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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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 Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:35 am Post subject: Antibiotics and Alcohol (be careful) |
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I was on some antibiotics for an infection in my leg. Was on the stuff for 7 days. 8 hours after ending the pills was Saturday night and thought I'd just go out on the town.
Needless to say, I've been puking for the past 2 days and my whole body is covered in hives.
FYI- don't be an idiot like me. |
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rocket_scientist
Joined: 23 Nov 2009
Location: Prague
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: |
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| Hi - I think you may another problem, alch and antibiotics typically don't have a reaction like that. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:29 am Post subject: |
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| Go to the pharmacist with one of the pill packets and ask exactly what's in there. I had a sinus infection a few years ago and got heart palpitations from the meds. Turned out, I'd been given ulcer meds, a decongestant and something for bronchitis, along with the antibiotics I needed. The ulcer meds were a preventative thing, and the rest were for symptoms I didn't have but that often go with a sinus infection. I'm told that sort of thing is common in Korea, and you're probably having a reaction to one of the other meds you weren't aware of. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| peppermint wrote: |
| Go to the pharmacist with one of the pill packets and ask exactly what's in there. I had a sinus infection a few years ago and got heart palpitations from the meds. Turned out, I'd been given ulcer meds, a decongestant and something for bronchitis, along with the antibiotics I needed. The ulcer meds were a preventative thing, and the rest were for symptoms I didn't have but that often go with a sinus infection. I'm told that sort of thing is common in Korea, and you're probably having a reaction to one of the other meds you weren't aware of. |
Good grief. Tell me about it. Some of the meds they prescribe here are whack. I had gastro one time and the meds they gave me, one of the side effects was extreme sensitivity of the mucous membranes. When the Dr. said "only eat soft food", I figured he was referring to my stomach. Boy was I shocked after eating some crusty bread, when my gums and mouth sloughed off, leaving a raw bloody mess. I threw the meds in the trash and the gastro cleared up within 24 hours. It took three days for my mouth to recover. Talk about the cure being worse than the disease.  |
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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:46 am Post subject: |
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I got the antibiotics from the Foreigner Clinic in Itaewan. It's just one pill, 3 times a day. I don't think there are any suprises in it. I think my body just had an extremely bad reaction to the alcohol and antibiotics.
I was taking the antibiotics for 7 days without any symptoms. Then a few drinks later...BAM.
Does anyone know how long till these hives will be cured up? Puking is getting better, but the hives are so itchy, there's no way in hell I'll sleep tonight. |
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Street Magic
Joined: 23 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:53 am Post subject: |
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| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
| Does anyone know how long till these hives will be cured up? Puking is getting better, but the hives are so itchy, there's no way in hell I'll sleep tonight. |
If you haven't already, take some benadryl (diphenhyrdramine) for the hives. Aside from it being the treatment for hives/allergic reactions/itching/etc., diphenhydramine is also the sleep aid ingredient used in Tylenol PM. |
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Illysook
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| metronidazole and some other antibiotics are known for making people sick when they drink alcohol while it's in their system. The physician or pharmacist should have warned you. |
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blackjack
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: anyang
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
I got the antibiotics from the Foreigner Clinic in Itaewan. It's just one pill, 3 times a day. I don't think there are any suprises in it. I think my body just had an extremely bad reaction to the alcohol and antibiotics.
I was taking the antibiotics for 7 days without any symptoms. Then a few drinks later...BAM.
Does anyone know how long till these hives will be cured up? Puking is getting better, but the hives are so itchy, there's no way in hell I'll sleep tonight. |
What was the antibotic if you don 't mind me asking? |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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If it was just antibiotics and you got hives, you have a bigger problem. Hives can be strong indication of an allergy to the drug. Allergies to antibiotics are not unusual, especially of the penicillin class. That's why back home the first thing they do when you go to a doctor is have you fill out a form asking about drug allergies. Did this doctor do this? Does any doctor in Korea do this?
