I think probably the first “real” counseling point any pharmacy student learns is “Don’t drink alcohol with Flagyl!” If it’s not the first thing, it’s easily the second or third. In fact, I’ve seen this hand-written on prescription labels for added emphasis, even though the auxiliary labels that print out already say it. You don’t often see “Take with food” hand-written, even though it would probably provide more real-world benefit to the patient than the standard “Don’t drink alcohol” mantra.
“Heresy!” you shout. Well, hear me out…
You see, there’s almost no data to support the assertion that alcohol and metronidazole combine to create a disulfiram-like reaction. It’s crazy, I know. How could this age-old advice be wrong? The reason this is drilled into pharmacy and med students’ heads is because the conventional wisdom is old. It got here because “everyone knows” that ethanol + metronidazole = A Bad Time. Even though there’s no meaningful evidence to support this conclusion.
Regular readers know my distaste (hah!) for metronidazole. In fact, I missed out on my best friend’s 21st birthday drunkfestcelebration because of it. As it turns out, I missed out for naught. Alas.
Exhibit A is a meta-analysis of published anecdotes, “Do Ethanol and Metronidazole Interact to Produce a Disulfiram-Like Reaction” published in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy. Exhibit B is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study out of Finland, also published in TAOP entitled “Lack of Disulfiram-Like Reaction with Metronidazole and Ethanol” which is a bit more science-y and a little less meta-analysis-y.
This is a long entry, so here’s a ToC.
Bits and bobs from Exhibit A (Back to top)
The first account of a metronidazole-ethanol interaction was noted in 1964. At that time, folks wondered if Flagyl could be used to curb alcohol abuse. A sort of proto-Antabuse, if you will. 8 of 17 studies found it to be marginally effective. But only marginally, and only 2 of the 8 positive studies were double-blind, and these 2 studies were statistically significant only when dropouts had been excluded.
My commentary after each quote.
revealed six case reports involving a total of eight patients. Tunguy-Desmerais reported on a two-year-old child taking acetaminophen and amoxicillin for pharyngitis. After a febrile seizure, ulcerative gingivostomatitis was diagnosed, phenobarbital–vitamin B6 syrup was added, and oral metronidazole was started. The next evening, the child was flushed but not febrile and, because both the analgesic and phenobarbital–vitamin B6 syrup contained ethanol, a metronidazole–ethanol reaction was considered likely.
I’m not an expert in pediatric liver function, but I do know that it takes longer for children to metabolize EtOH than it does for an adult. And the flushing is certainly a side effect of plain old alcohol consumption. Going right for the metronidazole-ethanol “reaction” seems a little too convenient, and more than a little irresponsible.
Another report involved three patients: a woman prescribed rectal metronidazole following hysterectomy, who became nauseous, pale, and dyspneic 36 and 60 hours postoperatively and was discovered to have taken a large amount of whiskey just prior to each episode; an 18-year old patient being treated with amoxicillin and metronidazole for pelvic inflammatory disease who experienced nausea, flushing, and headaches each evening after drinking ethanol; and a man who, after a 1g dose of metronidazole and a shared bottle of wine at his evening meal, vomited violently.
- Taking whiskey in a post-operative state is probably not advisable regardless of the circumstance. Hysterectomy, while relatively common, isn’t a walk in the park.
- Metronidazole can nausea and even vomiting all by itself. It doesn’t need any help from alcohol.
- See #2. 1g is a lot of metronidazole all at once, especially if you’re unused its GI effects. Would the man have vomited even if he’d not had a bottle of wine? We can’t be sure, but you can bet that it wouldn’t have been mentioned in the literature if it hadn’t. It would have been chalked up to a bad reaction to the medication.
Plosker reported a reaction following intravaginal use of metronidazole. This case involved a female pharmacist who, after two or three cocktails (each contained ~1 oz of (vodka), inserted a single vaginal suppository of metronidazole 500 mg and went to sleep. She awakened an hour later with a burning sensation in her stomach, nausea, and a severe headache accompanied by a cold sweat, which she believed was a metronidazole–ethanol reaction.
