Amoxicillin is one of the well-known medicines that are used to treat bacterial infections and linked problems. It’s an antibiotic of its own kind that stops the growth and production of bacteria in the body causing infection or disease. The important point to consider is, Amoxicillin can only be used to treat the bacterial infections it is not workable for viral infections such as common cold, flu, and other issues. It mostly helps in treating the intestinal or stomach issues like ulcers caused by bacteria and others.
This is one of the delicate drugs that are highly recommended to be used after getting a proper prescription from the doctor. This helps a patient to have an accurate amount of the drug and avoiding the overdoes. It is not necessary that in any bacterial infection this drug can be prescribed with the same amount and type. The doctor needs to go through a few medical histories of the patient in order to make the accurate prescription of the medicine.
What to share with the doctor?
If you are going through any of bacterial function then make sure you will share your complete medical history including all the medications prescribed or non-prescribed with the doctor. Moreover, do not forget to share your allergies or any chronic disease you are or were facing in the past.
This share if history will help you to get the accurate prescription that you need to use for the defined time and at the end, you need to meet the doctor for sure. It is necessary to complete your treatment once with the drug as skipping it in between can lead you to have the infection again in the future.
Moreover, you can follow the detailed guide about the Amoxicillin given below to make the right use of the drug and avoid any kind of its side effects.
Directions for use
It is highly recommended to take Amoxicillin as per doctor's prescription after getting a proper diagnosis of the problem. Taking the medicine without prescription as can lead you to have some of the serious outcomes that are not welcomed. You can take the medication orally with or without food just as mentioned in your prescription.
The dosage of the medication is prescribed by the doctor based on infection and the patient's condition. Moreover, the dosage is decided as per the age of the patient to avoid any side effect of the medication. It is recommended to continue the medicine until the next prescription or the prescribed amount is completed. Skipping the medicine or leaving it half way can lead to some adverse reactions or could cause the infection to prevail again.
Make sure to take Amoxicillin in the fixed timing as it helps quick recovery and eliminates the chances of any miss outs. It is recommended to drink plenty of water while you are on the medication, it will keep the body hydrated and lets the medicine to be dissolved and circulated in the whole body evenly.
Possible side effects
Commonly when the medication is used as per the prescription there are no side effects recorded on a larger scale. It is a prescription medication so the patient will have an accurate amount of medicine as per the condition. The common side effects that can be observed are nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. In case of facing any such issue, it is recommended to consult the doctor immediately. It is necessary for you to take the medicine only for the prescribed period. In case of prolonged usage, the results will be an oral or viginal infection.
The medication causes some rare conditions with intestine that is associated with diarrhea. Commonly this happens during the treatment or after weeks after treatment as well. This is solely related to a patient body's response to the medication. In some cases, the drug can cause some serious allergic reactions such as dizziness, trouble breathing, rashes, itching, and swelling on face, throat, or tongue.
In the mild reactions of the Amoxicillin is a little rash on the body that cannot be defined as the severe condition. These can be treated in time with a little medical help. If you are facing any of such reactions after taking Amoxicillin, it is suggested to quit the usage and consult for medical help immediately. Moreover, all of the above mentioned are not all the side effects come up from the Amoxicillin. There can be many other conditions faced by the patients based on their body type and nature..
Precautions to take
In order to avoid any diverse effect from the use of Amoxicillin, it is suggested to follow some of the effective precautions:
- Let your doctor know about any kind of allergies you have from the Amoxicillin or any other antibacterial medications.
- Do mention your doctor if have every taken Amoxicillin to treat the bacterial infection previously and share the medical conditions you had previously.
- If you ever have any viral infection or a history of kidney disease, do let your doctor know about it. As in the case of having such medical history the use of the drug is prohibited or requires some careful considerations.
- Sometimes the use of the drug can cause other live bacterial vaccinations to not work. So, it is better to consult your doctor before taking any immunization while having the treatment from Amoxicillin.
- If you are going to have surgery, make sure to discuss the prescribed and even non prescribed medications with the doctor. As this helps in keeping the other body requirements controlled in the first place.
- If you are expecting or about of conceiving then make sure to discuss the matter with doctors while getting the prescription for the Amoxicillin. During pregnancy, this can put an effect on the fetus and body as well. So all the points should be discussed in detail.
