Nitrofurantoin and Alcohol Interaction
Nitrofurantoin and Alcohol
Nitrofurantoin is the generic name for drugs sold under the brand names Furadantin, Macrobid, Macrodantin, Nitro Macro and belong to the family of drugs known as antibiotics which serve to fight bacteria in the blood.
This drug is used to treat urinary tract infections and may be used for other purposes.
It is suggested you do not drink alcohol, not even moderate drinking as the drug will be less effective and side effects will be greatly increased.
At this time the medical community defines moderate consumption of alcohol as no more than two drinks per day and no more than 14 drinks per week. If anything more than that is considered an unhealthy dependency on alcohol that may have adverse social, family and health consequences.
If a person drinks only once or twice a week but drinks on the same days each week and more than two drinks this is considered as an alcohol dependency.
If a person binge drinks at any time during the week this is also considered as alcoholism.
Some consider alcoholism as a disease while others consider it an addiction which is the result of personal choice and character fault. This school of thought blames the alcoholism on life style choices.
Personally I consider alcoholism a genetic tendency as I have seen families of alcoholics even when they live far apart. These unfortunate people are probably dependent on alcohol from the first drink.
When alcohol interacts with prescription or over the counter drugs it usually results in negative health effects most especially liver damage as the main organ affected.
Before using Nitrofurantoin advise your physician if you are allergic to this or any other drug or substance, are pregnant, plan to be so, are breastfeeding, have kidney disease, liver disease, cirhossis of the liver, severe kidney disease, less urination or not at all, anemia, diabetes, electrolyte imbalance, vitamin B deficiency, glucose-6- phosphate dehydogenase deficiency or any type of debilitating disease.
Side Effects
Less serious side effects are upset stomach, vomiting, mild diarrhea, brownish urine, vaginal itching or discharge. If these occur call your physician for advice.
Serious side effects are watery or bloody diarrhea, short of breath, chest pain or discomfort, wheezing, dry cough or hack, fever, chills, body aches, unexplained weight loss, peripheral neuropathy suc as numbness, tingling, pain in hands or feet, nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay coloured stools, jaundice, pale skin, easy bruising, confusion, weakness, patchy skin colour, red spots, severe blistering, peeling skin rash, severe headache, ringing in ears, dizziness, vision problems or pain behind the eyes.If these occur get emergency medical help.
Nitrofurantoin and Alcohol Nitrofurantoin and Alcohol
This site serves as an information source only and does not dispense medical advice or any other kind of advice. If you are seeking medical advice you are advised to consult your own physician.
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