I could go for the easy ad hominem attack here, but it doesn’t serve any real purpose — and in any case, I am on my way towards showing that EtOH and metronidazole is not necessarily the End of the World. That said, the burning sensation and nausea could have been from the medication itself. Flagyl can cause this type of reaction, even when it’s not administered orally.
A potentially serious reaction involved a 16-year-old male who, nine days after resection of an hepatic echinococcal cyst, developed a staphylococcal infection. He was treated initially with intravenous vancomycin, followed by a combination of intravenous nafcillin, clindamycin, and gentamicin. This regimen was then changed to intravenous trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) and intravenous metronidazole, in addition to his chronic therapy with albendazole, docusate sodium, and ferrous sulfate. After 12 hours and for the following 60 hours until the TMP/SMX was switched to oral therapy, he vomited and experienced flushing, which was attributed to a metronidazole interaction with the alcohol in intravenous TMP/SMX.
Attributing these side effects to the EtOH in the TMP/SMX is easy. It’s also irresponsible, because a mechanism of action had been proposed by this point in time, but not substantiated. (Exhibit B will cover this more.) This reaction is not completely out of the question — metronidazole can indeed increase the levels of intracolonic alcohol dehydrogenase — but it’s still irresponsible to put down, for certain, that this was the cause of the boy’s distress. I wonder if the heavy antibiotics he was on could have contributed to this. It seems possible that by mowing down his normal intestinal flora, he’s in a position to experience these effects anyway.
Another potentially serious reaction reported by Harries et al. also involved intravenous metronidazole, this time combined with cefotaxime and papaveretum in a patient who had been drinking heavily and stabbed in the chest and abdomen. A chest drain was inserted and 500 mL of blood was drained; peritoneal lavage produced clear fluid only and the patient was admitted for observation. Four hours after an initial improvement, he became short of breath and nauseous; he vomited, had a headache, and was profoundly acidotic. This metabolic disturbance was attributed to a metronidazole–ethanol interaction.
Drunken guy stabbed in the chest and abdomen. Chest drain removes half a liter of fluid, and four hours later the patient complains of nausea, vomits, has a headache, and is acidotic. And then it’s attributed to a metronidazole-ethanol interaction.
I could think of a few things that’re more likely to have caused this. Can you? He’s been stabbed and he’s probably developing a hangover spring readily to mind.
This last one is a real doozy:
Toxicity due to an ethanol–metronidazole interaction appeared on the death certificate of a 31-year-old woman. Cina et al. described the case of an alcohol abuser who had been in frail health for four years following a serious car accident involving severe chest, abdominal, and closed head injuries. After being assaulted by a man, the patient had collapsed and died. Medications found at the scene included propoxyphene, acetaminophen, naproxen, metaxalone, carisoprodol, amitriptyline, hydroxyzine, vitamins, and cough syrup. No metronidazole or empty metronidazole container was found and she had not recently been prescribed metronidazole by her doctor. Because high concentrations of ethanol and acetaldehyde were found, assays were performed for disulfiram and metronidazole. There was no discussion of the methodology that reportedly found metronidazole in her serum, despite the fact that this was not one of the drugs found at the scene. In addition, there was no discussion about whether any of the other drugs in her possession, for which she was apparently not tested, may have cross-reacted in the metronidazole assay. It was concluded that she had probably ingested metronidazole without the knowledge of her physician and had discarded the bottle before she died.
I think the idiocy here speaks for itself. “It was concluded that she had probably ingested metronidazole without the knowledge of her physician and had discarded the bottle” my ass. Flagyl ain’t a drug people are likely to abuse.
Indeed the common thread throughout these cases has been the assumption that metronidazole and ethanol are the culprits without any real testing to verify whether or not this is the case. This study was published in 2000, and while there was a proposed mechanism of action for this EtOH-metronidazole reaction, there was no real evidence yet to support the proposed mechanism. There are also possible — and I would be so bold as to suggest more probable — causes for each of these adverse events, and I have done my best to explain them.
Now on to Exhibit B which talks about the science of the proposed alcohol-metronidazole interaction.
Bits and Bobs from Exhibit B (Back to top)
Disulfiram works its magic by inhibiting the hepatic low aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) which increases blood acetaldehyde concentrations after alcohol is consumed. This is exactly like “Asian flush” — a common, genetic condition wherein those affected are unable to effectively metabolize alcohol completely leading to flushing, nausea, and a quickened pulse.