- The essence of Amoxicillin passes through breast milk and can be transferred to the kid as well. Doctor's consultation is necessary for you before breastfeeding the child.
- Moreover, it is directed not to take an overdose of the Amoxicillin while on treatments. You need to avoid any chances of overdose.
- Do not skip the medication or quit while in between the treatment neither prolong the use of medication for a long time without a prescription.
- Always visit your doctor when the prescribed amount of medication is completed before taking the next one.
- In all antibacterial treatments, it is necessary to get done with the whole treatment in the one go. This helps to avoid any chance of future damage or prolonged infection as well.
Interaction with other medications
- Generally, any medication when mixed or interacted with any other medicine will have some of its own reactions. It is necessary for you to discuss all the medication or supplements you are taking before getting the prescription for the Amoxicillin.
- Amoxicillin does have its own reactions on interaction with other medications even with the herbal products as well. It is necessary to avoid the risk for serious side effects to discusses the medications with the doctor. When you start taking Amoxicillin, do not quit, start or change the dose of the other medication you are taking and had discussed with the doctor. Neither to start any other medicine without discussing with the doctor. It is necessary to share any of the side effects or reactions you are facing with the use of the medicine.
- Methotrexate can react with the Amoxicillin and will put some effects on your body. So, avoid taking product directly or in combination with any other product as well.
- Commonly antibiotics do not affect the hormonal birth control methods such as pills, patch or ring. But, a few of the family can slow down the impact of birth control pills and results in the pregnancy. If you can take the hormonal birth control pills then make sure to discuss it with your doctor and take other pregnancy control measures other than pills.
- In some cases, Amoxicillin could have an impact on the lab tests related to diabetic urine testing and others. It is important to let the lab attendant know about the use of drug while giving samples for the test. This can help in taking measures with the lab test and evaluating the results conditionally.
Remedies in case of overdose
- In case of taking an overdose of Amoxicillin, it is highly recommended to consult the doctor or get the medical help.
- If you feel nausea or wants to let it out then do not hold the feeling, in fact, try to light on yourself.
- In the case of feeling, dizziness prefers not to drive or operate any machine, in fact, take help from any person near you.
- The excessive use of medicine can directly affect your kidneys and liver functions that need to be rescued in the first place.
- Make sure to take the medicine at the fixed timings and avoid taking an overdose.
- In case of missing out any dosage, it is recommended to skip the missed one and take the next one as per schedule. Do not take an extra dose to match the skipped one as this can risk your health overall.
Storage of Amoxicillin
To store Amoxicillin in the best manner it is recommended to keep it as a dry and cool place. Commonly, the drug can be good to be placed at the room temperature. Amoxicillin from different brands does have different storage requirements that are mentioned on the package. You can follow the directions of storage to avoid any further issues.
It is suggested to have the required amount of the medication with you. Having excessive of the medication is not a good idea.
In the case of quitting the use of Amoxicillin with the doctor's prescription do not flush the medication. Make sure to reach out the pharmacist to check the options for the disposal or consult the local waste disposal company for more details. Make sure to have safe disposal of the medication in order to avoid any further issues.
Some good habits
When you are dealing with Amoxicillin make sure to adopt some of the good habits that can help you with quick recovery and avoid any side effects. This is necessary to adopt these good habits with medicine so you will have a healthy and longer life.
Keep the record of prescription
You should have a file maintained of all the prescriptions given by the doctor. In addition to that make sure to keep the record of all your progress during the intake of Amoxicillin. This will help you in the future to present the doctors as your medical record. On the other hand, you can consider the same habit for any other medication or treatment.
Keep it personalized
Medicine is the personal matter and these are not to be shared with anyone. Even if you have someone with a similar condition you are not supposed to share the prescription. This will not be a help to the other person but another kind of threat.
Read the labels
It is good to read the labels of the medicines that are provided by the manufacturers. This will help you to know some of the important facts about medicine. You can simply take some precautions and can discuss the questions with the pharmacists or doctor in case of any question.
Consider the dates
To ensure your safety, make sure you will pay attention to the manufacturing and expiry dates of the drug. Moreover, some medications are directed to be used within a specific time and that is directed by the manufacturers. So, consider the date to avoid any issues with the use of the medication.
Store it properly
To avoid missing out any dose you can use the medicine planners that this will help you to go good with taking the medicine. Make sure you will keep it out of reach of children in a cool and safe place.