Antibiotics are true miracle drugs that kill the terrible diseases that could easily kill them before the invention. Most antibiotics are relatively well tolerated, and yet there are mistakes that you can make when taking. We show you which ones are.
1. Eat dairy products at the same time
If you wash down your antibiotics with a glass of milk, you can just as well do without it: some varieties are completely ineffective because the active ingredients stick to the calcium in the milk and can no longer be absorbed by the body. This also applies to yoghurt, cheese and other calcium-containing foods – so be careful with juices to which calcium has been added! But you do not have to do without the food: with two hours break between eating and taking the medicine, everything is fine.
2. Combine antibiotics and alcohol
There are many fairy tales about the interactions of the drug and alcohol. For example, it is not true that antibiotics are less effective. A mistake would be the combination anyway, because some varieties of the drug limit the function of an enzyme that breaks down the alcohol. Thus, the toxic degradation product acetaldehyde remains in the body and leads to nausea until vomiting, headache and arrhythmia.
3. Drink coffee, cola and energy drinks
Some forms of antibiotics ensure that caffeine can not be broken down. The stimulating effect of the substance does not sound like it. Avoid caffeinated drinks while you are taking the medications, otherwise you may experience tachycardia, sleep disorders and agitation.
4. Fatal error: End therapy early
Antibiotics work fast, so you feel better quickly. But do not make the mistake to stop the treatment on your own! Despite your subjective feeling that the disease is over, pathogens may still be left in your body. They recover when no medication is given and the disease returns. Maybe the bacteria now recognize the active ingredient and have built up a resistance. Then the doctor will have to find another antibiotic to cure you, and your suffering will be unnecessarily prolonged.