It was theorized that metronidazole may have a similar effect on ALDH. However, studies have shown that this is not true in rats. So, what about people?
Well, it doesn’t do it in humans, either. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Metronidazole caused a reduction in acetaldehyde production, opposite to the effect of disulfiram(!). Indeed, in Exhibit B, the graphs show (probably clinically insignificant) that the participants in the double-blind, placebo-controlled, alcohol-metronidazole study that the blood alcohol levels for the participants taking metronidazole were slightly lower than their placebo-controlled counterparts between the 40 and 80 minute marks:
None of the participants noted any dyspnea, flushing, vertigo, or headache during the test. Interestingly, the heart rates for the metronidazole group tended to be about 10bpm lower than the control group throughout the test. I don’t know that this is clinically significant, but it is interesting:
Final thoughts (Back to top)
So we’ve got some age-old advice that doesn’t stand up when tested properly, and we have a proposed mechanism of action that doesn’t hold up to closer scrutiny, either. Where does that leave us?
It leaves us with a couple things… Some people experience GI distress while on Flagyl. Sometimes they vomit. Sometimes they drink alcohol and vomit. Sometimes they drink alcohol and don’t vomit. That tells us that:
- Flagyl is hard on the stomach. It’s a difficult medication to tolerate for a good percentage of folks, regardless of its effect on blood acetaldehyde levels.
- Flagyl is not a disulfiram-like drug, and should not be referred to as such.
- Flagyl will not absolutely cause the vomiting associated with Antabuse when consumed in conjunction with alcohol. Pharmacists should stop counseling that it will.
- Adverse events are too often attributed to metronidazole because it is convenient, and “everyone knows” that alcohol and Flagyl are a recipe for disaster.
- Flagyl remains an unpleasant drug to take; its side effects are real and often severe, and should not be downplayed.
- Patients should be educated about these side effects, and how to minimize them. Avoiding alcohol is one way to do this. Taking it with food is probably more effective. Doing both is obviously better than doing just one of the two.
It is my suspicion that early researchers thought there was a link between metronidazole and alcoholism due to the medication’s side effects. Taste perversion. Smell perversion. These things will cause folks to avoid certain foods for the duration of the drug therapy. Alcohol is one of those things. It’s coincidental, and its usefulness in the real world is questionable.
Greetings fellow readers…I am on Day 4 of 500 mg, 3 x daily following a bout with diverticulitis. Feeling good enough to do a 4 mile hike today and doing a low fiber chicken pizza for dinner and really wanting a beer but freaked out with all the “drink it and prepare to ___________”. Bought some Alcohol Free Beer but still unsure as it may have up to .5% alcohol. Saw some web sites that said even that would cause problems. Since I plan to leave my body for science, the least I can do is participate in this grand experiment. Thanks for this facinating web site and especially to Rex (comment 40) for his candor. My feedback tomorrow.
Started taking Flagyl 500mg twice a day for 7 days on Tuesday. I have been dying for a late nigwind down. I have heard all the warnings and did all the research and have decided to take my chances with a Grey Goose and grape juice tonight. So far so good (its only been a few min though!!!) I will give you all an update tomorrow! thanks for all the helpful info. Cheers!
I had a couple of glasses of wine on Thursday and did feel bad during the night, on Friday I felt very tired and a bit sick. However, I think it’s because I have a virus and it’s just coincidence that I had wine whilst taking Flagyl, as it’s now Monday morning and I feel very ‘flu like’.
I started taking it last tuesday and now its sunday i went out friday night and drank 3 beers and felt completely fine that night and day.. so saturday night i had like 6 and ended up throwing up in the middle of the night that could also just be because of the beers, but the next day (today) i have the worst stomach cramps its not unbearable but just veryyyy uncomfortablee =/
I wondered about this because I have some kind of infection causing me to run a high fever. He gave me flagyl (with the warnings about alcohol!) and Bactrim.
I had my doubts anyway b/c my doctor knows I drink and maybe this is his way of treating me (forcing) off of alcohol for a week.
