About alcohol and metronidazole

Metronidazole and the main facts

Metronidazole is one of the medications that are classified as antibiotics, which means that they are used in the treatment of various infections, either parasitic or bacterial in nature. It needs to be prescribed, and as for available forms, there are many (tablets, capsules, lotions, creams), and different forms require different way of taking. Still, it is not recommended to take it in the amount that exceeds the prescribed, because overdose with metronidazole is very likely to result in nausea, vomiting and problems with coordination.

Aside from this, there are some situations in which this medication needs to be taken with precaution, or it should not be taken at all. Some of such situations refer to people who suffer from seizures, liver failure, cirrhosis, hepatitis or some other liver disease, allergy of any kind, as well as for women who are either pregnant or who breastfeed their child. The doctors rarely prescribe it to breastfeeding mothers, because in such cases the side effects such as diarrhea, yeast infection and thrush might affect the children. People who have problems with alcoholism are also a part of this risk group. People who already have yeast infection should not be prescribed with metronidazole because even though it does not necessarily happen, it is still very likely that it will only aggravate the infection.

Metronidazole antibiotics and alcohol

Despite the fact that this medication should not be combined with alcohol because certain side effects are more likely to be experienced then, recent studies that were conducted exactly on this subject did not manage to prove the connection between these two. However, this does not mean that it is safe to combine them, because even though flushing, headache and several gastrointestinal problems (none of which is serious in nature) are the most frequent consequences associated with such a combination, it does not mean that some other problems cannot appear as well. Besides, this medication supposedly prevents the break down of alcohol, which results in accumulation of certain substances that can provoke irregular heart rate, hypotension, and loss of breath, and these symptoms might be serious sometimes.

The truth is that every patient takes responsibility for their own actions, and it is up to them to decide whether or not they will follow the advice given, but it might be useful to bear in mind that it is not without a reason that even the prescribing information warn the people about potentially dangerous interaction with alcohol.