Can Alcohol Cause A Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)?

Alcohol use may be the root cause of your bladder discomfort and urinary tract infections.

If you are prone to urinary tract infections (UTIs) and struggle to limit your alcohol consumption<, then you may wonder if drinking too much can cause a UTI. After all, some people get UTI symptoms after drinking alcohol. 

While alcohol does not directly cause UTIs, it can raise your risk of getting a UTI, as well as worsen your symptoms. Sometimes, alcohol use can even mimic the symptoms of a UTI, making you feel like you have an infection when you don’t have one. Additionally, avoid alcohol use with medications that treat UTIs.

Article at a Glance:

To recap, there are several important points to remember about alcohol and UTIs:

Alcohol cannot cause UTIs, which are only caused by bacteria

Alcohol can impair your immune system, which might raise your risk of a UTI

Sexual activity can also raise your risk of a UTI

Alcohol can also irritate your bladder, making UTI symptoms seem worse

Some antibiotics for UTI should not be taken with alcohol

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if it is safe to drink while being treated for a UTI

Alcohol can also cause other bladder problems, like bladder irritation without an infection

Does a Painful Bladder After Drinking Alcohol Mean I Have a UTI?

Discomfort in the bladder is known as cystitis. Cystitis can develop from a few different causes, the most common of which is UTI. You will likely suffer from unmistakable symptoms when you have cystitis. Some cystitis symptomsinclude:

• Discomfort in the pelvis
• Pain when urinating
• Needing to urinate often
• Feeling like you need to urinate right away
• Abnormal color or smell in the urine

However, there is a difference between bladder discomfort and a UTI. Your bladder may bother you for reasons that are not due to infection. Often, having a UTI can lead to you having bladder discomfort or pain. Other substances, like alcohol, can also irritate the bladder lining and cause bladder discomfort. Therefore, a painful bladder after drinking alcohol does not always mean that you have a UTI. Your symptoms could be due to alcohol irritating your bladder. Regardless, if you think you may have a UTI, contact your doctor. If left untreated, a UTI can turn into a more severe infection.

Why Does Alcohol Make My Bladder Hurt?

Alcohol use can make your bladder hurt even if you do not have a UTI. The pain occurs because alcohol is highly acidic. In turn, the acid can irritate your bladder lining. The bladder irritation from alcohol is similar to how you may feel when you have a UTI, so it is easy to confuse the two feelings. One study shows that lowering your intake of irritating (acidic) beverages like alcohol may improve your urinary health.

Does Alcohol Cause UTIs?

While alcohol cannot directly cause a UTI, alcohol abuse may raise your risk of getting a UTI, for a few different reasons.

All UTIs are caused by bacteria which irritate and inflame the bladder. Alcohol cannot create bacteria in your bladder; therefore alcohol cannot directly cause a UTI. However, alcohol use is associated with other activities that can move bacteria closer to your bladder and cause UTI, like sexual activity. One study shows that there is an indirect relationship between alcohol use and UTI in some women because there was a relationship between alcohol use and sexual activity.

Alcohol can also harm your immune system. Alcohol interferes with many of the different immune system cells and chemical signals. A weaker immune system makes it hard for your body to fight an infection like a UTI. Research shows that you have a higher risk of getting infections if you drink alcohol.

Can I Drink Alcohol If I Have a UTI?

If you have a UTI, you are probably taking antibiotic drugs to kill the bacteria in your bladder. However, mixing alcohol and antibiotics is not safe. 

One of the most common antibiotics used for UTI is called Bactrim (sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim). Taking Bactrim with alcohol can lead to uncomfortable side effects, including:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Flushing
• Fast heartbeat
• Feeling short of breath
• Low blood pressure when you stand up

If you are prescribed Bactrim for a UTI, it is important to avoid alcohol. You should also avoid drinking alcohol for three full days after you have completed your Bactrim medication regimen. Waiting for several days before drinking alcohol will allow the Bactrim to clear from your system so you can avoid the side effects listed above.

If you struggle to stop drinking alcohol, The Recovery Village can help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you in your recovery. The call is free and confidential, and you don’t have to commit to a program to learn more about alcohol rehab treatment.

Can I Detox From Alcohol At Home?

Alcohol detox isn’t easy and not everyone can do it on their own. That is why alcohol detox and alcohol withdrawal treatment is administered by medical professionals.

Read More

Am I An Alcoholic?