Well I took the plunge and will let you know soon. I believe the reaction should take place quickly b/c alcohol metabolizes so fast.
SD
P.S It’s rare that I DON’T experience some kind of reaction with powerful antibiotics anyway.
We’ll see.
SD
Well I’ve had quite a few beers and I feel fine.
Absolutely no reaction. However, I don’t think the antibiotics are working.
I was on day 5 of taking my flagyl 500 mg bid (out of 7 days) and took 2 glassess of margaritas at a concert. I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to take alcohol. Boy, did i have an interesting night. I was dancing and screaming for joy from the fast effects of the alcohol. However a couple hours later, I was vomiting the whole night! It was not fun. I will not do again.
Hey All,
I LOVE my vodka/tonics & I was on flagyl for 4 days before I FINALLY broke down and said to myself “I am going to have a drink & if I get sick….I get sick” I had 3 vodka tonics and felt just fine….Although 3 hours after the drinks I did start to feel A LITTLE sick to my stomach.
I certainly did not get VIOLENTLY ILL like my doctor and pharmacist told me I would. I think flagyl is just a hard drug for some people to take and some people may get sick with or without drinking.
was given prescription for Flagyl 500 mg 2x a day for 7 days, well this morning was the first pill, took the second this afternoon, started reading about this crap and called the pharmacist to verify that this stuff is supposed to really make you sick when you drink on it…oh, of course, no alcohol!! My doctor didn’t ask if I drank and the pharmacist did not counsel me on the side effects…..I flushed the rest down the toilet , will tell doctor to find something else for the bacteria, or maybe i will go the homeopathic way…
Are you illiterate or just stupid? Probably the latter because you were able to write a response. But you apparently didn’t read my block post or the 60+ comments on this entry.
This further confirms my above suspicions.
Educate yourself or watch a video, since you seem to have trouble actually reading.
excuse me, I’ve done nothing but read about idiots testing the theory of whether you’re risking getting “sicker” than you are, just to prove a point….I am not that stupid…I don’t need to test the theory…..have enough sense to quit the pills before I questioned my need for a drink on this medication… and by the way, 12 hours after quiting the first two pills, I drank two bottles of wine (my norm) and feel fine!!! ha!ha!ha! but for those 12%? that might have a reaction, quit the pills first!!
if any of these posts prove anything other than take a chance, see what you get, “if (RJS) doesn’t like your post, he will chastise you. If you support my loose “trials”, (RJS) will support you”….have some common sense here….there is no support or non-support of homeopathic treatment, nobody says anything about it or changing meds due to the side effects….but the real truth is this drug should not be given out any more, of course with all the other drugs that have disclaimers a mile long, if your doctor prescribes it, refuse the prescription and ask for something else without the side effects and dangers, it is your right……
I took a 1 dose of 4 Flagyl pills at 10 PM on Thursday. During the next day Friday, I had the metal taste in my mouth, water tasted like pills, and was I slightly lightheaded, but besides that no side effects. On Friday night about 24 hours after taking the pill I proceeded to drink quite a bit of hard liquor. I had about 6 shots I’d guess. I’m 5’5, 111 lb female. Nothing happened, the next morning I feel fine, not even nauseous.
Interesting, right?
I have no idea what that sentence is saying. If you’re saying that no one ever had a side effect from homeopathy, of course you’d be right, because homeopathy is just water. There are no active ingredients, so the likelihood of having a side effect from taking one of these “remedies” is about as great as getting a side effect from taking a sip of water.
Er, why not? Flagyl is a great drug.
you all are idiots, looking to pump yourself up on BS, go ahead , drink on flagyl, encourage medications with a mile disclaimer etc….and downplaying something such as homeopathic treatments as “water”, ok……………………at this point not quite sure what your site is worth but a venting blog for those who don’t feel well and need some kind of ear, which I guess I was guilty of also….so ciao baby!!
Whoa, Mary, there are some pretty sensible and reasonable, and thoughtful, people here, so sometimes it’s better to pause before unloading.
