Mixing medicine with certain foods or drink, including alcohol, can change how a medicine works in your body, meaning we should take care mixing medicine during the during the festive season.
“Because alcohol can stay in the body for several hours, interactions can happen even if you take your medicine some time after your last drink,” says clinical adviser at NPS MedicineWise, Dr Andrew Boyden
Interactions between some medicines (for example, the antibiotics metronidazole and tinidazole) and alcohol can produce severe reactions like nausea, vomiting and skin flushing. And some medicines can increase the effects of alcohol, like drowsiness, sleepiness, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating. This can happen with medicines used for sleep problems and anxiety, antidepressants, cough and cold medicines, and allergy and travel sickness medicines.
“Whether you’re taking prescription, over-the-counter or complementary medicines, it’s important to check with your doctor or pharmacist before drinking alcohol to reduce your chance of potentially harmful interactions,” he says.
“In most cases you won’t have to completely avoid alcohol, but you may need to limit your intake.”
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