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.
i am currently taking metronidazole and penicillin for an sore tooth, had some wine last night, felt great last night and this morning. Plan on going on vacation tomorrow and will defintely be comsuming alcohol. Don’t think there is a problem with mixing it, maybe it depends on the person? So far so good though.
australia vacant glass go kitchen ocean bag ibm girl america land yes
As I told my doctor “I LUUUVVV BEER!!”
2 things from my experience with metronidazole. First, when I was given the prescription and saw the NO ALKY label and did some research I was very distressed because I had a big golf tourney scheduled for Day 3 of my prescription and also Day 8 coincided with the beginning of my summer vacation. I found this website and thought all is not lost. Talked to a pharmacist who is a very good friend. After her originally trying to talked me out of drinking, “thats one drug you can’t drink with”, she told me since I was early on in the dosage to skip the morning pill (500mg) drink 1 beer, wait 1/2 hour, and if no bad reaction, I was set to go. Drank 1…waited…nothing…smooth sailing!! Skipped the evening pill also to let the beer try to get out of my sysytem and resumed the next morning. Went 7 days without a drop, no big deal until the vacation rolled around.
Secondly, finished the 10 day prescription Saturday evening, started vacation Sunday, waited til approx 24 hours after the last pill and said “Screw It” I’m drinking. Forget waiting the 3 days for the drug to clear your system, I’m going for it. 1 Killer Beach Cookout, 12-14 beers and 1 great time later….I still live! Felt nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it screw some people up, but not this one.
Just like to add my experience, I was given Metronidazole yesterday morning for a gum infection, my dentist told me do not drink, I thought yeah yeah, been told that so many times with painkillers and other antibots, took my script to the pharmacy he laid down the law absolutely no alcohol, said I would be very very sick, I was a stunned mullet instantly I thought no vodka for what 7 days, I even considered not taking the tablets but the pain was extreme, anyway googled and found this page, thank god!! and decided to carry on with my after work/wind-down drinks (habit of a lifetime) I didn’t get hammered but had my usual amount (seasoned drinker here), and very pleased to say had no side effects except of course that nice relaxing feeling.
Thanks again for this site.
I say Cheers!!
busy kitchen boy site stay house
The number of posts by people who had no to mild reactions amazes me. It seems as though there is a small percentage of people that cannot tolerate Flagyl and alcohol.
Several years ago I was given Keflex and Flagyl for a suspected case of diverticulitis (sp.) I did as I was directed and did not consume any alcohol during the course of the medication. Not drinking is unusual for me as I typically have 2-4 beers after work per day and usually get a load on once per weekend.
The second day after I was finished with the antibiotics I went out drinking with my brothers. I stopped drinking after 5 because I felt as though I had already consumed more than a 12 pack. I did not make it home that night. I had my brothers drop me off at my parents house at 11 pm and I passed out on their couch.
The next morning when I awoke on their couch I ran to the bathroom and vomited violently. After about a half hour when I could stand my mother drove me home.
My wife refused to believe that I did not have extraordinary amount to drink. I can understand her skepticism as I spent the rest of the day either over the toilet vomiting bile or shivering on the bed in a cold sweat with a debilitating headache.
My advice, for what it may be worth, is to proceed as many of the others who have posted here. Test your personal reaction in small steps. Hopefully you will not be one of the unlucky ones such as myself.
I absolutely believe that my experience was directly attributable to the Flagyl still in my system two days after finishing the prescribed course.
JJR
btw
The reason I ended up on this site today is that I am currently on Keflex for an inner/outer ear infection. I could not recall if it was the Keflex or the Flagyl that made me sick and I intend to get a load on tonight. I never want a repeat of that last time.
More likely, Jeff, it was a combination of your getting over diverticulitis — which is very hard on the whole GI tract, not just where it’s localized — and not having consumed alcohol in a while.
Frankly, I’m just amazed that people are so attached to their booze that they can’t give their GI tract a rest for a couple of days after having a serious GI problem, irrespective of what drugs they take for said condition.
It’s just common sense.
All that said, had it been the Flagyl, you would have had a reaction much, much quicker than you did.
Just wanted to leave a comment….