To RJS: homeopathy definitely cannot be understood in the allopathic framework, for sure (Avogadro’s number, probability of getting an active molecule, etc. given the extreme dilutions), but may be effective nonetheless for many reasons. And I agree, Flagyl is an excellent drug, as well as having been around—and effective—for what? 40 years? More?
No side effects does not equal no effect, either, does it? I can think of a few mechanisms that are respectable in the scientific framework that may explain homeopathy’s benefits.
Getting back to the original purpose of this thread, it dies seem anecdotally, at least, that the original assertion (that Flagyl and alcohol do not play nicely together) is not the case. Cheers to all, KL
Precisely one reason: placebo.
I’m all ears. Really. Homeopathy has exactly zero peer-reviewed studies to back any kind of therapeutic efficacy.
The placebo effect is not trivial, though, is it. As well, if in play, the placebo effect has the benefit of being effective and has the additional benefit of no side effects. Given the apprehension of many posting here directly about side effects (although mistaken in this instance, probably) I think that point is adequately made by the existence of this thread: orthodox Western medicine’s prescribed drugs have benefits and costs. Side effects are one of the costs.
As for other reasons, I am thinking of the water “imprinting” that the homeopaths and their researchers claim is the process responsible for the diluted substance’s effects.
This is not my field, but I keep an open mind. Seems there are a few studies; I am too busy right now to look further into this.
http://nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/articles/view,173
Happy to reconsider this after July; book deadline is looming. Cheers, KL
On flagyl for mouth infection.. throwin a party this weekend, and thought I would check the exact nature of the flagyl-alcohol interaction, make an informed and educated decision about how to approach saturday night.
GOOGLED of course… And found this lot!!!! Thankyou thankyou thanyou!
Going to hedge my bets and will most likely skip sat night’s dose but take it easy on the beer anyway, see how I go. AND make sure I start the night on a full stomach!
Have to say I find it incredibly interesting that Mary touts these ‘pills’ as evil, yet ‘normally’ drinks two bottles of wine…
Hilarious!
Well I just finished reading all of your posts. I have been taking metronixadole, 2 250 mg twice a day. I started it last Friday and haven’t drank for this entire week. Being all my drunk friends sober driver can make you want to drink heavily. My doctor told me not to drink so I haven’t but I finish this evening and it is memorial weekend and being that I live next door to my local watering hole I have been dying for that one glass of wine or vodka soda now for a week. I have a big weekend coming up being Memorial, have a concert on Saturday and lake for sunday and monday. According to all that I have found online they recomment not drinking for 3 days after finishing the drug but I will definitely take it early evening tonight and drink plenty of water and maybe cranberry juice all day tomorrow and eat a big dinner in hopes that I don’t get sick. I am a very experienced drinker and have been in a foul mood all week, missing out on all the fun. I will let you all know how it effects me.
started taking metrogel for a vaginal bacterial infection on sunday but had to switch to oral 500mg tabs 2x a day because period came on tues. and Dr. said the internal gel wouldn’t work while having period. I hate taking antibiotics to begin with. Last year took this and after a night of drinkinng got really drunk and major vomiting. Normally the amount of drinking I did wouldn’t get me “shit-faced” and sick but that time it did. I think a couple of drinks on a full stomach would be ok for most people but a night of drinking could hit you hard with some nasty side effects.
Like the previous blogger I want to have fun this weekend and have some beers so am thinking of stopping the pills today (friday).
Do you think I have eneogh in my system to kill the infection?
Wow, this is so helpful. Seeing an analysis of the evidence and hearing others’ experiences is helping me make an educated decision.
I finished my 7-day circut last night and want to drink with friends tonight. . .
Having read the entire thread, my conclusion: Eat a full meal, with one drink, wait an hour or two, then have one or two more if there are no adverse effects.
Thank you.
What about drinking before going on Flagyl? I found out i have to be on it for 2 weeks (ugh) so had half a beer at 6pm, took the Flagyl at 9pm. I feel somewhat dizzy and lightheaded, so not sure if side effects of drugs or combo of drugs and the 1/2 beer. I hope I feel ok tomorrow!!
My question is the same as krista #75 above. I was prescribed flagyl this morning (500mg 2x daily x7 days) and I just picked it up at the pharmacy. My pharmacist said to not drink while on the meds and also for 7 days after I finished the medication, which I thought was a bit overboard. I was really bummed to learn I couldn’t drink once I started it since I have a bbq Im going to tomorrow and want to be able to have a beer or two!
