Alcohol Consumption

Oddly my dr didn’t give me any warnings but because of the potential liver issues which you will be monitored for, one of the 3 has a warning label to not consume any alcohol. I forgot which one but likely the Ethambutol.

@tropauer It wasn't my pulmonologist who talked to me about alcohol, but my PCP of over 20 years, who knows I like a cocktail or glass of with dinner. Her advice was a blunt "Don't drink on these meds. The risk of liver damage is greatly increased. " I followed her advice for the almost-two-years on antibiotics, with one exception (okayed by th ID doc) - a holiday from the meds for 2 weeks from my daughter's birthday through New Year's days - and then I imbibe lightly. I finished with no change in liver or kidney function and am still fine 6 years later. (And MAC free.)

My ID doctor said to abstain until we had done at least two sets of labs to see how my liver enzymes were doing. After that, I was cleared to have a glass of wine for "Zoom Happy Hour" on Fridays (I was on the meds during COVID) and my ASL and AST levels never seemed impacted.

Now, my GARMIN watch tells me anytime I imbibe how bad alcohol is for my body, so that keeps me from being much of a drinker these days, even though I've been off the meds for three years.

I like to have a glass of wine in the evening but, because of all the warnings of liver damage and I’ve noticed that I don’t metabolize alcohol very well anymore at 78 years old, I started drinking Bota box Breeze which is Much lighter in alcohol and is a decent enough taste. They now have red and white to choose from. I got the idea from a friend of mine who came back from Spain/Portugal and said they drink a very light white wine all day called Vino Verte and this is very close to it, easy to find and less $.