Will there be a side effect to alcohol with the drug I am taking?

[emily56]

So tonight I'm having a 21st birthday party. I was obviously planning to drink. But I'm on the antibiotic SMZ-TMP DS. My doctor didn't tell me any side effects or precautions or anything to avoid. But I noticed that under precautions it listed alcohol use. Will it interact with the drug or will someting bad happen to me?
What do you suggest doing? People are going to bug me all night and think I'm retarded not drinking at my own party.
What if I just have a few beers??

[1twinmom]

call a pharamcist. they know more about drugs and interactions than even drs.

[AnimalDrMarshall]

The main thing about mixing alcohol with antibiotics is that the acohol completely takes away all effects of the antibiotic. Which means that you basically might as well be taking a water pill or not taking the antibiotic at all since all effectiveness of the drug is taken away.

[ibizan]

better 2 b safe than sorry......it sounds annoying this rash and the painful part....if ur friends would dog u about not drinking when u have this rash and pain...then they r not friends and most likely very immature as some can be at that age.......ur fav foods and doing something u really enjoy is a good celebration as well!hope u follow up with another doctor and find out what this was... a doctor should take a skin scraping and culture it to see xactly what it is!

[emily56]

Well thanks the comments. I was scared and decided not to drink at all.
The doctor wasn't sure what I have, so he just put me on this antibiotic, I had never been to this specific doctor and will probably never go back.
I had sort of a rash type thing on my legs. Red bumps that looked like bug bites but they were painful and not itchy. He told me it was definitly not bug bites.

[Burrpatch]

Hello there , If I were you I would heed ibzans warnings on this or just about any other drug while consuming alcohol.
Alcohol affects ALL drugs that you put in your body , one way or another.
Normally , with most antibiotics , the alcohol will destroy or seriously compromise the ingested antibiotic , rendering the antibiotic inert and useless. If taking this drug for a serious condition while consuming alcohol the " Side Effect " could very well be a worsening condition.
However , I read that this specific drug can not only do this , but considerably more. Here is some of these effects ;
"This medicine may also cause some people to become dizzy. Make sure you know how you react to this medicine before you drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous if you are dizzy or are not alert" . ----- Obviously alcohol can only Intensify these effects , make you a danger on the road and very sick as well , as this drug  also contains " Sulfonamides " which will dehydrate you. Alcohol will also dehydrate , therefore you are at a great risk of over dehydration! Please do us all here at MedHelp the favor of waiting till your conditions improve and you are no longer using this drug , before consuming ANY alcoholic beverages. (or we will worry for you ).  I know that 21 has been a long wait and that you want to celebrate. Just keep in mind that your celebration could turn into yours or someone else's Funeral if things don't " Go Right ". Besides your young and have your whole life ahead of yourself to " Sow your Wild Oats ". First get better , and then you can choose whether to drink or not.    For more info on this antibiotic go where I went at ;
http://www.drugs.com/cons/smz-tmp.html     --- Happy 21st Birthday Emily and may you have a 100 more!!! .... Burrpatch.

[ibizan]

this is not the doctors forum..there isn't one for alcoholism..just us former alcoholics/addicts who are here to try to give info and help each other...i am not familiar with ur antibiotic...what r u taking it for?the warning regarding alcohol is on the bottle for a reason.....so enter and drink at ur own risk if u must!

[emily56]

Well I tried to google stuff but it  just found warnings, never anything that told me exactly what would happen? So I was hoping a doctor might know

[ibizan]

u could get sick from mixing alcohol with the medication...u can google the med and see side effects for urself!hope ur not driving anywhere.....or if so have a designated driver whose had nothing to drink...and ur buddies will be more concerned with what their drinking as opposed to what ur drinking....they won't even remember what u've had to drink 2 morrow...so be safe and happy 21.....i was that age meself in a past life!:)