Boozy biotics

December 11, 2010 9:18 AM

Can I drink while taking Biaxin XL (clarithromycin) antibiotics?

Currently on day 3 or 5 taking Biaxin once daily for an eye infection (no other drugs). Tomorrow is a party I've been looking forward to for quite some time, and also quite literally the last day off I will have until the 22nd of December.

Look, I am well aware that drinking on antibiotics is, uh, suboptimal, but I would like confirmation that it is not stupidly dangerous. There doesn't seem to be any information I can find specifically forbidding mixing clarithromycin and alcohol (except for a handful of pages on ask.com, written by what seem to be children and talking about vague "imbalances in your body.")

So, would it be insane to have a few drinks and fully enjoy myself at the party? Am I taking insane risks here? I'm particularly looking for information specific to Biaxin or clarithromycin.

(Anonymous because I should really know better.)

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

My husband researched this after he had sinus surgery. I can't remember if he asked about it here or not but the gist of what he deduced was that in general, it seemed that it was OK to drink, but not a great idea. The antibiotics are killing off all the bacteria in your body (ok, not all of it, but a lot). Bacteria help you digest food and, in particular for this quesiton, break down alcohol. The bacteria in your body are going to be on the retreat when you sort of need them to digest what you're drinking. So, while it may not kill you, it will probably make you feel very bad.

Anecdata: my husband had one glass of wine while he was on antibiotics after his sinus surgery, and he did, indeed, feel like hell. YMMV.
posted by Medieval Maven at 9:28 AM on December 11, 2010

Don't do it. I was on this antibiotic a couple months ago, and I decided that a couple of drinks at a dinner party would be ok. I felt terrible that night and the whole day after. During that time, it was if I hadn't been on antibiotics at all. I realize that this is for an eye infection, but I reccomend you steer clear of alcohol until your perscription is up.
posted by Ctrl_Alt_ep at 9:45 AM on December 11, 2010

Well, I've had drinks on antibiotics plenty of times. I once asked a doctor friend of mine and his answer mostly boiled down to mostly what MM said, that you can get drunker faster and it might make you feel crappy. But one or two drinks has never done much either way to me when taking antibiotics, although I do usually wait until near the end of the course to drink just in case it lowers the drug's effectiveness.
posted by ch1x0r at 10:16 AM on December 11, 2010

I've drunk moderately (2 or 3 drinks) while taking Biaxin several times, and never had a problem - felt normally tipsy, and the infection went away too. YMMV of course, and it would be prudent to just have a couple of drinks to feel in the mood and then switch to nonalcoholic drinks - hangovers can't be good for your body's vitality to fight off infection either! Obviously, if you feel unusual after the first or any drink, then stop.
posted by Rumple at 11:06 AM on December 11, 2010

If you call the pharmacy where you had this prescription filled, the pharmacist should be able to give you a well-informed, science-based answer to this question. Personally I wouldn't trust the anecdotal stories of a bunch of people on the internet to OK this, and if I tried it would ruin my night of fun because I'd be worrying about it. Get your info straight from the horse's mouth--pharmacists are ridiculously knowledgeable about this kind of thing.
posted by vytae at 11:12 AM on December 11, 2010