I was prescribed Flagyl also, as wel as Amoxicillin, by the dentist. I received the warnings here like everyone else. NO DRINKING!! The pharmacist was also very adamant about it. I decided to try drinking a few beers while on the medicine and…..no issues at all. It seems that there IS a small percentage of people who have had problems but it appears that this is just a small amount of people.
It’s probably a unwritten law in the medical community that if there are a few people who can get dangerous side affects, they HAVE to warn you about it to cover their backs.
Bottom line is, I havent received ANY bad results from mixing alcohol with Flagyl.
Hi, I’m taking Metronidazole 400g x4 a day post hysterectomy. I was concerned about drinking on these tablets but again, after discovering this website, am going to bite the bullet.
I’m 35, have two kids and post surgery am feeling down and feel like I need to let my hair down – I have been looking forward to this weekend for so long and thought I would be fine to drink but then contracted this horrible infection, hence the metro.
I actually finish the course on Thursday and arrive to a champagne reception at the hotel on Friday. I’m going to take it easy and just have a couple and see how I go.
Saturday night may be a little different as cocktails are on the menu – but still, will try and be a little bit sensible.
I’ll let you know how I get on next week – if I’m still alive that is (?!!!??!) x
I was on Flagyl for a bacterial infection. 500 mg. 2 times a day for 7 days. I had two verbal warnings to not drink while on this medication, one from my doctor and one from the pharmacist. I heeded their advice and did not drink any alcohol whatsoever for 7 days.
My question is why chance it? Can’t most people go without a drink for a measly 7 days? Most of you sound like if you didn’t have a drink for week the end of the world was coming! LOL! I find it humorous!
#108 has me laughing – I was just prescribed Flagyl and read through the posts, I was waiting for someone to comment about why it is such a big deal to give up alcohol for a week. Having said that, I did put off starting the medication by two days because I wanted to drink wine with dinner! Anyway I had googled the effects of alcohol with this medication mainly out of curiosity; just wanted to know what the effects were (my dr told me no alcohol but didn’t make a big deal out of it).
I’m more distressed to learn that the nausea and vomiting may occur just as a side effect of the medication – I have a terrible phobia of vomiting. Seems from the posts that there is less of a chance of feeling sick if you take the medication with food, so hopefully that is true in my case.
Anyway, thanks for the great reading and good laughs! I miss Mary… :)
Aight well I am taking 500 mg every 6 hours planning to go out for a lil bit tonight hopefully i can have 1 drink and enjoy it…I’m a lil bit nervous though but this article is really pushing me to say screw it and drink one well hopefully i will post when i get back…
well i drank one drink vodka and cranberry i really felt buzzed when i laid down to go to sleep my stomach started to hurt and this morning it hurts a little bit but I really think it hurts only because I didn’t eat a good dinner last night….
i was on a course of metro and was assured by a pharmaceutically knowledgeable friend that the only problem with drinking on metro is that it will make you sick as a dog. so (was at a winetasting/stag do/drinkfest) i had a few and took it slowly and then had some more… felt fine at the time but pretty rubbish the next day but imagine i would have done anyway.
Do we think it is definitely the case that the infection is adequately treated regardless of drinking during the course?
I am on my last dose of this medicine I have had 500mg two times a day for a week and this is my last day. I have not taken my morning dose because this is my one day off. I do not have class and I do not have work. This never ever ever happens so i wanted to enjoy a few drinks tonight. i really do not want to get sick but i am dieing to just experiement and see what happens for the near future. I have been prescribed this medicine before. I will let ya know! is one kind of alcohol better than another?
This is a really interesting site, I got prescribbed metro today for my infected wisdom tooth (third time now grrrr)! I’ve had a crap day and really want just half a glass of red, everything I read before this warned me not to even breath in alcohol! Very refreshing to read these comments, I do believe that if you do things in moderation, there’s no harm in anything! I’m off to have a glass of red and will report back.
ps RJ I really like your site, it’s interesting and scientific but very readable and easily understandable, thanks! x
pps #112, #108 had me laughing too, I know it seems silly about not drinking but A. you’re either prescribed antibiotics directly over some event which would be much more enjoyable with a drink (eg Birthdays, bank hols etc) or B. even if you have nothing on, if someone tells you you CANNOT have something, it makes you REALLY want it lol…..the ‘big red button’ scenario!
