Smoking While Taking Antibiotics: Is It Dangerous?

The word “antibiotic” consists of 2 parts: “anti” – translated as “against”, and “bio” – “life”. It turns out that an antibiotic is the enemy of life.

Of course, we are talking about the life of microorganisms, however, we should consider: whether it is allowed to engage in self-medication, whether to give antibiotics to our children without doctor’s recommendation?

We do not always seek doctor’s advice and sometimes attempt to suppress infection by ourselves. After all, virtually every antibiotic is available at pharmacies over the counter. Of course, these drugs have saved many lives. However, self-medication is dangerous, because consequences of their uncontrolled use can be unpredictable. For example, any repeated reception of a particular antibiotic greatly increases the risk of allergic reactions. The truth is obvious: only qualified specialist can prescribe antibiotics.

Unfortunately, there is no drug without side effects. Antibiotics are no exception. Many of them are toxic to our bodies. Gentamicin, for example, affects auditory nerve and kidneys; tetracycline has adverse effects on the liver; polymyxin adversely affects the nervous system. After receiving erythromycin there may appear nausea and vomiting; levomycetin can cause hallucinations and decreased visual acuity. Only physicians know such details and can choose preparation with minimal adverse effects.

How to Take Antibiotics?

• Antibiotics should be prescribed by a doctor.
• It is necessary to strictly adhere to recommended treatment duration.
• To choose a proper antibiotic, the doctor must know what drugs were taken before.
• Pay attention to any allergy.
• It is impossible to independently adjust drug dosage.
• Strictly follow rules of admission of a particular antibiotic.

You must know that in order to achieve desired results, a certain level of the drug must be maintained in the body. That’s why you need to strictly on time take antibiotics. If, for example, your doctor has prescribed medication every twelve hours, this condition must be strictly observed.

Compatibility of antibiotics

In order to prevent a negative reaction to antibiotics, it is necessary to take the drug correctly. Some people believe that antibiotics are better to take with kefir, but this opinion is totally wrong. After all, these drugs generally contain components that poorly interact with dairy products. Tetracycline antibiotics are completely incompatible with milk. The best option – to choose simple and neutral drinks. Antibiotics can be taken with simple boiled water, mineral water without gas or weak tea infusion.

How to avoid complications?

Everyone knows that antibiotics affect not only bacteria but also microflora, useful for our body. That’s why, along with them, you need to take probiotics. These are concomitant medications that help to restore microflora of human gastrointestinal tract. They are taken to prevent dysbacteriosis. An additional positive effect of probiotics – liver protection. Yogurts are also recommended when taking antibiotics. During treatment with antibiotics, you should refrain from fried and fatty foods, not drink alcohol.

Smoking while taking antibiotics

When a person is prescribed these drugs, then his condition is not too good and health requires serious medical treatment. But antibiotics are known to be dangerous because they disrupt intestinal microflora, causing dysbacteriosis. Therefore, it is necessary to take them correctly. What to do with smoking during therapy? What do you need to know about nicotine effect during this time?

How to take antibiotics correctly?

These drugs at many people have caused unpleasant associations, which is quite understandable. If you think about it, the word «antibiotic» does not point to healing properties of the drug. After all, «anti» means «against» and «bio» – «life». Literally, an obstacle to life such remedy creates by means of dysbacteriosis, in most cases accompanying antibiotic therapy. While on the other hand, for more than a hundred years these drugs have been saving people’s lives due to their antibacterial effect. But to cause the only benefit for the body, a number of rules should be observed. Here they are:

• Never self-medicate. This is the first and most important rule in using this category of medicines.You can’t independently prescribe antibiotics to yourself. They are used strictly on doctor’s prescription.
• Strictly adhere to drugs intake regimen. Observe dosage, time of administration, prescribed course duration. Only this way the result can be successful. antibiotics are very important to take every 8 hours, not just three times a day when it is convenient. Having missed reception, do not rush to correct the mistake. But next drug dosage also cannot be doubled. Do not forget to consult about drug compatibility with food. Some types of antibiotics can be taken without regarding meals regimen, while others – particularly after or before meals.
• Be sure to check compatibility with other prescribed medications. Maybe you are taking other drugs, of which doctor does not know and which may not be combined with prescribed means. Medicines should not be fighting with each other.
• Do not take antibiotics for viral diseases. For their treatment, antiviral agents are used. Antibiotics, in this case, can only aggravate the disease, they are not preventive medications. For prevention immune modulators are used, green tea, raspberry. Only in exceptional cases, this category of drugs can serve as means of prevention.
• Watch your body reaction. It can sometimes be unpredictable. Being aware of your organism predisposition to allergies, you have to be especially careful. And if you by yourself cannot understand if body’s response to treatment is normal or there is a side effect, contact your doctor.
• Abstain from alcohol during treatment. Canadian antibiotics are not compatible with alcohol. Alcohol impairs metabolism, reduces drugs effect and sometimes causes serious adverse reactions. For this reason, for the period of antibiotic therapy, it is necessary to cease using even minimal doses of alcohol, either beer or wine.
• Note that after treatment course, antibiotics should be taken for several days more. Therefore, all of the above rules must be observed in this period.
• Together with an antibiotic, it is necessary to take special means of dysbacteriosis prevention. Many people use for this purpose dairy products.

Cigarettes and antibiotics

If you are prescribed these drugs, so your disease is not a mild one. Perhaps smoking has become provoking factor, which has lowered your immunity and led to disease emergence. Therefore, if you are still bothered by the question, whether you can smoke cigarettes (cigars) while on medication, the answer is as such: during antibiotic therapy course you should refrain from smoking. It reduces treatment effect and sometimes brings it to nothing. This means that treatment may be ineffective, and your money will be, as they say, blown.

Nicotine and other cigarette smoke components irritate the respiratory system and stomach mucous membranes. The digestive system already suffers from this type of drugs. Nicotine further exacerbates the problem. In addition, weakened immune system due to illness will be further undermined by cigarettes. Therefore My Canadian Pharmacy recommends you to refrain from combining nicotine and antibiotics or at least minimize it.