Medical Advice - Amoxicillin Side Effects
Right, I've been taking Amoxicillin for a throat/lung infection brought on by flu....over the last few days I've been getting sore muscles and joints, which I naturally took to be symptoms of this nasty flu thing...
Then I noticed that it was every time I took a pill that the pains became worse....did a quick bit of checking online, and sure enough, one of the side effects people are reporting is muscle pain....
So now the question...I only have today and tomorrow left till the end of the Amoxy course, so should I keep taking them or just stop and fling them away..or should I phone NHS 24 for proper advice?
Thought I'd put it to you guys first for your professional opinions.....
Then I noticed that it was every time I took a pill that the pains became worse....did a quick bit of checking online, and sure enough, one of the side effects people are reporting is muscle pain....
So now the question...I only have today and tomorrow left till the end of the Amoxy course, so should I keep taking them or just stop and fling them away..or should I phone NHS 24 for proper advice?
Thought I'd put it to you guys first for your professional opinions.....
Post edited by deadpan666 on
Comments
If you don't complete the course the infection could become resistant to Amoxicillin and need another course of antibiotics.
The lung infection seems to be a lot better, so the Amoxicillin seems to be doing it's job...the muscle pains just feel like arthritis...all my joints in my fingers and toes and arm and leg muscles just get sore, and I get pins and needles in my fingers too....
It's the fact the doctor told me that I had to make sure I took the whole course that I haven't stopped yet...I am slightly worried that it would be worse for me if I didn't finish them! But then again, there are a lot of stories of people still suffering side effects weeks after finishing a course of drugs..but that is online, which lets face it is the worst place to look if you're a bit of a hypochondriac....
Thanks anyway guys....Reckon I'll just sit it out, unless the side effects become noticeably worse...
my dad was in bed for like 2 weeks with it, and even though he is getting on he is never ill.. and you know something is up when he was like that.
its not that exact where you can miss one pill and you will die. ;)
try doing that with anti malaria tablets.. that's what a friend thought, and he suffered for it later
well yeah thats a bit stupid, like forgetting to take a birth control pill.
a games of scrabble a day keeps the doctor away. :razz:
Had this flu for two weeks now too....thing is it actually started to ease off last week the day I had an appointment at the doctors! It would be just my bloody luck for to have an allergic reaction lasting weeks after getting treatment for something that was on it's way out anyway!
I must come across as a total hypochondriac moaner on here...I'm always posting about ilnesses! :lol: I just seem to go from one thing to the next...my last illness may have been an allergic reaction to aspirin which I got for another illness...My immune system must be really terrible! Losing faith in the docs though...They just keep putting me on bloody drugs that seem to make me worse....Anyhoo, I'll let you know what they say...
if it takes your mind off it, no bother.. could be worse.. someone implied i was a daily mail reader on another forum :lol:
I was thinking more along the lines of chess / horace goes skiing /chequered flag I have 10-20+ of each currently.. not sold a scrabble in a while
According to the Doc, he reckons it could just be another part of the infection and that it's unlikely to be a side effect. He suggested I take some Nurofen to counter any muscle ache....unfortunately it was Nurofen which led to difficulties with my insides before...
Anyway, I'll keep taking the Amoxicillin as I've only got 5 left, and as I said before, if there are any harmful side effects, then they'll already be well established! Don't want to risk any relapse due to not finishing the course...
I did seek professional assistance...I just wanted several other opinions! And as it was the bloody doctor that gave me them in the first place, and also ended up giving me advice to take something I'm allergic to, the more advice I can get the better! :D
Obviously I wouldn't ever follow advice given out on an internet forum without asking a proper doc for something serious, but talking it out and finding out other what other folk think helps......
I had a course of 2 weeks worth of amoxycillin for a chest infection but had to go back after 4 weeks because it had not fully cleared.
So the doc put me on a stronger version and the next day I was back in the GP surgery having an ecg - me hands and feet had gone blue and I had pain in my joints cos my circulation had been affected by the new tablets.
The GP was very carefull when prescribing as well as he calucted the dose to my weight.
The upshot is im allergic to something else in the tablet ( other than the antibiotic ).
The funny thing is if you read the side effects part of the included information it nearly always states DEATH as a possible side effect - drug manufacturers like to cover their arses :)
'cept Nurofen's active ingredient is ibuprofen!
Paracetomol-based painkiller might be better.
That whole "finish the course or it won't work thing" applies to some medicines - such as the anti-malaria course mentioned earlier - but it's easier for the medical professionals to just issue a blanket "finish the course for all medicines" advice, instead of get bogged down in what is and what isn't required. (Building resistance to the drugs is only a factor on much longer courses.) Want to try your luck at guessing if your medicine is okay to stop early? Neither would I :)
The OP said it messed with his insides, maybe he didn't take it with food?
I may be getting confoozed here (wouldn't be the first time :)) but I thought the OP said that aspirin and/or nurofen (i.e. ibuprofen) might have contributed to the upset tum. They're both chemically very similar (NSAIDs) so I suggested paracetomol which is a little different (not so anti-inflammatory).
I remember when ibuprofen became available over the counter. I used to get a lot of headaches when I was a small boy - not migraine, thankfully, but really nasty nagging headaches that paracetomol would only get rid of for a couple hours. I nagged my mum into buying some ibuprofen so I could try it - bang! Headaches banished with one dose.
My fond memories of drugs are probably tamer than some of yours, WoSsers, but they do make me happy :)
<sigh> Not taking it with food can give you upset tum. My suggestion of taking it with food still stands, unless the OP says tried it and still causes problems. <sigh>.
Yeah, tried it with food.....it was the actual Ibuprofen that the docs reckon I was allergic to....and then subsequently aspirin!
Was never allergic to either of them until last year, which is why I always find it pointless when doctors ask if you're allergic to any medicines....your allergies can apparently change!
Paracetomol doesn't seem to give me any side effects, but I usually take it in the form of Syndol for sinus headaches...which also have an ingredient which causes drowsiness, so I'm always knackered afterwards...
Anyway, have finished the course...not wheezing anymore and my lung seems better, joints no longer hurting...but still have a very nasty cough and a generally odd feeling around the neck and throat...probably due to coughing so much...
I just hope that whatever I've got buggers off before the end o' the month!
Yes allergies can appear at any time. There are other painkillers e.g. tramadol, diclofenac or co-codamol, you could ask your doc for some, although co-codamol is normally given with paracetamol to prevent misuse. Sounds like your lurgi is going.
Interesting - When you take them for a long time (I have been on them for 25+ years now) they advise you to lay off them for a couple of months each year. After about 5 years you build up enough in your body to last you through a decent break and it actually is better to lay off them as continuous use can lead to eye damage.
If your just doing a fortnights holiday then its a different game and your at risk for quite a while after you get back if you don't carry on taking the full course. You should also start taking them a month before you go but nobody ever does.