I asked my pharmacist about drinking and then starting the meds the following day, he said thats not good either. He even went so far to give me a scientific explanation of what occurs when alcohol is in your system and you add flagyl. That they bind together in the liver and create a toxic chemical that can possibly cause organ damage. If that isnt a deterent to drinking alcohol on flagyl, I don’t know what is (other than warnings of death).
So I hopped online as soon as I got home to find out how much time you should wait to take flagyl after drinking. There is NO info available anywhere. Thankfully I did run across this site and have read through all the comments and find that obviously the warnings from the pharmacist are completely overkill. But I am probably one of those people that will have a reaction because I am highly sensitive to medications in general usually. And I have had a severe vomiting experience in the past and absolutely don’t want to go through that EVER again. Like one poster above was told that ‘if it doesn’t kill you, you will wish it had’. Thats not something I want to endure again.
Thus leading to my question, as the above poster asked as well, which was not addressed here. Should you go by the general rule that alcohol stays in the bloodstream for 24 hours after consumption and wait that long before starting the meds (if you are assuming you will be in the low percentage who get violently ill)?
JUST FINISHED A 7 DAY COURSE OF 200MG METRONIDAZOLE TABLETS AND HAVENT DRUNK AT ALL DOCTOR TOLD ME NOT TO DRINK FOR 3 DAYS AFTER TOO WELL B*****CKS TO IT AFTER SEEING ALL THE POSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT DRINKING ON IT COMPARED TO THE FEW NEGATIVE ONES IM GETTING RATTED TONIGHT
Brooke, I felt lightheaded and dizzy when I drank 3 hours before the Flagyl, but I really think that is a side effect of the drug itself. I haven’t touched liquor since and a few hours after I take Flagyl I feel woozy. If you are sensitive to med’s, I wouldn’t drink prior to taking it..
i was recently prescribed metronidazole (500mg, twice daily for 5 days), and was quite put out when i was told to abstain from drinking entirely during my course of treatment, because my sisters birthday is this weekend. i googled the drug and found numerous warnings about the effects of metronidazole and alcohol, one site claimed “even death may occur”! well thanks to the author and all of you who posted comments and recommendations. i will initially “take it easy” this weekend in order to ensure i don’t get sick, but i’m sure i will be fine and all in all, will have a great weekend. thanks again!
Thanks for the work rjs.
It would be really neat if you could keep collecting the literature to see more about the formal debate
here is my contibution from a bit a poking around on google.
These may (do) duplicate the references in the meta study
So here are the titles ofthe things I found
Lack of disulfiram-like reaction with metronidazole and ethanol. : Ann Pharmacother. 2002 Jun;36(6):971-4
The Effect of Metronidazole on the Human Taste Threshold to Alcohol (1973)
Sudden Death Due to Metronidazole/Ethanol Interaction American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology.
pubmed related articles at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
hey it worked by accident so
here is the pubmed ref
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&DbFrom=pubmed&Cmd=Link&LinkName=pubmed_pubmed&LinkReadableName=Related%20Articles&IdsFromResult=2077651&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
I could not open all of these.
Here is the Ann Pharmacother ref
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12022894?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
One last point as there have been studies that have involved subjects taking both alcohol and metronidazole the researchers conducting these studies must have thought that the risk of taking alcohol and metronidazole together did not pose too much of a risk to the subjects. And one would expect these researchers to have been the well informed.
thanks again for the info
Ok so i’m going out to a BBQ right now. I plan on drinking around 15 beers. I have about 5 down already and no probs yet. I’ll keep you all updated. If you dont here from me that means it did not go well and this site is a myth about giving information. Stay tuned…..Cheers
OK so I’m alive. Bottom line is all that talk about getting sick is definitely a bunch of BULL. I probably housed around 15 beers last night and I felt nothing drunk…Thats about it, no sickness or nothing like that. I woke up this morning and feel fine. I am prescribed a 500mg dose twice a day and have been taking this for over a week. It’s so nice out I think I will have some beers today as well.
wow, what a great thread. seems like you’re all european (british?) of some sort. well, this american can relate to your love for booze. i just came home with a prescription for flagyl (or metronidazole) to be taken twice daily. the bad thing is, i have a weeklong vacation with 15 of my friends coming up in 2 days..thus, the predicament: to drink heavily, or not to drink heavily.
im going for this approach: start off slow and see what happens. i will know by the first day if i should continue binging or not. ive vomited plenty times in my day, whats a few more?