Alcoholism takes many forms, and the stereotype doesn’t always hold true. So when do a few drinks with friends become a full-blown alcohol addiction? How do you know if you are an alcoholic?

Read More

Repairing Liver Damage From Alcohol Use

While cirrhosis scars from excessive drinking are irreversible, quitting alcohol and leading a healthier lifestyle can help your liver heal from alcohol-related liver disease.

Read More

Foods to Eat When Detoxing From Alcohol

When detoxing, hydration is key. However, certain food groups also have benefits when it comes to helping with the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms and detoxification.

Read More

How Long Does Alcohol Detox & Withdrawal Take?

Detox from alcohol can begin within hours. Typically, alcohol withdrawal symptoms happen for heavier drinkers. Alcohol withdrawal can begin within hours of ending a drinking session.

Read More

What Are the Effects of Daily Drinking?

Daily drinking can have serious consequences for a person’s health, both in the short- and long-term. Many of the effects of drinking every day can be reversed through early intervention.

Read More

Editor – Camille Renzoni

Cami Renzoni is a creative writer and editor for The Recovery Village. As an advocate for behavioral health, Cami is certified in mental health first aid and encourages people who face substance use disorders to ask for the help they deserve. Read more

Medically Reviewed By – Dr. Jessica Pyhtila, PharmD

Dr. Jessica Pyhtila is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist based in Baltimore, Maryland with practice sites in inpatient palliative care and outpatient primary care at the Department of Veteran Affairs. Read more

U.S. National Library of Medicine. “Cystitis – noninfectious.” Reviewed January 23, 2018. Accessed April 14, 2019.

University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Disulfiram-like reactions.” Updated April 14, 2019. Accessed April 14, 2019.

Vincent CR, et al. “Symptoms and risk factors associated wit[…]pective cohort study.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, published in March 2013. Accessed April 14, 2019.

Dipak Sarkar. “Alcohol and the Immune System.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, published in 2015. Accessed April 14, 2019.

Janis M. Miller, et al. “Does instruction to eliminate coffee, te[…] A Prospective Trial.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, published in January 1, 2017. Accessed April 14, 2019.

Medical Disclaimer

The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.

Why It’s a Bad Idea to Drink Alcohol If You Have a UTI

We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Here’s our process.

Healthline only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.

Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:

• Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm?
• Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence?
• Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?

We do the research so you can find trusted products for your health and wellness.

Read more about our vetting process.

Was this helpful?

Urinary tract infections (UTI) can affect the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic to treat this infection, although there are also other medications available for treatment that are not antibiotic based.

It’s important to avoid anything that could irritate your bladder, such as alcohol. Moderate consumption of alcohol may seem harmless, but it can increase the acidity level of urine and actually worsen your symptoms.

Plus, mixing alcohol with an antibiotic prescribed for a UTI can cause other side effects, like drowsiness and an upset stomach.

Alcohol isn’t the only drink to avoid with a UTI. During treatment, your doctor may suggest drinking plenty of fluids to help flush bacteria from your urinary tract.

However, avoid fluids that can cause further bladder irritation. These include drinks containing caffeine, such as tea, coffee, and sodas.

It’s OK to drink tea and coffee, but only decaffeinated beverages. Caffeine is a diuretic, so it can increase symptoms of urination urgency.

Also, avoid citrus fruit juices like grapefruit juice and orange juice. These acidic drinks also irritate the bladder.

But drinks aren’t the only items that can bother the bladder when treating a UTI. Certain foods can irritate your bladder, too. Avoid tomato-based foods, chocolate, and spicy foods.

Chocolate contains caffeine that can increase frequency and urgency of urination, whereas tomato-based products and spicy foods contain ingredients that may irritate the bladder lining.

Citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, and grapefruit are also off-limits and can worsen UTI symptoms.

Some UTIs don’t cause any symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they may include:

• frequent urination
• burning while urinating
• passing small amounts of urine
• cloudy urine
• fish-smelling urine
• pelvic or back pain
• bloody urination

UTIs occur more often in females, but they can also affect males. It’s more common in females due to anatomy. Women have a shorter urethra than men, so it’s easier for bacteria to travel into their bladder.

UTIs develop when bacteria enter the urinary tract and multiply in the bladder. Bacteria can be found on the skin near the opening of the vagina and rectum. It doesn’t usually pose a problem, but sometimes these bacteria enter the urethra.

This can happen during sexual activity, or bacteria may enter the urinary tract after using the toilet. This is why it’s important for females to wipe from front to back.

