Drinking and Medication
Drinking and Medication
Ancient people understood using alcohol to prepare medicinal wines, and Traditional Chinese Medicine also uses huangjiu as a "mediating agent" (yinzi). Some drugs become more effective after being soaked in alcohol; others reduce toxicity and side effects when processed with alcohol.
But not all medications can be combined with alcohol or used with alcohol as a mediator—especially Western drugs. Doing so may cause adverse reactions or toxicity, potentially life-threatening.
Using metronidazole (灭滴灵) while drinking can cause acetaldehyde poisoning, leading to nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, motor incoordination, and even respiratory distress.
If diabetic patients drink alcohol and then take medication, insulin or hypoglycemic agents may become overly potent, causing severe hypoglycemia—resulting in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headache, and tachycardia.
If patients with dysentery or enteritis take furazolidone (痢特灵) and drink alcohol, inhibition of alcohol metabolism may cause thirst, dizziness, conjunctival congestion, skin redness, and even severe palpitations.
If tranquilizers, sleeping pills, or antihistamines with sedative effects (e.g., diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, promethazine) or cold medicines containing these ingredients (e.g., Su Xiao Shuang Feng Capsules, Ke Gan Min) are taken after drinking, they may cause decreased blood pressure and weakened heartbeat.