What you may have had was the beginning of an anaphylactic reaction. An anapyhlactic reaction can kill. Examples include reactions to bee stings, eating shellfish or peanuts. If that's what you had, you were sensitized this time. Your immune system will react more strongly the next time you take this class of antibiotics. If that happens and you get hives or other symptoms, you need to get to a hospital emergency room immediately, by ambulance.
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Any medication may potentially trigger anaphylaxis. The most common to do so include antibiotics (β-lactam antibiotics in particular), aspirin, ibuprofen, and other analgesics....
Anaphylaxis is a severe, whole-body allergic reaction. After an initial exposure "sensitizing dose" to a substance like bee sting toxin, the person's immune system becomes sensitized to that allergen. On a subsequent exposure "shocking dose", an allergic reaction occurs. This reaction is sudden, severe, and involves the whole body.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylaxis
You need to read up on the symptoms. But you should also see an allergy specialist to determine whether you have a sensitivity to this drug. (If you don't see one in Korea, see one when you go home.) This is important. He can test you with skin tests for allergies to this and other things.
If you were just taking antibiotics, then alcohol only played a secondary role. Alcohol can increase the absorption of some antibiotics.
To find out more about the drug you were taking you can type in: pill identifier to a search engine. Here's some examples:
http://www.rxlist.com/pill-identification-tool/article.htm
http://www.webmd.com/pill-identification/default.htm
You need to know what medicines these Korean doctors are giving you. Many of them are inappropriate and dangerous. They love to toss antihistamines and cheap decongestants into those little packets. Taking some decongestants for more than two or three days is dangerous.
If you drink alcohol on top of decongestants, you can vomit -- IN YOUR SLEEP. This can KILL you, if you inhale the vomit. Add a sleeping pill and vomit, and chances are good you will wake up dead. I threw up in my sleep from taking antihistamines and alcohol; luckily I woke up in the morning to find the vomit on the pillow next to me.
They also love to dump cheap NSAIDs in the packets. NSAIDs cause stomach bleeding, especially in high or prolonged doses. Combine stomach bleeding and alcohol and you might throw up from stomach irritation.
The doctors know of the risks of NSAIDs but give them anyway. That's why they add in a medicine "to protect the stomach." But it doesn't protect against NSAIDs, which cause damage to the lining of the stomach by inhibiting protective prostaglandin production, not through direct irritation. I told a doctor I didn't want them because they were dangerous, and he got very angry at me. This doctor refused to tell me any of the pills he was prescribing, but I guessed the NSAIDs were in there when he told me one was to protect the stomach from the other four drugs.
I walked out of the office. You should too if the doctor will not tell you what he is prescribing and why, and especially if he tries to intimidate you into taking a medicine even after you tell him it is dangerous for you. This so called doctor didn't even do any examination of me and did not ask anything about my medical history, and he ignored some of the serious symptoms I reported. In short, he was a quack. Yet he worked at a respected hospital.
As to the advice to take Benadryl, it is used to treat some of the symptoms of anaphylaxis, after you go to the emergency room and get a shot of epinephrine. You cannot buy Benadryl, diphenhydramine, in Korea. It is one of the safest drugs in the world, safe enough even for use by pregnant women. But Korea considers it dangerous. What I have heard is it is only available in a hospital emergency room, presumably for treating anaphylactic reactions. Yet doctors hand out far more dangerous drugs like they were candy.
Going to the doctor in Korea is like playing Russian roulette. I've checked the ingredients of these pills they've given me, and in many cases they are grossly inappropriate. One of the more pathetic examples: One doctor gave me a pill containing caffeine and ephedrine to help me sleep. I didn't get any sleep that night, but at least I was wide awake at work.
When you consider how awful Korean medicine is and how they make adults come to work sick and children come to school sick in unheated classrooms wearing down parkas, with bathrooms that do not have soap or toilet paper, I have to conclude that the people running Korea really don't give a damn about the average Koreans. They are just cannon fodder for the government and chaebols. And the sheep working in the schools and businesses just go along with their own abuse without saying a word. Then they go out and drink soju.
