To have never realised why people don't finish their antibiotics?

[WhoWants2Know]

Every time I hear antibiotics discussed, it's always with the warning that "You must keep taking them until they're finished, even if you start to feel better." Otherwise super germs, etc.

I always thought it was strange that they have to keep emphasising that point, and wondered why someone wouldn't just follow the doctor's instructions.

But then I never really needed antibiotics much... Until now. And they're actually bloody awful, aren't they?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about not being dead or in pain. But the cure involves feeling like I swallowed drain cleaner for a fortnight.

@PineForestsAndSunshine

I had the misfortune to be prescribed Erythromycin some years ago. I was literally unable to keep it down so they switched me to a different antibiotic which I was able to complete a full course of.

Might be worth asking to switch rather than suffering needlessly

Me too. I had the embarrassment of having to ring my dad as I was panicking I was going to faint on the loo and knock myself out on the sink, whilst being ill from both ends. That’s wasn't pleasant for either of us when he got there within 5 minutes to find 50 year old me on the loo with my knickers around my ankles! He had to clear up sick in the living room too!

Not an experience I ever want to repeat!

@deadlanguage

I’ve never had any problems with antibiotics per se but I’m rubbish at taking medications in general because you’re usually meant to take them with food and every so many hours but I’m so chaotic (suspected adhd - total lack of daily routine) that I don’t eat to the schedule and end up not taking them

I feel your pain ☹️ It’s hellish. I know of someone who is diagnosed with Autism and highly functional in the sense that she holds down a job and the government send her someone to help her do food shopping and cooking, clothes washing, cleaning her home. I don’t know how she advocated for this help but she’s very confident and smart so maybe she just asked nicely and insisted, no idea. She was part of a training course on Autism for care workers, teaching us about what it’s like to live with it. I wish I was as functional as her, she seemed so in control and ‘on it’, I was very jealous 😭

Thrush, every time
I think I've had about 70 courses of antibiotics

Yep i hate them! Always get thrush or the shits !

Antibiotics always make me feel awful. Some kinds more than others. They are really not good for you in other ways. I mean, I’m grateful for them otherwise I probably would be missing limbs or died of a sepsis by now but they really alter your microbiome and scientists are only just discovering how much of an important role your microbiome has in your overall health. It’s suggested that it has a considerable impact on your mental health as well, which is part of the reason why you feel in a very low mood when you’re ill.

If you’re having that much discomfort, @WhoWants2Know, it very well could be that you’re allergic to the particular antibiotic your GP gave you.
I can’t tolerate erythromycin, for example.

Banana flavoured wee.

I couldnt remember the last time I was prescribed antibiotics, so checked my NHS AP, and can see in May 2019 I was prescribed Doxycycline 100mg capsules along with Prednisolone 5MG and a Salbutamol inhaler (I am not asthmatic) but I had a bad chest infection following a cold (been off work for 2 weeks and it wasnt getting any better) so they measured my oxygen and took my peak flow and then prescribed all the above. I didnt feel bad on the medication and it cleared up my chest infection so I finished the course, I do wonder if the steroids prevented me feeling bad on the antibiotics though as my friend who had the same ones said she felt horrendous on them

I've never had problems when taking antibiotics. Is it possible your current illness is making you feel as you do, like swallowing drain cleaner?

I need to phone doctor tomorrow for some. Looking forward to it now not. But getting back to issue, I worked with a woman who never let her son finish the full amount she would keep some back for the next time he needed them. I tried to explain why that wasn't a good idea but got yelled at as she new what she was doing. Can't argue with stupid

Had various antibiotics over the years and can't say I've ever experienced any side effects.

Even the dreaded Metronidazole was fine for me. Had to take it twice last year, with amoxicillin for a gum infection and had no side effects 🤷‍♀️.

I'm lucky in that I've never had side effects from antibiotics, in fact, on the two times I've taken them (once with foliculitus and the other with a tooth infection) I've had almost miraculous and instant results. That was enough for me to finish the course, knowing I didn't want to suffer as I was.

Probiotics are meant to be good whilst taking antibiotics apparently.

Being repeatedly ill since childhood and having antibiotics at least twice a year, I hate taking them along with other medications.

I've had zero issues taking them. Last course was prescribed 6 hourly though, that was annoying as I was pregnant at the time and sleeping a solid 10-11 hours at night.

Doxycycline. Work of the devil

I’ve only taken them for a urinary tract infection and trust me you want to take every pill because UTI,s are so horrendous.

@WhoWants2Know I had metronidazole after a nasty infection post c-section. Horrible, horrible metal taste in the mouth and baby wouldn't drink much being BF while I was on them either.

@MissConductUS

What AB are you taking? They're well tolerated by most patients.

Exactly - well tolerated by 'most' not all, meaning some feel shit when taking them.

Antibiotics do alter your gut flora so you need to take a good probiotic that helps during and well after . Medicines are helpful but have some side effects, some of them minor.
I have had Covid for four days now with very high temperature and I have to take Ibuprofen. I have to eat well before or I have to take something to protect my stomach as I feel awful

Erythromycin makes me throw up like a horror movie, spent an entire weekend with my head in a bucket from it. Nitrofuarantin has damaged the nerves in my legs so badly I need a wheelchair, it should be banned.

@Vimto1991

They always give me a bad stomach so I take them to the point the virus seems to be gone rather than finishing the whole bunch. :/

It totally feels like the sensible thing to do, to avoid taking unnecessary medication. As I understand it, though, the reasoning behind finishing the course is this: you might be feeling lots better because the infection is almost gone, but there could be a few of the bacteria left, hiding out somewhere, that it would take a couple of days more of antibiotics to wipe out. And those few that are left are the ones that are the best at surviving when there's antibiotics around. So if you don't take antibiotics for long enough, you can end up with the infection coming back, except this time, all the germs are descended from the ones that are really good at resisting antibiotics. (And incidentally, your doctor shouldn't be giving you antibiotics for a virus, because you'll get all the side effects but it won't actually do anything against viruses.)

Having said that: dear God, cephalexin, the SMELL 🤮🤮🤮

I realised in my 20s that Erythromycin makes me ill. I get extreme nausea, acidic stomach and shivers and feel like I have gastric flu. I don’t take them anymore. No other antibiotic has that effect on me.

@MyCatIsAJerk

If you’re having that much discomfort, *@WhoWants2Know*, it very well could be that you’re allergic to the particular antibiotic your GP gave you. I can’t tolerate erythromycin, for example.

I don't think it's an allergy, because the things I'm experiencing are mostly listed in the medication leaflet that came with them. I think it's just that they're designed to make the body inhospitable to bacteria, and it's an uncomfortable process. Plus you lose your beneficial gut bacteria, which makes digestion more uncomfortable.

One of the leaflets made me chuckle, as it said "be sure to talk to your doctor if you start to see or hear things that aren't there." How would I know?

Big bunnies

@Manicsfan

Within 36 hours of starting antibiotics, the sides of my feet get itchy. The next day tiny spots, hundreds of them come up on palms of my hands and feet. The spots burst, skin breaks on my knuckles, takes a few months to heal, really sore and unsightly. So I really avoid them even when I get infections, which are frequent due to a health condition- and when I really need them, only take for 2 days. This happens with fluclox, doxycycline and one other I can't remember. Docs don't seem to know why or seem that interested. I'd love to get to bottom of it.

I had that with penecillin and was told it was an allergic reac tion and never to have it again.