Antibiotics- How much is too much? (My Question)
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Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 3:48pm
Topic: Antibiotics- How much is too much? (My Question)
Posted By: hachiban08
Subject: Antibiotics- How much is too much? (My Question)
Date Posted: May 13 2018 at 10:14pm
Hi guys! Sorry for the lack of posting! I've been busy doing photography things. Anyway! A couple of days ago, I snagged a hangnail on something and it ripped. It seems that it caused a somewhat painful abscess, so I went to Kaiser urgent care in Central Orange County, today to get treated. I've never had this happen before, so I figured I might as well get it checked out. Anyway, the doctor lacerated and squeezed the abscess without numbing medicine (luckily I have a high pain tolerance and didn't feel the laceration anyway, despite the squeezing hurting a bit). He took a sample of the pus, and then disappeared for a while. When he came back, he gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I mean I figured it was going to call for some or some sort of ointment anyway. However, when I go to fill the prescription, I come to find out that it's 500 mg 4x a day for 10 days (20,000mg in 10 days).
Is that a bit of overkill? Honest question? I've never taken that much antibiotics in one given day or in general, so I'm a bit confused. Did he think it was staphylococcus aureus or what? He also told me to soak my hand in Epsom salt 2-3x a day, so I'm doing that as well. I hope the abscess doesn't return 😷
Also, I hope everyone has been well! Thanks for reading💜
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Be prepared! It may be time....^_^v
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Replies:
Posted By: Technophobe
Date Posted: May 14 2018 at 12:55am
What antibiotic was it? the doses differ according to the nastiness of the bug and the effectiveness of the antibiotic.
To draw a parallel, without the additional variation of the bug itself: heroin/fentanyl. Both are opoids of similar construction. But heroin (diamorphine) doses are mesured in milligrams and fentanyl in microgrammes. That huge difference of scale is one of the reasons fentanyl killed so many. Another reason was serum persistance which differs widely between drugs.
Antibiotics are the same and then some bugs are tougher to shift than others. To be sure, even the medical staff among us would need to know for certain which bug [maybe even test it under lab conditions for resistance to an antibiotic selection] it was and whether or not there was an exceptionally nasty strain infecting people in your neighbourhood.
Finally, there is a special set of rules for dosing with antibiotics. All drugs have side effects, so the lowest dose possible is usually best. But with antibiotics, there is the additional consideration of encouraging resistance. The higher the dose, the faster the bugs are removed and therefore the chances of a resistant strain emerging from this intervention are more reduced.
I think, the only sensible approach, is to rely on the doctor to have got it right; unless, of course, there is a nasty reaction or the bug comes back. If that happens then a second opinion IN PERSON is advised.
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving.
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Posted By: hachiban08
Date Posted: May 14 2018 at 1:12am
Hi Techno! Thanks for replying and for the comparison. This particular antibiotic is called Cephalexin 500mg (it's the generic for Keflex). I've never used this one before since I almost always am given doxycycline or azithromycin. I'm hoping this sticks. Rather not need another abscess draining. One was already too many. 😷
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Be prepared! It may be time....^_^v
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Posted By: Technophobe
Date Posted: May 14 2018 at 1:26am
I had to look that one up. I am not so up on cephalosporins. It treats staph and strep infections including the pyrogenes strains (covers a wide range of nasties) and works by stopping the bacteria from reproducing - giving your immune system time to kill them all off. It has a short serum time, that is why it has to be taken every 6 hours.
full details are here: https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-11757/cephalexin-oral/details" rel="nofollow - https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-11757/cephalexin-oral/details
Get well soon.
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving.
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Posted By: Technophobe
Date Posted: May 14 2018 at 1:29am
Actually, Dear, this is a better link for info: https://www.medicinenet.com/cephalexin/article.htm" rel="nofollow - https://www.medicinenet.com/cephalexin/article.htm
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How do you tell if a politician is lying?
His lips or pen are moving.
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Posted By: hachiban08
Date Posted: May 14 2018 at 1:37am
Oh, that's actually quite interesting! I'm still pretty shocked at the dosage amount, but if it keeps it at bay, I am all for it. I bought apple sauce to take it with because I have a hard time swallowing large pills. My finger is pretty sore still and fluid drained from it for about an hour after he extracted most of the bad stuff. Thanks for the well wishes, Techno!💖
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Be prepared! It may be time....^_^v
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