Koreans don't give a damn about Koreans, and most Korean doctors don't give a damn about their patients. If they did, they might actually try to learn something more about medicine, and would learn what was in the pills they were handing out, what the side-effects are. They wouldn't hand out medicine to patients that can kill them. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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Another thing that Drs will do if you have a reaction, is try to blame it on you. In the situation I described above, I went to the emergency room, 'cos it was a really scary situation, and they wouldn't countenance for a second that my new symptoms could possibly have been caused by the drugs. The first intern I saw tried to tell me I needed to see a dentist. Finally after some back and forth, the consulting came over and he was a little better. He didn't try blame it on me, but he did want to admit me, whicj I wasn't going to do, because if they could f#$k up gastro imagine what they could do with me there over night.
Basically, I walked out, threw the meds in the trash and never went back. I was fine after a couple of days any way. After that experience I would advise people to be very vigilant whilst visiting the Dr in Korea. Obviously, there are some decent Drs out there. But I havn't seen any evidence of this. |
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hockeyguy109
Joined: 22 Dec 2008
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| blackjack wrote: |
| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
I got the antibiotics from the Foreigner Clinic in Itaewan. It's just one pill, 3 times a day. I don't think there are any suprises in it. I think my body just had an extremely bad reaction to the alcohol and antibiotics.
I was taking the antibiotics for 7 days without any symptoms. Then a few drinks later...BAM.
Does anyone know how long till these hives will be cured up? Puking is getting better, but the hives are so itchy, there's no way in hell I'll sleep tonight. |
What was the antibotic if you don 't mind me asking? |
I have no idea. I think the reaction was from mixing the two (alcohol and antibiotic) together. If it was just the antibiotic, wouldn't the symptoms started earlier? They didn't start till I had taken them for 7 days when I drank alcohol for the first time. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
| blackjack wrote: |
| hockeyguy109 wrote: |
I got the antibiotics from the Foreigner Clinic in Itaewan. It's just one pill, 3 times a day. I don't think there are any suprises in it. I think my body just had an extremely bad reaction to the alcohol and antibiotics.
I was taking the antibiotics for 7 days without any symptoms. Then a few drinks later...BAM.
Does anyone know how long till these hives will be cured up? Puking is getting better, but the hives are so itchy, there's no way in hell I'll sleep tonight. |
What was the antibotic if you don 't mind me asking? |
I have no idea. I think the reaction was from mixing the two (alcohol and antibiotic) together. If it was just the antibiotic, wouldn't the symptoms started earlier? They didn't start till I had taken them for 7 days when I drank alcohol for the first time. |
It shouldn't be too difficult to work out what anti biotics you were given. Often the Korean name is just the English name in Hangeul. Even if it's not putting the Korean name into Naver should come up with the name in English, then you can just google it. That was how I worked out my (former) Dentist gave me arthritis medicine for an impacted wisdom tooth. |
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Capo
Joined: 09 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| most antibiotics have no reaction to alcahol except slowing down their effect. However there are certain types that do. |
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Illysook
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| It is common to have an allergic reaction to an antibiotic after being on it for several days. I'm allergic to sulfa and I'd been on it for 5 days when i suddenly broke out in hives. Drink lots of fluids, take benedryl if you can get it, and try a cortizone cream or unscented lotion to soothe your skin. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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And never take that drug again. Sulfa drugs are a common cause of anaphylaxis.
The first time you have a reaction you have become sensitized. If it is an allergic response, it will not happen the very first time you take the pill; it will happen after you have taken it for several days because the immune system takes time to build up a response.
The next time you take this drug, the allergic reaction is likely to be worse. It could kill you. Look it up.
My ex-wife had a major allergic response to sulfa drugs, and had to go to an emergency room for treatment.
Not all adverse reactions to drugs are anaphylaxis. But if you have a bad reaction to a drug, you must find out what it was. You should not take that drug again. |
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