can i drink alcohol while taking levofloxacin

It can weaken your immune system, prolong infection recovery, increase side effects like dizziness and drowsiness, and burden your liver, which processes alcohol and Levofloxacin. Thus, it’s generally advised to avoid alcohol while on this antibiotic. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.

Seven subjects had a positive response of a 30 mm Hg increase in SBP during both placebo and treatment phases, suggesting that the result may have been related to other factors. The median tyramine dose required to produce a 30 mm Hg increase in SBP was 325 mg in the tedizolid group. Package labeling for tedizolid reflects no specific dietary limitations for tyramine-containing foods (86).

One of the potential issues with taking Levaquin and alcohol is that some of the side effects of alcohol may increase. You may feel more lightheaded, dizzy or have worsened impaired judgement. Foods like dairy products and fortified juices and cereals that contain minerals such as calcium, iron and zinc can interfere with how well Levaquin (levofloxacin) works. You should also avoid taking Levaquin with alcohol, as its effects can increase, causing dizziness and impaired judgement.

Side Effects

can i drink alcohol while taking levofloxacin

Package labeling recommends avoiding alcohol within 72 h of tinidazole due to its chemical similarity to metronidazole, but data to support this concern were not identified (72). Recent data do not support that nitrofurantoin and alcohol causes a disulfiram-like reaction or other adverse reactions/toxicities. Historical studies have suggested that alcohol use with nitrofurantoin resulted in a disulfiram-like reaction (40–42). Likewise, a study found that alcohol did not cause a disulfiram-like reaction with nitrofurantoin in volunteers (44). Minocycline may attenuate alcohol-mediated toxicity in pregnant mice.

Levaquin and Dairy

The pressor responses to an oral tyramine challenge were compared in subjects receiving linezolid or placebo (81). The smallest dose of tyramine resulting in a systolic blood pressure (SBP) increase of at least 30 mm Hg was 100 mg in the linezolid arm (81). Generally, the tyramine concentration in a high-tyramine meal ranged from 10 to 36 mg (85). Early in vitro studies suggested that metronidazole or its metabolites inhibited liver alcohol dehydrogenase (67–69).

About Medical News Today

However, while alcohol appears to slow the rate of penicillin absorption it does not prevent how much of the drug is ultimately absorbed. However, potential consequences can range from mild to severe and even life-threatening if alcohol and certain antibiotics are used simultaneously. Keep in mind that some cold medicines and mouthwashes also have alcohol. Antibiotics and alcohol can cause some of the same side effects. Mixing antibiotics and alcohol can make these side effects worse. If you choose to drink alcohol while taking an antibiotic, check on the safety with your doctor or pharmacist first.

  1. The reaction resolved with continued ciprofloxacin use and abstention from alcohol.
  2. Usually alcohol does not affect how well an antibiotic works to fight an infection, but the combination may lead to unpleasant side effects.
  3. Some people can experience side effects from combining the two—at least for certain antibiotics—and in some cases, it might slow down the healing process.
  4. To our knowledge, there are no data available of the efficacy/toxicity or ADR of tetracycline.
  5. Also, it is best to take the doses at evenly spaced times, day and night.

Minocycline treatment in the third trimester protected against alcohol-induced neurotoxicity in the developing brain (38). One study found that minocycline led to a modest reduction of alcohol intake in mice (37). Toxicity data are limited to a single case that cannot be clearly attributed to the combination of ciprofloxacin and alcohol. Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are a class of antibiotics that are approved for a variety of infections (23). Alcohol appears to lead to slowed “gastric emptying” when combined Nortriptyline Oral Route Precautions with erythromycin ethylsuccinate.