Certain factors also increase the risk of a UTI. For example, changes in estrogen levels during menopause can make women more susceptible to these infections.

A weakened immune system also increases the risk of a UTI, as well as using a catheter. This makes it easier for bacteria to enter the urethra.

Even though you should avoid alcohol with a UTI, alcohol doesn’t cause these infections. It can, however, have an effect on bladder function.

Alcohol is a diuretic, so it can increase the frequency of urination. Plus, the dehydrating effect of alcohol may cause some bladder irritation, like pain and burning while urinating.

Painful, frequent urination and bloody urine are classic symptoms of a UTI. But you’ll need to make a doctor’s appointment to confirm a diagnosis.

Your doctor can order a urine sample and look for the presence of white blood cells, red blood cells, and bacteria.

If you have a UTI, you’ll receive a 7- to 10-day course of antibiotics to kill the bacteria. You should receive the shortest treatment course necessary to kill the bacteria. Shorter treatment reduces your risk of antibiotic resistance.

It’s important to complete the full course of treatment as prescribed by your doctor, or else the UTI could return.

In addition to an antibiotic, other home remedies can help relieve discomfort. This includes drinking plenty of water to flush bacteria out of your urinary tract and using a heating pad to reduce pelvic and abdominal pain.

Your doctor may also prescribe medication to relieve burning and pain associated with these infections.

Some people also drink cranberry juice to help ease UTI symptoms. There isn’t enough evidence supporting cranberry juice as a treatment, but it might relieve symptoms and prevent infections due to its infection-fighting properties.

Cranberry juice may interfere with the anti-coagulant medication warfarin and cause unusual bleeding. Don’t drink this juice if you’re taking this medication.

When to see a doctor

• You have burning, painful urination.
• You have foul-smelling urine.
• You have traces of blood in your urine.
• You experience frequent urination.
• You have pelvic pain.
• You develop a fever.

UTIs are painful. They can lead to complications like kidney damage, but with treatment, symptoms should improve within a few days. Some serious infections may require treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

In the event of recurrent UTIs, your doctor may recommend a single-dose antibiotic after sexual activity or prescribe a low-dose antibiotic as maintenance therapy.

Although antibiotics clear many UTIs, drinking alcohol with a UTI can worsen symptoms and may prolong your infection.

Knowing which foods and drinks to avoid with a UTI can reduce bladder irritation. So, while you’ll need to avoid alcohol, certain juices, and caffeine until the infection clears, drinking plenty of water and cranberry juice may help you feel better sooner and prevent future UTIs.

Effect of beer on the female body.

In our society, for some reason, it is customary to consider beer not as alcohol, but simply as a drink for relaxation, quenching thirst, or having a good time. Therefore, some women and girls seriously consider themselves non-drinkers and at the same time can safely drink a bottle or a can of beer every day, or even more. Unfortunately, they try not to think about the harmful composition of the foamy drink, and how the use of low-alcohol drinks affects a woman’s health.

Few people know that this drink, in addition to the heady state, brings many more problems.

Women differ from men not only physiologically, but also emotionally. The breakdown of alcohol in women is much slower than in men. From a physiological point of view, this is due to the fact that in women the metabolism is slower than in men and the internal organs are less able to cope with the synthesis of ethanol, which is part of alcoholic beverages.

Beautiful appearance is the most important thing for women. But it should be understood that very often women who abuse alcoholic beverages, including beer, do not have an aesthetic appearance: the skin becomes dry, pigmentation increases, since alcohol disrupts the functioning of the epidermis. Also, the hair grows dull and the nails acquire a yellowish tint.

The liver takes the first hit of alcohol, because all the harmful substances that enter the body are synthesized through the liver. The digestive organs are severely affected. The heart also suffers, and alcohol can also provoke jumps in blood pressure. And the state of internal organs is always reflected in the appearance of a person.

Thanks to the female hormones produced by the body itself, a woman has a softer voice, a more graceful figure, no facial hair, and her character is more docile. To maintain femininity, 0.3-0.7 mg of estradiol is enough, this is exactly how much the female body produces. But beer contains a large dose of an estrogen-active compound.

The chemical composition of beer includes 8-prenylnaringenin. This substance is found in hop cones and belongs to the class of phytoestrogens. Estrogens are among the female sex hormones. Hops contain a fairly large percentage of phytoestrogens, and in beer their content reaches thirty-six milligrams per liter. Some experts believe that this is quite enough for changes in the hormonal background of the human body.

