People taking sedative drugs (like diazepam/Valium) or antidepressants (like fluoxetine/Prozac) should avoid alcohol altogether
There are some antibiotics which simply do not mix with alcohol - drinking with these will make you sick. But for most commonly prescribed antibiotics, drinking is unlikely to cause problems so long as it is within the low risk alcohol unit guidelines.
People taking long-term medications should be careful about drinking, as alcohol can make some drugs less effective and long-term conditions could get worse. Examples of long-term medications include drugs for epilepsy, diabetes, or drugs like warfarin to thin the blood.
There’s no evidence to prove that alcohol can improve your immune system. The positive effects of a hot drink with alcohol in it (sometimes called a ‘hot toddy’) are probably psychological.
Professor Wallace advises that: “If you’re in any doubt, don’t drink alcohol at all because you could put your health at risk.”
Alcohol may affect the rate of absorption of drugs possibly by altering the gastric emptying rate/motility. Intestinal transit rate plays a substantial role in drug absorption by influencing the residence time at the absorption site. Alcohol might therefore increase the rate of gastric emptying and hence the rate of absorption of some drugs.