First, I have to say that this forum is hilarious. The thought of all these folks before me going home after their visit to the doctor’s office so worried about not being able to have a drink or two (or 3…or more) that they have to do a little ‘net research cracks me up! Mostly because I am one of them!
Like most of the people before me, after reading the mix of stories, I felt I had to experiment with my tolerance of the alcohol-metronidazole combo. I started my scrip on Thurs evening, two 250 mg tabs twice a day, and by Sat night, I was tired of not being able to have a drink (I’ve been taking anxiety meds that, right on the bottle, say “Do not drink alcohol with this medication,” for two years with no problems – that has to say something about my tummy tolerance, right?).
I took my evening pills on schedule, and I went out last night and (slowly) enjoyed 3 glasses of Chardonnay (and food) with zero reaction! I have to say thanks to RJS for creating this forum. Had I not found it, I probably would not have been brave enough to try to drink alcohol with the metronidazole.
Yay alcoholism!
yeah but: do the meds actually work if you drink with them? my experimentation proved that i didn’t die or even get sick from drinking on metroblabla but as i never noticed the symptoms of the infection i don’t know if the course cleared up what it was supposed to treat…are there any pharm experts who can tell me that side of the story? ie does drinking with metroblabla affect its efficacy?
I am meeting up with my darling after work tonight and he has purchased some very expensive Merlot. Then I remembered that I am on this crap and am questioning if I can enjoy the evening or if I have to have ice water over a romantic meal with my lover.
I will try a bit and see how it goes, albeit, slowly. I’ll report the effects tomorrow!
After reading the article and all the comments I’m going to jump on this ship too. Basically, Im 20, and I like to drink whenever possible, nothing quite like that cold pint of T after no days work.
So anyway, I’ve been taking 3x 500mg Metronidazole/Flagyl for 4 days for a wisdom tooth/gum infection and ive had enough of the no booze, im going to start of with one pint in the pub tonight and see how she goes, wish me luck!. Ill write on here tomorrow to tell my tale.
Hello…..
I was prescribed Flagyl for a problem in my gums………i want to drink tomorrow night but am nervous that death is certain if I do…….these doctors try to scare the crap out of you………..I need a doc to tell me otherwise……..please!
From all the comments here, and studies that have been conducted, the factors that affect alcohol-flagyl reactions are:
The person’s genetics (if they are naturally susceptible to the bad reactions)
The dosage of flagyl/metronidazole
The intake of alcohol
I wouldn’t blame doctors for their “OHMYGOD!!DON’T EVEN LOOK AT ALCOHOL WHILST TAKING FLAGYL” stance…as a medical student, I understand why doctors are so cautious. Many of you are willing to experiment and take alcohol alongside flagyl, which is your choice, and you make that decision after you do your research. A doctor cannot however experiment and take risks on their patients, which is why they reduce the possibility of a bad reaction to almost zero by advising you against alcohol, even if there is only a low probability of a bad reaction. Even a 2% chance of a bad reaction is 2% too many…we want to ensure that patients have the highest possible chance of being treated.
If you choose to take alcohol whilst on a course of flagyl…my advice would be to give a large interval (several hours) between the alcohol and your dose of flagyl. The lower your dosage, the lower your chances of no bad effects. Of course this is not in your control, but what is in your control is the alcohol intake. Try and take low alcohol content drinks like beers…and stick to 1 or 2 (better to be safe and sorry whilst being able to enjoy yourself) without taking a lot in at once. If any bad reaction ensues, then stop.
Ultimately the choice is yours, weigh up the risks and benefits to see if it is really worth it in the end.
Had a pint last night, I was really really tierd before though. The pint didnt really do much to me, but it did give a funny feeling in my tummy, and I wasnt exactly feeling good, so I left it at that and went to bed. Did get a bit of stomach pain in the night but nothing more.
My advice to ANYONE wishing to drink is dont bother. Theres a chance you could end up pretty ill, and you cant enjoy your drink because your constantly thinking “is this going to make me ill?”. Wait a good 24 hours after the course and enjoy that well deserved drink!.
I started to take 2 (500mg) FLAGYL pills with each meal for 10 days beacause of a stomach infection. My first day was tuesday, and on Saturday (same week) I was invited to a wedding… And well.. to be honest, what’s a wedding without getting completely wasted, heh :P.
