Cialis And Alcohol: Things Everyone Should Know Before Combining
The real effects of combining Cialis and alcohol you won’t read in the drug insert
Many think that the effects of the combination of alcohol and drugs concern only some categories of products, some selected molecules, ignoring that, on the other hand, alcohol interferes with numerous drugs for everyday use. Mind you: all the substances are processed by one and the same liver, and the liver cells, the seat of the transformations that the body requires for numerous molecules, can commit to metabolize only one substance at a time. Certainly the liver function will be compromised if it is tasked with metabolizing different molecules.
The basic rule when you take Cialis is that you can follow it with an insignificant amount of alcohol – or so it says in the manufacturer’s insert. This only means that no major side effects will appear, but mostly that the efficacy of tadalafil will remain unchanged – which cannot be said about the efficacy of your own body.
Regardless of origin and purpose, the substances that are foreign to the organism (both Cialis and alcohol are), require intervention so that they can be expelled as soon as possible, perhaps making the molecule more soluble to accelerate its elimination with urine through the kidneys. Usually this occurs thanks to the oxygenation of the molecule through a treatment carried out by some cellular enzymes of a protein nature called cytochromes, present in the mitochondria, of which the best known family is the one called by the abbreviation P450.
What happens when you drink too much alcohol with Cialis?
Let us first define what is ”too much alcohol”. In medical terms, it is an amount equal to 6-8 grams of alcohol per hour, in practice 10 ml of pure alcohol, slightly more of ½ glass of wine, for example. When the quantity of alcohol consumed exceeds the liver's ability to metabolize, excess alcohol activates the enzymatic oxidative system of cytochromes. This is the liver’s attempt to enhance the body’s coping with alcohol intoxication through biotransformation, inactivation in a more soluble "oxygenated" substance and subsequent expulsion via urine. The activation of the enhancement of the disposal system is the reason why those who drink alcohol often eliminate it, within certain limits, with greater efficiency, tending to get drunk with more difficulty but not avoiding the damage caused by alcohol.
This happens in practice also for Cialis, and since alcohol and tadalafil are "processed" by the same cytochrome system, it often happens that disturbing interferences are created with effects that are always negative for health. This circumstance is of such great importance as to require the legal obligation to indicate in the package leaflets of drugs the need not to drink or to severely limit the use of alcohol in order to avoid compromising health with toxic or otherwise negative effects that vary according to the molecule in question.
Alcohol and Cialis can interact and influence each other in different ways:
- Cialis can interfere by delaying the body's elimination of alcohol and delaying the body's elimination of tadalafil itself. Adverse effects such as hot flashes, headache, nausea, palpitations and dangerous hypotension are caused by the toxic metabolites produced by alcohol that remain longer in the body.
- Alcohol can increase the side effects of Cialis, and tadalafil side effects can remain active in the body for a longer period, causing a real drug overdose.
While it is allowed to combine smaller quantities of alcohol (a glass or two of wine or a shot of vodka) with Cialis and its generics, you should make an informed decision whether or not you want to expose your body to this kind of stress.