I finished a 10 day run of flagyl and cipro 2 days ago and was warned not to have alcohol for three days after finishing the run. I was so concerned that drinking a beer in only 2 days would be a problem but after reading the comments from the alchys above I guess it will be bottoms up!
just finished a weeklong drinkfest with a bunch of friends on vacation, taking one pill twice a day..no serious interactions with the two drugs..could possibly have made me more drunk than usual, but no puking/vomiting/dizziness occured when using flagyl/alcohol
I’ve just finished 10 days of 500mg 4x/day of flagyl and 500mg 2x/day of cipro for diverticulitis. I was told vomit stories by the pharmacist and even talked to one guy who had the worst-possible experience (ruptured abdominal sutures while heaving and required more surgery). It’s been 48 hours since my last dose, so I will try some wine tonight. I drank the .5% beer during the 10 days with no ill effects. This site has been quite interesting to read, and opened my eyes.
I have to say that if you view a few days without alcohol as unacceptable, think about where booze is on your priority list. Should a few days of abstinence be such a huge deal?
I am on 250 mg of Flagyl three times a day. I have been sick for a month with severe intestinal distress. I was hospitalized a week ago and severely dehydrated. All of the stool tests came back negative. Then I went to my gastro doctor 2 days later for a partial sigmoidoscopy and it was negative. I have not been able to keep any food down for a month. My gastro doc finally said we would try Flagyl b/c the tests that they did in the hospital could have had a false negative.
I currently have two autoimmune diseases, Hypothyroidism and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. They were diagnosed when I was 31 and I am now 35. I also spent two weeks in Ireland before becoming sick and now the doctors want to blame it on that. (travelers diarrhea) but I have vomitted also. I’ve taken pregnancy tests, stopped eating white foods (breads etc.)
Anyway, I have been on Flagyl 5 days now three times a day and am still sick with diarrhea any time I eat. Last night I decided to try the theory of drinking = violently being ill. I was warned by two doctors in the hospital, my gastro doc and the pharmacist.
I met some girlfriends out last night and told myself I would only have two light beers. I did and I was fine. Then we came back to my house and I had about 8 ounces of Bailey’s in a 3 hour period. At 8:00 this morning I woke up vomitting violently. I didn’t make it to the bathroom. 10 minutes later the same thing. 10 minutes later the same thing. Everything out of my system I went back to bed and slept until noon. Now I am fighting the urge to vomit.
My husband is convinced it’s the alcohol. I am sure it contributed to it but I don’t believe it’s the only reason. I also ate dinner last night which has been making me sick. I also take Janumet for the PCOS, Synthroid for my thyroid and ADHD medication (have been taking that for years and years).
I am not sure about this medication. After reading these posts I am wondering if the medication is contributing to my ongoing intestinal distress. I am so tired of being sick. That’s why last night I said screw it and drank but it was a mistake.
I think that everyone’s body chemistry is different and the healthier you are, the less likely you are to react to me (maybe – – just a theory). I have lost 15 lbs this month. I am at a loss. I had a colonoscopy several months ago because of anemia so I don’t know what is wrong with me.
Thanks for the information about the Flagyl. It was very interesting reading everyone’s views.
Started taking Metro yesterday…a couple of drinks after work and a couple of glasses of wine with/after diner…no reaction.