I was very scared to drink at first, but then I decided to ask for a glass of scotch; and even when I was holding the glass in my hands I didnt have the guts to take a zip of it, then I decided to drink it and wait 10mins for any reaction and nothing happened… then I quickly asked the waitress for a 2nd glass, 3rd, 4th.. and so on. I had a great party without any type of reaction.
Now I’m typing this the day after the wedding and I’m taking my first dose of the day with breakfast.
After having 4 days off booze whilst on Metronidazole (tonsilitis and root canal surgery; I needed a drink) because of consulting pharamacological websites, I read this blog and decided to have a couple of glasses of wine. I experienced only mild enjoyement. The next day I had one bottle and experienced considerable enjoyment. The disulfiram reaction, for me at least, is a complete red herring.
I’ve been taking Flagyl for a bacterial infection for 6 days now, and have one to go. I have to say, I drink socially quite often, and have NEVER had adverse reactions like I had this past weekend. I pretty much always ignore the doctors warnings of “Don’t drink on this medication”, because normally, I assume they’re being overcautious and I’ll be fine. I ignored these cautions this weekend, went out Saturday night, had three drinks, and became violently ill. I was throwing up all evening, was light headed, could barely stand, and had to leave the social event early. I chalked this up, at the time, to my not eating a good dinner. However, last night I had a glass and a half of wine after eating a good dinner (and good meals all day), and again became sick in exactly the same manner as Saturday. In the previous posts, it is mentioned that becoming ill from this medication is mental – if you think you’ll become ill, you will. I completely disagree with that notion, as I only now googled alcohol and Flagyl AFTER I had adverse reactions. Perhaps this is something that affects only certain individuals?
I have been taking Metro for 4 days now. 3 x 200mg per day for a gum infection.
I saw the doctor first, then the dentist, then the pharamcist. All 3 put the fear of God into me about what would happen if I
drank alcohol whilst taking the pills.
So, being a good girl I did as I was told.
Last night I found this site whilst googling for info on the drug itself(being bored and fed up on a Friday night as I usually have a few drinks at the weekend)
Soooooooooo……..I bit the bullet. I had 2 glasses of red wine, followed by 3 large Vodka & Cokes. I waited 30 minutes after the first glass to see if there were any effects There were none so I carried on.
Went to bed at 2300 hrs. Read a book for half an hour. Slept like a baby and woke this morning at 0800 hrs feeling absolutely fine!!!!!
I seriously wonder about the medical profession at times!
JSG
Sunday night now. Absolutely no side effects whatsoever.
Went out last night for a meal with friends. Had wine and a few vodkas.
Now I just have to have this tooth extracted on Wednesday…….aaaaagghhhhhhhh.
JSG
Seriously. Pabst blue ribbon and Flagyl don’t mix. I drink 6-12 pbr’s every night. Its a relatively weak beer and I’ve always stuck with it because it leaves no ill effects. Well let me tell you: on my fourth day of taking it, I woke up at 2am puking, shaking and sweating. Had a full stomach too(chili which my whole family consumed just fine). I only had eight beers all day yesterday. Normally would have been fine with a case. I’m allergic to penicillin and this feels so much like the reaction I get to that. Go figure.
I’ve been on the 3x250mg a day regimen for about a week now. Took last pill at 14:00 yesterday, got throttled last night, no I’ll effects.
Today I went to my dentist with a raging gum infection. He prescribed Flagyl, 200mg 3x daily(together with warnings about drinking alcohol)and I started them at lunchtime. This evening I had a rum and coke without thinking,then flew to the internet to check on what dire results to expect.
But wait a minute – my dentist also prescribed Corsodyl mouthwash which contains isopropyl alcohol, 10 ml x2 daily. SO-O-O-O I shall continue to have a small tot as usual each evening and blame the mouthwash for any adverse reactions.
I’m also someone who wants a drink as soon as someone tells me I can’t have one! I started 500mg twice a day on Sunday. Today is Wed afternoon. Yesterday I read this thread and decided to “test” last night. 9hrs after my last pill and about 4 hours after I’d last eaten, I had 4oz of white wine. Waited about 45 min and nothing. I then sipped two more 4oz glasses at a slow pace, consuming the 12oz within a little over 2hrs. Felt fine.
