Stomach bug or extreme reaction to Flucloxacillin?

[RayWinstone]

Hi all,
I was prescribed Flucloxacillin yesterday for a nasty boil I have. I took one (on an empty stomach) at about 6ish. All seemed well. I started to feel really sick at about 10 and then this fairly rapidly turned into a full blown stomach bug situation (lots of vomiting and diarrhoea until about 2am). No more sickness since then but still lots of diarrhoea. My feeling is that this is just a coincidence and I've managed to catch a nasty bug alongside the horrible boil (fun times) but just wondered if anyone experienced a severe reaction to this medicine, especially if they had had it before with no issues (as have I)? Thanks!

I think this was the antibiotic my DH reacted badly to years ago, before we were married - exactly the same, D&V. It went on for nearly a week. He was extremely poorly, much worse than what he was taking it for (an infected cut on his hand!).

I'd ring your surgery for advice and they might be able to change it for you.

Thanks @SingingSands - do you know if he'd had it before with no issues? I've had it countless times with no side effects to write home about.

It was the first time he'd taken it. He reacts badly to penicillin - but had forgotten as the last time he'd had a reaction was when he was a kid.

It took a few days for him to work out it was the medication, he thought he'd caught food poisoning!

Ah OK, thank you. Sounds horrendous for him!

I've taken another pill so I guess I'll see if I get any repercussions from it this time!

Nausea and diarrhoea are known side effects so it's possibly just that, but if you keep being sick the antibiotic may not get a chance to work, so maybe speak to your GP for an alternative

Conicidentaly, I too was given flucloxacillin yesterday for a golf ball sized boil on my buttock!! I have HS and it's flaring badly at the moment - so I feel your pain @RayWinstone I was also prescribed Lymecycline to take after I've finished the flucloxacillin - have you tried that? I was on it for a few years to keep the boils at bay

@FooFighter99@FooFighter99 - what a coincidence! I used to get them quite a lot but haven't had one for YEARS. They're absolute bastards aren't they?? I was prescribed something a long time ago (can't remember name - pretty sure it was mild antibiotic used for acne) to keep them at bay. Worked well from what I recall.

Thing is, the sickness and diarrhoea last night was so incredibly violent - think huge wracking, totally uncontrollable heaving - that it was much more like stomach bug/food poisoning than any side effect I've ever had from any antibiotics. Plus, I've had this one before with nothing to note.

I haven't had any sickness since I took the pill this morning so I'm pretty sure it is just an unfortunate coincidence. At least I can legitimately take a couple of days off without having to explain i can't really walk because of an enormous boil on my bikini line!

Sorry, meant to say - hope yours gets better soon @FooFighter99

Ah thanks @RayWinstone I managed to poke a hole in mine last night and drain it a little, but its so deep and its one of those reoccurring ones that never pops so always comes back. I have them all over my groin area (have had HS for about 20 years now, so it's nothing new, but this one is by far the biggest ever) had to get DH to put a plaster on it this morning (he's a good un)

It definitely sounds like you had a stomach bug rather than a reaction to the antibiotics, so that's good and I hope you're feeling better now!

Fingers crossed our boils subside over the next few days!!

Yes! Bugger off you bastard boils!

Hello
I'm currently taking them too and on day 3. Feel absolutely horrendous. Started as awful nausea and now have a very upset stomach and painful cramps which seem to radiate down my thighs. Feel generally achy and tired and like crap!!! Wasn't sure if my kids had given me a bug which they'd picked up from school but I'm starting to think it's the flucloxacillin.
Awful 😫
Hope you feel better soon. I'm on a week course but not sure if I can stick it that long

Ah, man @Notagooddaytoday - that sounds really shit. I've decided that my thing was definitely a bug/food poisoning /unrelated to the medicine. It was just an extremely unpleasant coincidence for me!

Assume you're not allergic to penicillin?

How funny, I've just had this too. Pretty sure I've got/had norovirus (it won't go away!). I was on a two week course of flucloxacillin, the first week I didn't feel great on the antibiotics, tired and a bit nauseous. But then on day 8 I was hit by full-on D&V symptoms which have lasted five days so far. It's the worst I've felt in a long time and has wrung my poor digestive system inside out. I saw an online GP to ask if I should stop the antibiotics (which I couldn't keep down anyway) and they said yes (given I'd had more than a week and the original issue was resolved) as they can make norovirus worse by destroying the good bacteria. But this is making me wonder if it could have all been the antibiotics - particularly since no one else in the household (touch wood) is affected...