Please double check this, OP. I just came on to say that you must read the instructions on the sheet inside the box carefully as I'm pretty sure that whatever you do, you must take it with something and definitely not lie down afterwards but remain upright. I have a strong memory of taking an antibiotic (I'm almost certain it was doxycycline) a few years ago; it was the morning dose and I was so sick that I just took it with a mouthful of water and lay back down in bed. Lying down caused oesophagal 'burns' and it was SO painful and took some time to heal. DP, whose work involves administering medication, knew exactly what had happened and could point to the line in the fact sheet which stated, with unambiguous clarity, that each dose must be taken upright and that one ought not to lie down for X period after taking a dose.
I also experienced photosensitivity, including when driving at night with dazzling lights, as well as some tingling and prickling in my fingers. It all wore off after some time.
The dose got rid of a very persistent infection when nothing else had worked.
Another word of warning, more generally, about antibiotics: please take the full course, and seek GP advice and reassurance as opposed to stopping the course if you experience side effects. We have so few effective antibiotics left and it is all of our responsibility to protect their integrity and guard against antibiotic resistance -one of the ways we ensure efficacy is to complete courses. I hear people express the misconception that antibiotic resistance is an individual thing -that it the patient that develops antibiotic resistance when taking antibiotics incorrectly. This is incorrect: antibiotic resistance refers to how an antibiotic becomes less effective for all of us as the spectrum of bacteria it is designed to treat becomes resistant and learns to 'work around' the prescribed antibiotic when inconsistent use allows, rendering it ineffective and allowing infection to persist unchecked. Subsequent infection by the same pathogen in other individuals carries the risk of prescribed antibiotics not working, which is terrifying, given how much we need reliable antibiotics in medicine, not just in general practice.
Also, re penicillin allergy. Please don't dice with this: if you've already experienced adverse reactions to a course of penicillin, chances are they will be exacerbated by future exposure and you could become seriously unwell, necessitating stopping the course and thus compromising the efficacy of penicillin in terms of antibiotic resistance. I'm allergic to penicillin and learnt my lesson when ignoring the itchy hives I'd experienced during a previous course, and ended up with a very severe reaction following a new prescription some years later. I was told by hospital staff that I must never take penicillin again.