I waited about 1hr20min for my second pill and slept fine last night and feel fine so far today. Took my morning pill on schedule about 3 hrs ago.
I guess I’m one of the lucky ones that doesn’t have an interaction with flagyl and alcohol. Of course, I only had 12oz of wine.
Oh yeah, I did eat dinner after the wine and before/during when I took my pill last night.
Hope this helps! Great forum!!! Thankyou!
Okay, my turn, I gave it a whirl. I am on 500MG, 3x a day, and based on this website, I went ahead and tried a half a glass of strong red wine last night, about 5 hours after my second dose of metronidazole for the day. I think I almost did get sick due to paranoia, but 45 minutes later, I was fine, and went for another 1/2 glass. Then had another 1/2 glass with dinner. Then I took my 3rd pill of the day, and washed it down with yet another 1/2 glass. Then went to bed with 2 full glasses of red wine in my belly and I felt FINE.
I would like to add as well that I am taking this medication for a STOMACH bacterial infection, and I still did not get sick.
Moral of the story? I believe the Alcohol + Metronizole = Doom story, is mostly an old wives tale. Personally I believe there are some that do get sick, and that’s where this tail may have started. But this is based on nothing. Just my experiment from last night.
Thanks, to the author of this article for helping to salvage my trip to Europe tomorrow. I am going to Germany during Oktoberfest! I do plan to drink – conservatively now, but at least i can drink!!!!!!!!!!!!!
taking 250mg metronidazole 3x day, on my 4th day after checking out this website had 8-10 drinks with no worries. have giardia so my stomach should be a little on the weak side already but still nothing.
I have been taking Flagyl a couple or 3 of times a year for 8 years. All that time I have avoided alcohol until last month. I usually feel so crappy when I am on it that I don’t miss a drink but this time I was feeling better at the end of my course of drugs and had a couple of beers. Life was fine. I have put off starting Flagyl in the past because I was going to a party or on vacation – what an idiot! Never again, I will just start it when I need it. I still hate the drug though, I get the metallic mouth, everything tastes like Flagyl and I am always vaguely nauseous. I also take CiproXL every day and it has no side effects I can see. Thanks for the post!
in response to magaret – please reconsider your use of this drug. it is worrisome that you’ve been taking it so often for so long. ANY antibiotic abuse will severely compromise your immune system but flagyl especially seems to be one of the stronger drugs! i don’t know what you’re taking it for, but perhaps it’s time you looked into a second opinion!
at the risk of TMI i was on it for BV and i’ve found that the use of probiotics and yogurt seem to work much better when it comes to preventing recurrence of symptoms.
As a result of a recent flare up of diverticulitis, I have been on Flagyl 250mg 3x a day and cipro 500 mg 2x a day. Started on Tuesday evening. Now it is Saturday and after reading the information on this site decided to take my own test.
Took a 250mg Flagyl at 7:30 pm. At 9 pm had a glass of wine. At 10 pm, no effects. Having another glass now!
Have had recurrent bouts with diverticulitis over the last 3 years (even after surgery to remove part of my colon). Every time I was scared to death to drink during the treatment and for 3 days after.
Will update as needed. Thanks to all of the posters here who have helped us understand this much better!
I’ve been on flagyl for 4 days (500 mg X4). I forgot about the very dire warning the doctor had given me (as I was in a lot of pain at the time). For the last three days I’ve had half a beer every night with dinner. Not a lot of alcohol, to be sure, but I’m one of those people who reacts to everything. There are very few pain killers I can use, I can’t take sulfa drugs, and a lot of the ‘cillins bother me. Am having few side effects on the flagyl (dry eyes and mouth, insomnia [it’s only 5 in the morning]) and the alcohol, despite the warnings, seems to have little effect.
in response to Leah: Thank you for your concern. In an ideal world I would rather not be taking any antibiotics. I won’t go into the long details but I have tried massive doses of probiotics and diet related cures to no avail. Cipro every day is all that works, it stinks but it is what it is.
