Penicillin for Tonsillitis dosage for DS 6

[Camlinmagic]

Can anyone please help as this is driving me nuts.

My DS 6 came down with fever lethargic and sore throat we were seen by OOH GP who said it's Tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics Penicillin 250mg 5ml 4 times a day for 10 days. Now I was checking my phone and came across his previous prescription for Pharyngitis where the Dr had prescribed Amoxicillin 250mg 10 ml 3 times a day for 7 days.
Now I am thinking did the Dr yesterday do a error for the dose ie the ml 5ml instead of 10 ml.
Any moms out there who's kid has had antibiotics please help me with this. Reason being when he has the amoxicillin dose he got a lot better sooner. And with this Penicillin after 4 doses his throat is no good even the fever is still there and needs Calpol/Nurofen

I am not sure I am making sense but I have tried Googling for this but no info on the per ML (5 or 10 per dose) so I have turned to somewhere I always get answers.

Thank you 🙏

Is it penicillin, PenV? They are different drugs. You can check the names of each one and Google the dosages for children.

Amoxicillin and Penicillin V are different drugs so you can't compare doses of them.

As above there different drugs

Penicillin is specifically for tonsillitis if that helps?

Different drugs, different dosages, different strengths.

The bottle will have how many mg in how many mls. The formula you need is: desired dose/dose on bottle x mls

The drug is Phenoxymethyl-penicillin 250mg/ 5ml

As my son is not better after 4 doses my mind is going in over drive.

OK so the new medicine is PenV, it's a different drug to amoxycillun and tonsillitis is different to pharyngitis.. you can call the doctor again if you don't feel he's getting any better, he's had one day of antibiotics. Poor boy, I hope he feels better soon.

He’s got a different type of infection, he might well take longer to recover. He’s only had 24 hours of antibiotics.

Most tonsillitis is caused by viruses - if his is viral then the antibiotics won't make it resolve any quicker.

Even with antibiotics, most children won't feel better for a few days. It just takes time.

It’s a different drug, it’s not comparable. My DC get tonsillitis all the time and that’s the standard dose for penicillin. Usually it doesn’t seem to get them noticeably better that quickly, it takes time, a couple of days at least. If it’s to be given on an empty stomach follow this by the letter. Hope he feels better soon!

You need penicillin not amoxicillin to eradicate the strep ( if it is indeed bacterial).
The drug and sausage is correct

The dosage is correct for both this prescription and the previous as per the BNF (British National Formulary).
As others have said, different drugs with different dosages. The recommended dose for the previous illness is indeed 500mg (10ml of 250mg/5ml) three times a day. Where dosage for PenV is 250mg (5ml) 4 times a day.

So try not to fret. He's on the right dosage as per his age. It just takes a little longer than a day to get things feeling better and timeliness heavily depend on infection.

As another PP said, it could also be viral in which case you won't see an improvement until it wears out.

Hope he's feeling better soon!

Can I give you an award for the most amusing typo/autocorrect I've seen recently....sausage meant to be dosage? 😬😬😬
(Please don't take offense, it just made me smile).

Two different drugs. So two different dosages. The dose is correct.

4 doses is only 1 day of a 10 day course. Allow at least 3 days for improvements but keep an eye for any worsening. Its a different antibiotic and a different infection. It will be different. Keep going with the calpol/neurofen. Hope he soon feels better 🙂

Thanks everyone ! My son is still awake is scared to sleep as he woke up at 4am today with painful throat and struggling to breathe almost choking and this shock of what he felt went through is making him scared to sleep. And to be honest all of this is making me more scared.

The gp went through a score card to diagnose this as bacterial. Also I think because of high fever spikes suddenly and pus on the tonsils was the cause I think.

Will call our GP surgery tomorrow to speak to a DR just to put my mind at ease.

@Camlinmagic , for goodness sakes you haven’t been to medical school, you are not a doctor. Antibiotics take a time to work, sometimes more than one course is required. If symptoms worsen take your child back to the GP or to the walk in centre.

Tonsillitis is nasty, I suffered a lot with it as a child until mine were taken out. Now my DS is the same with enlarged tonsils.

Ice cream/ yogurt/ cold soft foods can help soothe.

The first couple of nights are rough. I set an alarm to give mine calpol/neurofen when due to stop him waking in more pain. Maybe do this with your son, let him set the alarm with you to reassure him.

You can't compare amoxy with pen as it's a different drug. It's like comparing paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Give the antibiotics time to kick in properly and manage pain with regular para and ibu - both work better accumulatively rather than single doses so keep up the doses for 24/48 hours to manage his pain.

I phoned my GP yesterday to confirm the dose and he said it's right.

But my DS has come down with a cold and bad bad cough since yesterday. He slept during his night last dose of antibiotic last night so when he woke up at 3am this morning I gave him but he vomited the lot due to coughing.

I am just worried that there is a large gap from his last dose. And do kids get cold and cough in Tonsils ?

Don't forget that the antibiotics will only work if he has a bacterial tonsillitis and it is more than likely that the illness is viral.

He’s got a cold and cough because he is run down. You need to wake him at the intervals in the day to give him a dose I think if I’d woken at 3am and given penV I’d puke too it’s nasty stuff. Also if you give it and he vomits pretty much right away you can repeat it. Antibiotics are not a magic cure and they will take time to work, why are you scared? He’s unwell and sore and just feeling fed up but there’s nothing to be scared about.

give regular pain relief, plenty fluids and easy to eat food that he enjoys, usually about 30/50 mins after pain relief. I found ice poles/lollies great for hydration and the ice helps numb things. Lots of couch time and rest. He will get better soon, any worries phone 111/gp but do give the meds a few days to work

@Lemonade2011
Thanks for your support
I am being honest here. I wasn't so worried until this morning but when I read in todays news about a little 5 year boy when he came down with sore throat and the Dr gave him antibiotics for Tonsillitis but in 3 days he got pneumonia and sadly was lost. This happened in Bradford in 2022. And this news is very very sad and was in tears. That's why I am sacred.

@yikesanotherbooboo
Today I am a little low and feeling run down I think I am also feeling feverish and getting a scratchy throat. My DH has caught DS cold since yesterday. So we are also thinking that this may be viral. But will continue with the antibiotics.