Does the fact I still have a cough after a week of Antibs means its viral?

[headfairy]

I went to see the GP last Monday after two weeks of a really nasty cough.... Producing lots of green foul tasting phlegm and wheezing badly. He said I had a chest infection and put me on a course of amoxicillin. In my state last week I thought he put me on 500mg 3x a day, the pharmacist gave me 250mg tabs but I didn't query it because I felt so rough.

I finished the course on Friday and still had a slight cough, but I think it's getting worse again. The hard, green, foul tasting phlegm is back and my chest feels really tight.

I didn't think the GP would prescribe antibs if he didn't think it was bacterial... But does the fact it's coming back mean it was viral all along or the Antibs didnt work?

Should I go back? I did feel the GP thought I was being a bit pathetic as I didn't have a temp. Still no temp, and it's not stopping me sleeping, but I can't walk to the end of the road without collapsing in a coughing fit.

Go back, if the gp thought it was bacterial and the antibiotics didn't work, you may need a longer course or a different antibiotic.

You probably should have been put on a macrolide like clarithromycin as well as the amoxil, and it would have helped if the GP/pharmacist hadn't given you a child's dose in the first place.

We're seeing a lot of this in secondary care - homeopathic doses of older penicillins from our incredibly up-to-date colleagues in leather elbow patch land. I think they're actually on a mission to produce as much drug resistance as possible.

You a pharmacist bruxeur? I didn't want come across as some kind of raving hyperchondriac but it feels like its creeping up my throat too, I now officially croak instead of speaking.

The GP may well have prescribed 250mg amoxicillin... I didn't read the px too closely. I did think he was fobbin me off a bit, he said I should really have waited another week to see if it cleared up in its own, but when you work full time with two small children, who's got another week to sit around unable to walk upstairs for wheezing?

Please go back to the doctor, you are not a raving hypochondriac, your symptoms show the antibiotic wasn't strong enough to kill it. You should have been given stronger ones. Good luck, get well soon.