rivka | (no subject)

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How long into a course of antibiotics would you wait before you decided that they weren't working?

I've been on Augmentin for an ear- and sinus infection since last Tuesday. My ears still ache and still seem to be full of fluid. I still feel run down and not my normal self. And I still have what seems to be sinus-related coughing (no deep chest symptoms). I don't feel as bad as I did, and I'm not particularly congested anymore, but I don't feel well.

If I wait out the full ten-day course before deciding to go back to the doctor, it will be the weekend.

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If the office is still open, call now. A week is more than enough time. (Huh, I don't still have my "Mom" icon, so that one will have to do.)

I expect antibiotics to be making a clear difference within three days, and a week after starting them I expect to feel pretty much recovered. Go back to the doctor.

You might want to see the doctor just to see if there's anything that can be done for how you feel. At one point, I felt icky and congested in the ears, and it turned out to be impacted ear wax that needed to be flushed out.

As the others have said, three days is when you should start feeling relief from the antibiotic. Time to call the doctor.

My doc tells me to return if I'm not feeling better in a week.

My pediatrician made extremely scornful noises when I told him I'd been put on augmentin for an ear infection. "Don't those grownup doctors know anything?" He said it's pretty much useless for ear infections. I'd call now.

Based on past experience with antibiotics that *were* working, two to three days. Not that the infection vanishes, but you should feel much better.

I've waited out one course before going back, only to be told 'of course those didn't work, they might have been the cheapest antibiotic the colleague could prescribe, but they were worthless for ear infections', which left me not only achy, but very, very furious.

I did, however, have a homeopathic remedy that took at least some of the pressure off.

Hope you'll feel better soon.

you! back to the doctor!

You should have noticed at least a small improvement within a day or two, and been largely better by now.

You probably need a different antibiotic. Call now.

I expect to start feeling a tiny bit better sometime in the second day, and decidedly better by the third or fourth day. If the course is ten days long I expect to be pretty much over my illness by day 7.

I guess you've gone by now. Good luck.

Another option is always to go to the pharmacist who dispensed them. But yeah, a week is too long.

Edited 2008-04-08 21:13 (UTC)

You should be feeling noticeably better within 48 hours, almost completely better by a week. That's why they always admonish you to take the whole course, because people stop taking it when they feel better and that happens before the 10 days are up. Clearly, this one isn't working for you.

THere is an evil ear infection going around here (well in my ear at least) that is resistant to augmentin - I ended up on two courses of Eurthyromyacin to get rid of it and I still suspect its only being subdued not killed.

Call the doctor now. Well, tomorrow, during office hours, anyway. Three or four days should be enough for some sign of it working. If it's expected to take longer than that before there's any effect, your doctor ought to have told you.

I expect you know this, but for anyone reading this thread who doesn't:

Do not stop taking the antibiotics until your doctor has told you to. Never stop a course of antibiotics part way through without medical advice, unless you're having dangerous side-effects. Stopping antibiotics short accelerates the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, making medicine less useful for everybody. This has been a PSA courtesy of someone who may one day need those effective antibiotics.

I tend to give a 10 day course of antibiotics about 4-5 days. If I'm not feeling at all better, then I call my doctor! In your case, I wouldn't be waiting until this weekend. I'd be trying to get an appointment for later this week!

And I'm hoping you get to feeling better soon...

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