Does this dosage of antibiotics sound right to you?

[LittleNoona]

Dd 14 has had a sore throat, sore neck and sore ear (all left side) and felt tired and queasy for the last 4 days.

Went to get her up for school this morning and she said her throat neck and ear were very painful, worse than the last few days.

Had a look and left tonsil was massive with 2 white patches on it.

Took her to the Gp who took one look and said yep, tonsillitis and prescribed penicillin.

Dd must take 2 tablets, 4 times a day for 10 days. This seems quite a lot, but she hadn't had tonsillitis for years so not sure if that's the norm now?

Also, can she go to school do you think or should I keep her home - she wants to go in on Friday for mufti day!

Hey LittleNoona

I suffered with tonsillitis on and off for years, I would say from the age of 9 through to now at 25. My dosage has varied sometime's it's one tablet 4 times a day and sometime 2 tablet 4 times a day. Other times doc's have refused penicillin as my body could before immune to it (I have refused my tonsils out on a few occasions)

Any time I have been given the 2 tablets 4 times a day it has been a particular bad infection, the last time I was prescribed this was 2010 but have had several prescriptions since which have just been for 1 tablet 4 times a day.

Wouldn't worry about the dosage too much it's probably just quite a bad infection this time round.

Poor wee soul, it really is rotten. Lot's of fluids, regular paracetamol and ibuprofen should help too. hope she is feeling better soon.

x

Sorry for typo's using phone

Various penicillin preparations have differing doses - some are 1 tablet three times a day, others are 2 tabs four times daily, and so on.

It's most likely that the gp has prescribed the most efficacious antibiotic for the tonsillitis and this just happens to be the dosage.

Remember that not only will the gp check this dosage, but also a pharmacist, who will check this against your daughters age, and (if you take her prescriptions to a regular pharmacy) against any other medications that she takes.

I will say though, that if you have any worries or queries, then asking the pharmacist is always a good thing.

Thanks MissWinter

Sorry you suffered so much, it's awful isn't it? I had trouble with mine when I was small - would get a severe bout every 6 weeks and my tonsils became permanently enlarged to the point I couldn't eat solid food.

Had them out when I was 7.

Thanks for the advice

Thanks Tapirs, I should have queried it with the Dr at the time really but the one we saw was very - shall we say pushed for time, but usually she puts everything down to a virus and makes you feel a fool for wasting her time

It depends on the exact type of anti-biotic and the dosage. I usually ask for a 3-a-day type, because it's hard to space the 4-a-day tablets. I always think that if you're ill, getting a good night's sleep is very important, but if you sleep 9-10 hours, it is then hard to fit 4 doses into the remaining 14-15 hours.
I hope your DD feels better soon.

Noona No worries - It's always worth asking - when it comes to your children, or medicines for them, there are no silly questions.

Hope she's better soon!

Depends on the type of AB, and the level in the tablets!
If your unsure, go back to the pharmicist, and question it - it should ahve been picked up then if its an unusually high dose to give.

In my experience it's better to treat tonsilitis for 10 days or 2 weeks. Whenever I've only had a 1 week course, the tonsilitis has come back. Hope she's better soon!

The evidence now is that you need the two tablets 4xdaily(I take it that it is penicillin 250mg tablets or phenoxymethylpenicillin as it is called now)
to kill the bug, and that you need 10 days treatment to stop the excretion and transmission of the bacterium. This guidance was brought in a few years ago when the incidence of scarletina (rash associated with streptococcal throats became more common) in summary your daughter is on the correct dose.