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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Your experience of metronidazole

99 replies

QuestionableMouse · 04/02/2019 19:04

Prescribed it on sat for a dental infection and I feel totally exhausted today. Also keep feeling a bit dizzy when I stand up for too long.

Planning to get in touch with the dentist in the morning to see if I can change antibiotics but not sure if I can do anything else?

Is it normal to feel totally washed out? Last time I felt like this I'd had the flu. Its worrying me a bit but have health anxiety anyway so I'm not sure if I'm freaking out over nothing!

Thanks!

OP posts:
Trumpton · 04/02/2019 19:47

Oh my word !
I had to take this as part of clearing helicobacter and I have never felt so bad in my life!
Foul taste in mouth , extreme anxiousness ( and I am very laid back ) and the most horrifying nightmares !
I really hope I never need to take them again !

Rockbird · 04/02/2019 19:48

Yep, another one who was prescribed it for an abscess. I didn't get any side effects that I'm aware of but I was so relived to not want to saw my own face off that I would have taken any side effects it chose to throw at me!

Magicstar1 · 04/02/2019 19:52

It’s awful stuff...I ended up with oral thrush - my mouth was green! It also made me paranoid and convinced I was about to die. I was in bed crying and terrified I was dying ... I’ve never had anything like it before.

Biggerknickersagain · 04/02/2019 19:55

Very effective at seeing off bugs. Can make you feel like utter crap, nausea, headache and diarrhea were some of the treats I encountered.

But for God's sake don't drink on it or for 48 hours after. It was the singularly most stupid thing I think I've ever done. Childbirth, and gallstones and pancreatitis together didn't compare to the hell that was that weekend. Envy not envy.

MrMeSeeks · 04/02/2019 19:58

Vile. I can manage a single dose but when i was prescribed a weeks dose by day 3 i couldnt take the d&v and the extreme mental case it had turned me into.
Never again, i put up with being ill now.

Floopyandtired · 04/02/2019 19:59

As others have said it’s awful. Made me very sick. Also a word of warning... do not drink for a week or so after finishing the course. You will regret it!

TheCakeCrusader · 04/02/2019 20:01

I asked my dentist to be given this after the initial amoxicillin prescription just wasn’t doing anything for a suspected tooth abscess infection after a week. Within a few days on metronidazole, I could feel the pain/ sensitivity ease up which was a relief as there were concerns about having to extract the tooth if these antibiotics didn’t work. I felt quite tired for the duration of the course and had a weird taste in my mouth but not any other side effects. I just felt grateful that the antibiotics did finally sort out whatever was aggravating this area. Just praying now that my root area will finally settle after the recent cracked tooth/ root canal/ crown! 😬

Stoppedat1 · 04/02/2019 20:03

No ill effects here apart from slight naseua

AwkwardSquad · 04/02/2019 20:07

Had it for a really bad dental abscess, and was on another antibiotic at the same time. Felt pretty rough but the abscess felt a hell of a lot worse. Would have taken pretty much anything to get rid of it, the pain was indescribable.

pantyclaws · 04/02/2019 20:14

No significant ill effects here, or for the 5 other family members who took it as well. I was just glad not to feel quite so hideous from the illness it was treating - it started to work within 24 hours.

MrDarcyWillBeMine · 04/02/2019 20:15

I had it a few months ago for a dental infection. I felt crap- but rapidly less crap than I had when I went to the dentist!

Think people often confuse being unwell with antibiotics making them feel unwell.

Plus it’s one of the only ones I’ve had that hasn’t upset my stomach 🤞🏻

MeredithGrey1 · 04/02/2019 20:18

I was prescribed quite a long course of this (plus another antibiotic) for an infection following a miscarriage and I actually got on ok with it. Bit of a funny tummy (no actual problems, just a bit of discomfort), but other than that I felt fine after the first couple of doses.

Threehoursfromhome · 04/02/2019 20:18

Yeah, it completely wiped me out. I spent about three days in bed. It's effective, though, shifted an abscess that amocyllin couldn't touch.

Don't drink on it. Some people are apparently fine, others are very violently ill. Personally I was too wiped out to even think about drinking.

TooManyPaws · 04/02/2019 20:19

I think you can either get on with it OK or definitely NOT. Due congenital dental and jaw problems, I've lost count of the number of abscesses I've had, to the extent that I could diagnose one as the very start. It's stamped all over my dental and medical records that I am violently allergic to metronidazole now.

I wouldn't agree that the first couple of days are the worst. I got worse and worse until I thought I had real flu and nearly collapsed at work. By this time I had purple blotches all over me, mainly my legs. I got an emergency GP appointment and a change of antibiotic but I still was extremely ill over the weekend. I was given anti-emetics, and I had to phone up out of hours because my asthma was getting bad - I ended up on steroids. A week later, my ankles came up like balloons, hence another emergency GP appointment. Two doctors fretted over my heart until they reckoned that it was another allergic reaction to the metronidazole because that was the only symptom.

I now have ten-day long doses of amoxycillin for dental problems instead.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 04/02/2019 20:26

@Magicstar1 yep, my anxiety has been under control but now I feel really anxious again. Nearly convinced myself I was having a heart attack earlier when I knew it was just reflux (because I burped and brought a load of acid up Envy)

Have nine more doses of this hell but at least my tooth is feeling better Hmm

OP posts:
thesnapandfartisinfallible · 04/02/2019 20:44

As long as you don't drink any alcohol it's fine ime. I'm allergic to penicillin so it's actually my antibiotic of choice for anything that it would be effective on. Never had more than the odd case of the shits on it.

thesnapandfartisinfallible · 04/02/2019 20:48

My dad has taken it quite a few times however and drinks like a fish while taking it and has never even felt queasy. Genetic lottery, I think. Bit like an antidepressant I take, you're either sick as a dog and think you've been poisoned or you're absolutely fine, there's no middle ground.

Original poster
QuestionableMouse · 04/02/2019 21:38

I haven't touched alcohol for at least five years so it can't be that. I'm going to ring for advice in the morning because I have stuff to do and can't spend the rest of the week on the couch like a blob.

OP posts:
Idontbelieveinthemoon · 04/02/2019 21:41

The migraines it gave me were the worst I've ever experienced, I felt like I wanted to headbutt the wall each day. Effective but evil. Like KFC, really.

lola006 · 04/02/2019 21:51

I took it for an abscess back in October with no issues...BUT at a dinner, tasting menu, a dessert came out with whiskey in the sauce that was [apparently] cooked out. I had a raging headache within 15min and felt like shit for a good 24hrs.

Clarich007 · 04/02/2019 21:55

It's horrible OP.
I was on it last month for a dental abscess and it made me feel like crap for 3 or 4 days then I got used to it, but those few days were awful.Stomach ache and nausea dizzy and just feeling off, but it did work.Hang in there, try to take them all but with plenty of food.Hope you feel better soon.

HeathRobinson · 04/02/2019 21:58

It's fine for me. I even had a glass of wine at lunchtime on the day I'd taken my last tablet in the morning. Expected to be sick after I realised...but nothing happened.

sproutsandparsnips · 04/02/2019 22:46

Had it post birth. No problems at all. Took a chance on alcohol as had been 9 months abstinent and it was absolutely fine.

remainymcremainface · 04/02/2019 22:49

I had it for an abscess (not dental) and it was bloody horrible for a couple of days and I thought I would have to stop taking it but just as I was ready to give up it started easing up and not feeling so rotten.

acquiescence · 04/02/2019 22:50

I drank 48 hours after finishing a course and was incredibly sick for around 12 hours, really stupid. I have had it many times for dental infections and it’s a good drug otherwise.