What are the problems with randomly taking antibiotics?

[megnog]

I spoke to my mum today who told me she has come down with a bad cold or flu like bug. She has booked herself into the doctors, but not until tomorrow. In the mean time, she's decided to start popping some antibiotics she's got lying around the house, because 'the sooner you get on top of these things, the better'.

Now... I tried gently explaining to her that if she has a virus, the antibiotics won't do anything. Also, that randomly taking antibiotics is not good, since it kills all the bacteria in your body in one fell swoop, which can leave you vulnerable to other infections and tummy upsets - she replied, 'Well, I'll have some actimels then'. Argh! I commented that it wasn't as simple as that... then just couldn't think why.

I have since thought that actimel will only replace the bacteria in the gut that actimel contains, and not all the others that are needed for health... but are there any other reasons?

This isn't the first time she's done this, she seems to think it's a perfectly logical way of behaving (she's also on quite a lot of medication for a heart condition and underactive thyroid...). Perhaps I'm being too overprotective of her, and should just let her get on with it? I don't mind you telling me this if you think it is the case.

Personally I do feel that taking any old antibiotics willy nilly is stupid, and would like to discourage her from it, but would like to be armed with a few more facts...

Any ideas?

Not really ideal or helpful behaviour - random antibiotics around the house could be for anything - urine infection, skin infection and the likelyhood is she has a virus anyway.

The problem with overuse of antibiotics is that bugs can build resistance to them and we end up with "superbugs" - MRSA type senario.

For example - the SA bit of MRSA is a naturally occuring bacteria that lives on our skin. If I was to swab yours, mine or anyones skin we would likely grow it. Over the years antibiotics have been used so much there is now a strain called Methicillin Resistant (MR bit) that is resistant to most antibiotics and so treating an infection that has MRSA is extremely difficult as it won't respond to most antibiotics.

If we continue to use antibiotics unneccessarily this problem with get worse with more and more super bugs appearing.

Hope that makes sense.

Ah yes! Thanks Wallaroo, that's the kind of thing I was thinking about. However, I'm sure she'll think that this doesn't apply to her...

AB's are usually specifically for individual complaints - chest infection, UTI etc and therefore won't necessarily work for everything. Why has she got old pills - she should finish the course prescribed, not just stop taking them. If they are old they are probably past their use by date and therefore not very effective. More importantly though, they could interact adversely with the medication she is already on, either making that ineffectual, or causing a bad reaction. She must stop doing this! Poor you, I don't think you are being over protective at all.

Antibiotics also act in certain ways and are also specific to groups of different types of bacteria so that's one reason if an antiboiotic has been prescribed and isn't working the gp will change it,or after lab growth and analysis of any relevant bacteria may give you another one to take. Anyway, you have to finish a course of antibiotics and not stop before to ensure all sensitive bacteria are killed as those that are not can evolve ways to do things through a different chemical pathway so that they are not effected by the antibiotic anymore. As Wallaroo mentioned about the MRSA, it's because the resistant strain of bacteria has another protein which isn't afected by the antibiotic used to kill MSSA. I except its acse of feeling better for taking ation so maybe she could try other things like taking zinc and vitamin C effervescent tablets until she's seen by gp.