Female hormones in beer have a negative effect on women and girls. The uterus may begin to grow, the epithelium of the uterus and vagina can grow. Problems with the menstrual cycle begin, and then the ability to give birth to a child is lost. In addition, there may be problems with being overweight. And the hormone that enters the body along with beer is completely superfluous there. So nobody benefits from female hormones in beer.

Women who have the habit of occasionally drinking beer often do not control this process, and therefore everything can end up with female alcoholism. According to statistics, this disease is quite difficult to treat, even despite great advances in medicine.

Alcohol, including beer, can cause aggression. Moreover, given that the “soft” half of humanity are very emotional individuals – they can often commit rash acts while under the influence of alcohol. The harmful effects of alcohol on the brain, which can lead to mental illness, have also been proven.

Many studies have shown that beer contains narcotic substances that adversely affect the human psyche. Hops, the main ingredient in beer, have been shown to be chemically very similar to the well-known drug, cannabis. This drug destroys brain cells and is the cause of many mental disorders.

Another frightening fact is that some beers have too high an alcohol percentage of 8 to 14%. This is when the minimum dose of alcohol in this low-alcohol drink should be 4 to 7%. Therefore, if we take into account the fact that, by nature, women are very fragile creatures, then even the smallest dose of alcohol is suicide.

The use of any drink that contains alcohol leads to irreparable consequences in health and life. It is also worth considering the fact that the quality of alcoholic beverages, and especially beer, in our stores is highly questionable.

Therefore, dear women, this harmful foamy drink is not worth your beauty and health! Give it up and be the decoration of our lives!

Allergy to alcohol: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and prevention

April 20, 2021

Many people know that the human body is 70% water. But not everyone knows that we also have about 0.19 ‰ of alcohol, which is produced by the human body itself. Ethanol is produced during various biochemical reactions and food digestion. So how can there be an allergy to what our body produces on its own? Let’s figure it out.

Allergy causes

Most cases of the body’s reaction to alcoholic beverages are cases of pseudo-allergy. True allergies are rare. The immune system reacts to chemical additives, substances in the composition of an alcoholic product, rather than to ethanol itself. So the true allergen can cause a pseudo-allergy to alcohol. There are also histamine liberator products that provoke or increase the release of histamine.

With this combination, a vivid picture of an allergic reaction is obtained, although it is by no means provoked by ethyl alcohol. The main causes of alcohol allergy symptoms include:

• The presence of components that trigger the body’s immune response: herbal ingredients, flavors, preservatives, etc.

• Poor quality of alcohol-containing products

• Lack of proper level of purification of the drink

• Drinking large amounts of alcohol at one time

In addition, a false allergy can develop in people who have abused alcohol for a long time. This happens due to the fact that the mucous membrane of the digestive tract is damaged, so allergens easily enter the bloodstream.

What are the symptoms?

Allergy manifestations are very diverse and depend on many nuances: the allergen itself, its quantity, the age of the person, the presence of chronic and concomitant diseases, etc.

Typical signs of an allergy to alcoholic beverages are:

It happens that the reaction manifests itself as follows:

• Breathlessness occurs

• Difficulty breathing through the nose

• Nausea and vomiting occur

• Pain in the abdomen, diarrhea

An immediate allergic reaction such as anaphylactic shock is extremely rare.

Allergic reaction to wine

Although wine is one of the most ancient drinks, it is by no means the safest for the body. Allergy symptoms often occur after drinking wine. There may be several reasons.

Firstly, most varieties contain sulfur dioxide, which is used as a retarder for the souring and fermentation processes. This component can have a strong allergenic effect on the body.

The second reason may be sulfites – these are products of wine fermentation. They are used as preservatives in the bottling of the drink. In addition, histamine itself is always present in fermented wine (mostly in red), which leads to the effect of adding unfavorable factors, and as a result, to a negative reaction of the body.

And, finally, the third reason may lie in the fruits themselves, from which wine is made. Various insects like to eat fruits, in order to get rid of them, various pesticides are used. Often they also become a catalyst for the response of the body.

Allergy to beer

In the case of beer, malt, hops, wheat, yeast can also become a catalyst for an immune reaction. Therefore, even with a small amount drunk, a person may experience diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Also, the cause of the body’s immune response when drinking beer can be histamine, which itself is contained in brewer’s yeast.

Prevention and diagnostics

As a preventive measure, it is recommended to refrain from drinking alcohol until a specific allergen is identified. In some cases, diet is required, as well as treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.