PHEW!!! I have been on a Flagyl 10-day regimine of 500 mg 3 x daily since Tuesday (which makes today Friday). Dry for 4 days… not too difficlut. But, I have plans this weekend which should involve a bit of drinking. I’ve been preparing to drink non-alcoholic beverages, but I think I’ll give it a try now that I’ve read this.
After reading these testimonials I decided to chance it and have some beers while taking Flagyl (Day 4 of 7 day regimen, 500 mg 2x daily). I took the first pill of the day around 1000 and then skipped the second dose. I drank my first pint of beer at 1730 and although I suffered no ill effects, I noticed that I felt SLIGHTLY more buzzed than usual after one pint. I made sure to drink lots of water with my beer, based on the above postings.
The first pint was followed up by dinner and another 2 pints. I went slowly and drank lots of water. It could have been psychosomatic but I felt different (i.e., mild lightheadedness and nausea) than I normally do after consuming that amount of alcohol. I knew by the way the alcohol was making me feel that I shouldn’t push the limits. Plus, my stomach was really full from all that water!
Bottom line: no extreme adverse reactions, no vomiting or stomach pains. I was definitely still able to have a good time, even though I had to drink judiciously.
I should mention that prior to drinking I was NOT experiencing any side effects from this medication. Perhaps the flagyl and alcohol interaction effect just varies from person to person depending on sensitivity to the drug.
I have been taking metronidazole 500mgx2 day. I started my first pill sun night. I last took it on or about 10am this morning and its now 9:45pm. I have been studying and writing reports for mid terms all week so I am in dire need of some wine! After reading this, I am going to try having a few glasses of wine. My stomach is usually pretty strong and if it doesnt like something Ill vomit.So i will find out and will let you know.
I suffer from recurrent BV and have to take Flagyl several times a year…one of those times is right now. I am also sipping on some gin and juice. LOL. No ill effects for me and I’ve done the same plenty times before. I guess everyone’s system is different.
Hey,
I’ve been taking metronidazole for only 2 days, and aside from the DISGUSTING taste that now permanently resides in my mouth, I didn’t experience any other strange side effects until last night when I started drinking. See, unlike the majority of the posters here, by doctor never mentioned anything about drinking alcohol while taking this drug. So last night when I had a glass of wine and I suddenly felt a little uneasy, I shrugged it off. Then I went to a Halloween party and had about a third of a bottle of wine followed by two beers. Outside in the cold I didn’t notice anything, but once I got back in my friend’s car my stomach was turning in unusual ways, and I felt like my heart was beating ten times too fast. (And no, I am not normally affected by that amount of alcohol.) I never threw up, but when we got home I immediately read the drug label and kicked myself for not reading it before. I didn’t know what to do except go to bed, but it was hard to sleep because my heart was still racing. The morning after I still feel bizarre.
The studies and your comments about them were both really interesting – particularly the one about the woman’s pulse quickening, since no other sites have mentioned that. Although, oddly enough, I tried to take my pulse this morning and it seemed perfectly normal, even though it felt like my heart was beating a mile a minute, for whatever that’s worth. Clearly the drug must just affect everyone differently… My reaction can certainly not have been psychological, because my doctor never told me not to drink, and only later did I realize that ‘drinking while on metronidazole’ is taboo. But I definitely had a response to the metronidazole+alcohol combo, since none of those side effects appeared until I drank a little.
Also disregarded the “do not take with alcohol” warning. Drank in moderation (which is about 2-3 drinks for me) the second night of medication and felt totally fine. Tried to push it a little farther last night (3-4 drinks on night 3), felt fine in the moment but today I’m feeling strange. Didn’t really eat much for dinner which could have been it. However, it’s not really my stomach that’s bugging me, it’s my head… blurry vision… that kind of nausea… is anyone else having this? It’s not unbearable but I don’t usually get this way after drinking… even when I drink heavily. This weekend I have out of town guests who are expecting to drink a lot (a big football game, etc) and I am worried that this means I shouldn’t partake… thoughts?
Cat,
I’d stay away from it. I had similar symptoms – the dizziness and nausea – and it definitely wasn’t from the alcohol, it was from combining it with the drug. It just makes you feel weird. And I definitely got chided by my doctor for having the few beers that I did. (As if the nausea wasn’t enough.)
good luck,
andrea
thanks andrea