Antibiotics can save lives, but any time antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Helping healthcare professionals improve the way they prescribe antibiotics, and improving the way we take antibiotics, helps keep us healthy now, helps fight antibiotic resistance, and ensures that these life-saving drugs will be available for future generations.
Antibiotics are only needed for treating certain infections caused by bacteria. Effective antibiotics are also needed for people who are at high risk for developing infections. Some of those at high risk for infections include patients undergoing surgery, patients with end-stage kidney disease, or patients receiving cancer therapy chemotherapy.
Antibiotics do not work on viruses, such as those that cause colds, flu, bronchitis, or runny noses, even if the mucus is thick, yellow, or green. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.
This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. See more conditions. Healthy Lifestyle Consumer health. Products and services. Antibiotics: Are you misusing them? By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Watkins RR, et al. Overview: Global and local impact of antibiotic resistance.
Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. About antimicrobial resistance. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed Nov. Tell your healthcare professional if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, so they can prescribe the most suitable antibiotic for you. If you previously had an allergic reaction to penicillin, there's a chance that you may also be allergic to cephalosporins. Cephalosporins may not be suitable if you have kidney disease, but if you need one you will probably be given a lower than usual dose.
If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, or have acute porphyria, check with your doctor, midwife or pharmacist before taking cephalosporins. Aminoglycosides are normally only used in hospital to treat life-threatening conditions such as septicaemia, as they can cause kidney damage in people with pre-existing kidney disease. The use of tetracyclines isn't usually recommended unless absolutely necessary in the following groups:. If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, the only type of macrolide you can take is erythromycin Erymax, Erythrocin, Erythroped or Erythroped A unless a different antibiotic is recommended by your doctor.
Erythromycin can be used at the usual doses throughout your pregnancy and while you're breastfeeding. The most common side effects of antibiotics affect the digestive system. These occur in around 1 in 10 people. If you experience any additional side effects other than those listed above, you should contact your GP or the doctor in charge of your care for advice.
Around 1 in 15 people have an allergic reaction to antibiotics, especially penicillin and cephalosporins. In most cases, the allergic reaction is mild to moderate and can take the form of:.
These mild to moderate allergic reactions can usually be successfully treated by taking antihistamines. But if you're concerned, or your symptoms don't respond to treatment, you should call your GP for advice. In rare cases, an antibiotic can cause a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.
Anaphylaxis is a medical emergency and can be life-threatening if prompt treatment isn't given. Dial immediately and ask for an ambulance if you think you or someone around you is experiencing anaphylaxis. Tetracyclines can make your skin sensitive to sunlight and artificial sources of light, such as sun lamps and sunbeds. Antibiotics can sometimes interact with other medicines or substances. This means it can have an effect that is different to what you expected.
If you want to check that your medicines are safe to take with your antibiotics, ask your GP or local pharmacist. Some antibiotics need to be taken with food, while others need to be taken on an empty stomach.
You should always read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine. You should completely avoid alcohol while taking the antibiotics metronidazole or tinidazole, and for 48 hours afterwards, as this combination can cause very unpleasant side effects, such as:. It's recommended that you don't drink alcohol while taking antibiotics. However, as long as you drink in moderation, alcohol is unlikely to interact significantly with your medication.
Some antibiotics, such as rifampicin and rifabutin, can reduce the effectiveness of the combined oral contraceptive pill.
If you're prescribed rifampicin or rifabutin, you may need to use additional contraception, such as condoms , while taking antibiotics. Speak to your GP, nurse or pharmacist for advice. Some of the medications you may need to avoid, or seek advice on, while taking a specific class of antibiotic are outlined below. It's usually recommended that you avoid taking penicillin at the same time as methotrexate, which is used to treat psoriasis , rheumatoid arthritis and some forms of cancer.
This is because combining the two medications can cause a range of unpleasant and sometimes serious side effects. However, some forms of penicillin, such as amoxicillin, can be used in combination with methotrexate. You may experience a skin rash if you take penicillin and allopurinol, which is used to treat gout. Cephalosporins may increase the chance of bleeding if you're taking blood-thinning medications anticoagulants such as heparin and warfarin.
If you need treatment with cephalosporins, you may need to have your dose of anticoagulants changed or additional blood monitoring. The risk of damage to your kidneys and hearing is increased if you're taking one or more of the following medications:. The risk of kidney and hearing damage has to be balanced against the benefits of using aminoglycosides to treat life-threatening conditions such as septicaemia. Each time you take an antibiotic, bacteria are killed.
Sometimes, bacteria causing infections are already resistant to prescribed antibiotics. Bacteria may also become resistant during treatment of an infection.
Resistant bacteria do not respond to the antibiotics and continue to cause infection. A common misconception is that a person's body becomes resistant to specific medicines. However, it is the bacteria, not people, that become resistant to the medicines.
Each time you take or give your child an antibiotic unnecessarily or improperly, you increase the chance of developing medicine-resistant bacteria. Therefore, it is critically important to take antibiotics only when necessary.
Because of these resistant bacteria, some diseases that used to be easy to treat are now becoming nearly impossible to treat. Medicine resistance happens when bacteria develop ways to survive the use of medicines meant to kill or weaken them.
If a germ becomes resistant to many medicines, treating the infections can become difficult or even impossible.
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