.

And if you have taken Tinidazole then you should not drink alcohol for 72 hours i.e. 3 days.

There is one more important drug Ketoconazole which is used for fungal infection. It is also available in the form of shampoo which is prescribed for the treatment of dandruff. As this is applied topically on the scalp it will not interact with alcohol. But if you take it in the form of a tablet then do not take it with alcohol as it will cause the same problem.

Alcohol and high blood pressure/ hypertension effect
Next medicine is Propranolol. It is used in the treatment of blood pressure and sometimes in migraine. This drug helps in reducing blood pressure.
Now if you see, alcohol also reduces blood pressure in our body. So if both of them are taken together then there is a chance of sudden drop in blood pressure. Therefore, these two things should not be taken together.
Do not take alcohol at all for 1 week after starting this medicine and if you have been taking this medicine for a long time and recently your doctor has increased the dosage, so even in that situation you should not drink alcohol for 1 week.

Is it safe to take paracetamol after drinking alcohol?
Drinking a small amount of alcohol while taking paracetamol or ibuprofen is usually safe. However, it should be used with caution if you have certain health conditions, such as liver problems or if you are a chronic drinker. As both alcohol and paracetamol are processed by liver the combination of these two when taken together can be dangerous and harmful.

If you are taking anti-anxiety or anti-epileptic medicines like Diazepam, Clonazepam, Lorazepam, and buspirone then you must avoid alcohol intake. Taking alcohol with these medicines can cause unusual behaviour changes, difficulty in breathing, drowsiness and dizziness.

If you are on warfarin therapy, then alcohol should be avoided as it can cause internal bleeding in some people. Also it may have the opposite effect like blood clot, stroke and even heart attack.

Is alcohol safe in diabetes
You should take good care if you have diabetes. Drinking alcohol with diabetic medicines like metformin may lead to abnormally low blood sugar levels.


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Medical disclaimer: Medinaz Academy does not provide medical advice. The content available in our books and videos, on our website, or on our social media handles do not provide a diagnosis or other recommendation for treatment and are not a substitute for the professional judgment of a healthcare professional in diagnosis and treatment of any person or animal. We intend to provide educational information only. The determination of the need for medical services and the types of healthcare to be provided to a patient are decisions that should be made only by a physician or other licensed health care provider. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition.
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