Been told I can take more antibiotics than it says on the label - is this safe ?

[bringmeashrubbery]

Am taking 500mg Erythromycin for a nasty infection in my wisdom tooth. It says 3 times daily on the label but the dentist said I could take 4 daily if I wanted. Is this safe ? She did say it was a particularly bad infection and might not be cleared up with this first lot of tablets.

Any advice much appreciated as I nervous about taking too many tablets - can you od on antibiotics ?

I'd nip into Boots and ask the pharamcist - 500mg ery qd sounds pretty normal but I wouldn't want to presume to give medical advice...

Thanks

Does anyone else have any advice ? If not I will take up MrsB's suggestion and ask a pharmacist...

Just consulted my copy of the British National Formulary, which states the dose for adults and children over 8 years is '250-500mg every 6 hours'.

Hey thanks stringbean. By that reckoning I should be ok to take 4 in 24hrs, one every 6hrs, it'll be the max dosage though...

Glad you got to the dentists! Hope the antibiotics help!

Hi Belgo - thanks for your advice yesterday. The emergency dentist winced when she saw it - she said it's pretty bad and the tooth will need to come out once the infection has gone...sigh - I thought I was over wisdom teeth - I'm 39 fgs - they're supposed to come through in your 20s aren't they ?