Thanks for the site.
wow, am i glad i found this site. i am currently taking flagyl for bv, and my doc also put the fear of god into me about drinking. “NOT EVEN MOUTHWASH YOU’LL BE SO SORRY!” now, i work 11 hour days and sometimes have to take a bus/walk home when my husband has to use the car for work, and i have my lazy routine when i get home at 8pm… shower, eat, get online with a drink one hand and the mouse in the other, until 11 or so. then i go to bed, get up and do it all over again.
i was irritated about no drinking but scared enough to listen. and i started googling today, ended up here, and guess what? considering the fact that this medicine has given me NO other side effects (besides the rotten corpse taste on my tongue), i’m going to assume i’m one of those it won’t hurt.
it’s my day off, so i’m going to have a sparks (an orange flavored ‘energy beer’) and do some housecleaning. i’ll post my findings at the end of the night.
two cans, 8% alcohol each, no discomfort in the slightest. i’m a couple hours late taking my second pill for the day (usually take it at 10) so i’m taking it now, and going to bed. if anything out the ordinary occurs i’ll post tomorrow, otherwise assume i came out fine.
to becky, who posted above me: i hope they figure out what is wrong with you, and make it better. sincerely, good luck. i’m dealing with a similar situation myself (unrelated to the reason for taking flagyl) and i’ve unexpectedly experienced a decrease in my GI symptoms since taking it, so i’m pretty happy about that.
thanks again to the person responsible for starting this discussion. i drank and didn’t die. :D
I drank two bottles of wine and “suffered” from severe intoxication, tendency towards foolish talk, good times, and even ate a full dinner and kept it down. BAH HUMBUG to no flagyl and alchohol! No ill side effects.
Been taking 600mg of metro a day for nearly a week, skipped my evening dose yesterday, went out had 7 vodkas, not even my usually headache! lol. metro and alcohol reaction in my case at least is a MYTH!!! Although I did skip a dose to avoid tempting fate!! Thanks for this article, very interesting, I asked on Yahoo Answers and they all told me I would end up in ER get brain bleeding and die! (I didn’t) x
i’m on 500 3X daily. i probably have crohns, waiting on test results. i’ve ben on it since may 5th. long day at work, i am looking to get F***ed up. i appreciate people actually talking about this instead of the dire warnings from doc and pharmacist. i’ve been rather sick lately from a number of different things so i think i’d like to avoid booze for the moment. F*** it, i’m just gonna smoke a fat bowl. no reaction there baby!
Well I am almost finished with my flagyl one more day and i have to say, I drank two more bottles of wine and no reaction other than wicked buzz.. lol I have to say I did refrain from drinking for the first four days until I read this blog and then I decided to try 1/4 glass of wine with food and wait.
Regardless, flagyl with or without alchohol is wholly, ungodly and a nasty horrible experience so if your body isnt hating a quarter glass of wine after an hour or so, I would say go for the drink. But flagyl is gonna tear your stomach to shreds and make you wish for the day it will be over, so if you can you might want a buzz with it.
Combining alchohol and flagyl may not cause the reaction. It really makes me think about our future. Are there other things that need to be examined. The power of the press is now in the hands of the blog user. I wonder how many other medical myths may now become exposed the way they do when large amounts of cash are applied to them.
If this idiotic trend continues, we may end up talking to Dr. Lexi (on my favorite movie, Idiocracy), about injuries we received from following the stampede off the side of that broken bridge, without even watching to see if there is even more road ahead before we continue driving. It is just about to the point where you could jump on the public transit and use the following ebonics soundboard to make people think you were listening to them:
Ebonics Soundboard
That’s my 2 cents.
jammaster82
I just started taking Flagyl 4x a day 500 mg which im assuming is a high dose….i need to take this for 10 days. I am supposed to be going to an all day concert on day 4 of taking this medication…im debating having a few drinks on that day. After reading all this helpful information im thinking if i have only a few over several hours and eating in between might be ok…..has anyone been on this high of a dosage and had a few drinks along with some food and been ok? My body tends to be sensitive so thats why im not too sure yet. Thanks so much!
I’m currently taking 250mg 3x a day. On my second day taking the dosage, I went to a Coldplay concert and decided to go for it and drink wine and beer. I had about 6 drinks. I had an amazing time at the concert and the only thing that was in pain was my voice from singing along. These past couple of days have been awful! And I haven’t had a sip of alcohol since Friday night. My side effects are clearly from the Flagyl and not from alcohol combined with the Flagyl. I’m pretty sure Flagyl itself just causes a lot of stomach issues. This article reassured me!