How To Ensure Your Antibiotics Work

By Author: Steven Johnson
Total Articles: 490
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Antibiotics seem pretty straightforward: you take them, for however long and often it says on the package, and you're bacterial infection goes away. However it may seem, there's a lot more to it than most people know. So what happens if you mess it up?
The medicine doesn't work!
1. You waste your money. You've got to buy and take more, and different, antibiotics.
2. You've still got the infection, so you suffer on until you resolve it.
3. The bacteria may become resistant to antibiotics. You have to resort to a more extreme treatment, which may have worse side effects.
With this in mind, it seems worth it to be careful to use antibiotics correctly.

Where to go wrong
The most common way that people mess up when taking antibiotics? Not taking the entire prescription. They go through maybe half the bottle or packet, start feeling better, the symptoms go away, and they leave the rest in the cabinet for next time.
The problem is, if you don't take it all, the next time is going to be very soon. When you're feeling sick, it's as if the bacteria are in your face, taunting you. ...
... Then, when you start to feel better, they are just hiding. They're playing dead. Don't be fooled! They will regroup and come back stronger than ever!
The worst thing about bacteria: they learn their lesson. It's like Sun Tzu says, show your enemy no mercy, because they learn your tactic and come back stronger. In other words, bacteria develop immunities to antibiotics. It may not be so easy to kill them the next time around. Furthermore, if you pass your infection on, you could be passing on an antibiotic-resistant strain, which could cause some serious problems. Doctors hate these people.
Be on the lookout for drug interactions as well. There are a great number of antacids that can ruin the efficacy of antibiotics. Most antacids work by binding stomach acid, and they do this using aluminum, magnesium calcium, and carbon. However, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, etc, can also bind the antibiotics and render them ineffectual. They will not work!
In fact, avoid as much as possible the minerals calcium and iron, such as the supplements, as well as bismuth subsalicylate, (AKA Pepto Bismol). These things will prevent your antibiotics from being absorbed in the intestine.
For reference, do not take the following medicines while on antibiotics:
- Mylanta
- Maalox
- Tums
- Rolaids
- Pepto Bismol
Certain drugs are known to ramp up the destruction of the antibiotic Doxycycline, stopping it from working. Among these are:
- Phenytoim (Dilantin)
- Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
- Barbiturates (Phenobarbital)
For your safety, you should talk to a doctor before mixing antibiotics and warfarin (Coumadin). They will increase the potency of warfarin and cause intense bleeding. Your doctor may choose to reduce the dose of warfarin.
Doxycycline may be taken with meals because the absorption is not significantly reduced by food. The medication is generally taken once to twice daily for a week or two, with an initial 200mg dose for the first day, then two 50mg doses twice a day for the remainder of the medicated period.