Patients should not drink alcohol while taking anti-inflammatory drugs, and how long you can drink alcohol after taking drugs depends on the specific type of anti-inflammatory drugs. The main component of alcohol is ethanol, and most cephalosporins will affect the metabolism of ethanol, leading to an increase in acetaldehyde in the body, resulting in a disulfiram reaction, manifesting as nausea, vomiting, panic, chest tightness and even respiratory depression and shock, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. If cephalosporin antimicrobials and metronidazole anti-inflammatory drugs are used, most of them should be discontinued for 1 week before drinking alcohol. If the patient uses anti-inflammatory drugs that do not cause disulfiram reactions, such as quinolones, macrolides, and aminoglycosides, alcohol can generally be consumed 3 days after stopping the drug. Therefore, patients need to wait for the drug to be completely metabolized in the body before drinking alcohol after taking the drug, which usually takes 1 week off the drug.