antibiotics a good idea?
96044
It depends on the seriousness.  If it is not serious, let it run its course and take all your little goldenseal/echinacea,/cayenne/garlic/etc pills.  If it is serious, you should always see a doctor and follow their prescription.
1082860
Nope, natural selection/evolution leads to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. No antibiotic is perfect. If we wipe some out, there would still be some left.
587674
just go to wikipedia and search antibiotics.
553090
First of all, antibiotics will only work against a bacterial infection, not viral.  It's possible the doctor wanted to confirm that this was bacterial pneumonia (yes, there is also viral pneumonia).  \n\nSo, you may be wondering, "Why not give antibiotics either way, just to be safe?"\n\nUnfortunately, the wanton distribution of antibiotics for every little sniffle that came into a doctor's office is responsible for creating some very strong bacteria today.  The overuse of antibiotics has caused the bacteria to evolve and become stronger and more resistant to antibiotic treatment.  Your doctor is probably doing the right thing by withholding antibiotic treatment initially.
901147
I've never heard of such a reaction with antibiotics.  It doesn't even make sense for such a reaction to occur.  It's weird.
783650
Start eating yogurt.  If you need to go on antibiotics you will have some protection from the side effects.
280222
It should actually take a few months to heal if you have a good antibiotic regimen and then follow that up with some exercise and healthy eating habits.
7037
You probably shouldn't.  Infections are a bad thing....
350623
if u had asked this question 50 yrs back doctors would have been in real trouble. but now loads of other options are available... quinolones e.g. ciprofloxacin, macrolides e.g. erythromycin, cephalosporins e.g. cefradin, ceftriaxone... the list goes on. however, choice of antibiotic depends on the nature of the organism, i.e. the bacteria. we live in a age of scientific excellence baby, at least in some fields!
264409
Quite dangerous.  If he is strong and healthy he may recover with antibiotics, but also may not.
909740
No: The extra antibiotic will just go to waste, apart from maybe making you feel even sicker. It is supposed to be poisoning the bacteria that are making you bad, but it is no use you taking it faster than they can absorb it. Also, it is likely to wipe out the symbiotic bacteria that your gut needs to digest properly, giving you the squits big time. Alcohol neutralises a lot of antibiotics, giving the infection a fresh start, with germs that you have just selected for antibiotic resistance, so you will need an even longer course of pills to get yourself right. Finish your pills and lay off the drink, like the doctor said.
188599
That particular antibiotic may not be effective for your ear infection. Please don't use it - especially if it is expired. It is best to see your doctor for the appropriate med.
440412
It is generally a good idea to refrigerate all antibiotics in ampules or pills if the temperature is likely to get above 30 deg C. It can do no harm and greatly increases shelf life for most medications.
749254
take them, and try to do it according to the original schedule. you should take the whole course because if you don't, all you do is make the germ, whatever it may be, resistant to the drug you're taking, and when it comes back, you'll have to get something else to cure it. This is why they only give penicillin for strep throat now, everything else has become resistant to it coz of people only taking part of their anitbiotics
954483
Antibiotics are making things worse because they have been overused and used to combat viruses, which doesn't work.  The oversued antibiotics kill off the weaker bacteria, leaving room and food for the stronger, more dangerous bacteria that are more likely to cause grave illnesses or kill people.\n\nThe most important means to control infection is, and always has been, frequent hand washing.
690829
You may want to try Acidophilus. My 7yr old daughter had re-occurring infections from antibiotics and suffered for years until finally a Pediatrician told us to take Acidophilus to put the natural balance back in order. GNC is the only place that I've found that carries a chewable form, but you can also get the pill form at WalMart. I now treat every infection with only this product. I take up to eight chewables 2x's daily. It restores the balance within one day. These are not medications, but the natural bacteria that keep things in check in our bodies.
1002406
it is ridiculous and rather anal retentive for you to ask for references when you are asking for a person's opinion.\n\ncan't educated people give their insight without looking up the insight of other educated people?  where do you think they got theirs?  eventually it goes back to common sense and personal observations.  if your point is to bring YA! out of the dumps of misspellings and "i don't know, but thanks for the points!" answers, i respect that, but it won't happen overnight and it won't happen on questions like this just because you stick your signature addendum to the end.\n\nif you absolutely must have sources, you shouldn't put so much faith in internet links.  anyone can put anything on the internet and pass it off as fact.  do you believe them because their site design is superb, or because they pretend to be a physician?  if you want online sources, find them at google scholar or pub med.  even wikipedia is riddled with errors.  if you want better sources, try your doctor's office for medical journals, or your local library, or ask specific questions to an expert.\n\n\nas for answering your question....\n\nfirst, antibiotics are not the cure for a bacterial infection, they are only part of the cure.  the other part is the immune system.  if you use enough antibiotic to kill every last bit of the infection, you'll also kill most or all of the beneficial strains of bacteria which we need.  most bacteria found in the human body are beneficial or harmless bacteria.  very few actually make people sick.  but antibiotics will kill any bacteria that is structurally similar to the target infective strain.  as a result, the helpful bacteria may be wiped out and the person will feel worse as they can't perform certain body functions without bacteria.  so usually you take a dose of antibiotic three times a day to wipe out most of the parent cells (or just prevent them from reproducing), and then let your immune system concentrate it's efforts on the remaining harmful bacteria.  a few days worth of treatment will make the person feel much better, but if there is even one cell of resistant bacteria, the infection can come back as that cell reproduces exponentially.  the infection will be harder to beat the second time.  so continuing treatment for several days after improvement is noted is an extra precaution.  (source: any introductory biology text)\n\nmedicine is expensive.  when people are really sick, they don't work and therefore don't earn money.  (if they aren't really sick, they are less likely to seek medical care and therefore won't receive a prescription for antibiotics.)   if they don't start to feel better within a couple of days they probably have a resistant strain of bacteria (or their immune system is compromised) and need to switch to a more expensive, stronger antibiotic.  (source: medical statistics, bacterial life cycle for whatever specific strain interests you, common sense)  if there is no need for additional medication, why push for it?  it's a waste of money at best, and a way for the individual's condition to deteriorate, at worst.\n\nthe point is, if you start to feel a lot better two days after starting the medication, and completely normal within three days... taking antibiotics for twenty-seven more days will not provide more benefit than taking it seven more days, and will probably have negative consequences with regards to helpful bacteria.  just because you feel better, though, doesn't mean your infection is gone.  one bacterium doesn't make a person feel sick.  but one bacterium can turn into a million bacteria very quickly.  for example, under optimum conditions, escherichia coli can divide every 20 minutes.\n\nso let's say you have one e.coli cell.  in twenty minutes you have two.  in two hours you have over 4 billion.  so the antibiotic just makes the conditions less than optimum, either preventing