Antibiotics are recognised as, on occasion, producing psychiatric side effects, most notably depression and anxiety.
Amoxicillin is a penicillin-based, broad-spectrum antibiotic (Box). Its potential psychiatric side effects include encephalopathy, irritability, sedation, anxiety, and hallucinations. These symptoms usually are managed by reducing the dosage or discontinuing the medication.
Taking an antibiotic, however, can cause anxiety-like symptoms as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including increasing a sense of nervousness, agitation, danger, and foreboding.
Most often, there's something interfering with the effects of the antidepressant drug. Other medications -- such as steroids or antibiotics -- can interact with and blunt the impact of an antidepressant. So can heavy smoking or drinking.
Since antibiotics disrupt the composition and reduce the diversity of the gut microbiome, this may in turn influence emotional processing and bring about an increased bias towards sadness via the microbiome–gut–brain link.
Summary: Antibiotics may be linked to a serious disruption in brain function, called delirium, and other brain problems, more than previously thought, according to a new article. Delirium causes mental confusion that may be accompanied by hallucinations and agitation.
The penicillin-based medication gets its strength from consistent use of multiple doses per day. Amoxicillin often relieves symptoms in less than 72 hours and stays in your system for 24 hours. Board-certified physicians medically review Drugwatch content to ensure its accuracy and quality.
Adverse neuropsychiatric effects of antibiotic medications have been well documented (Zareifopoulos et al., 2017). Usually these side effects are reported when a patient is treated for an infection, and can range from milder symptoms such as insomnia to severe symptoms, including delirium and psychosis.
A five-day course of some broad-spectrum antibiotics can wipe out as much as one-third of your gut bacteria,” explains nutritionist Suchita Mukerji. Any disturbance in the gut shows up as acidity, discomfort and bloating, and makes the body susceptible to fatigue, brain fog and further infections.
Traditionally, clinicians and health authorities advocate that patients should complete their full course of antibiotics as prescribed, even when their symptoms have improved, to prevent relapse of infection and the development of antibiotic resistance.
Other neuropsychiatric effects include neurotoxicity, hallucinations, depression, apathy, nervousness, and other general psychotic symptoms. Sulfonamide antibiotics have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, which may account for the development of such effects.
Several antibiotics have also been associated with drug-induced tremors. These include aminoglycosides, carbapenems, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, folate synthesis inhibitor, glycopeptides, macrolides, penicillins, and tetracyclines.
Research has shown that when our gut microbiome is disturbed due to infection, this causes dysbiosis and due to the nature of the gut brain axis, this can impact our mood and cognition causing cytokine induced symptoms such as low mood, fatigue, apathy, anxiety and depression.
The bottom line
Amoxicillin is typically well-tolerated, but nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are some of its most common side effects. In rare cases, more serious side effects are also possible.
A duration of 5–7 days of antibiotics is recommended in adults.
High acid foods – Citrus fruits and juices like orange and grapefruit, soda, chocolate and tomato products have a high acid content, which could decrease how much medicine is absorbed into your system for certain antibiotics.
Antibiotics can have side effects such as diarrhoea and feeling sick. These side effects are usually mild and should pass once you finish your course of treatment. If you get any additional side effects, contact your GP or the doctor in charge of your care for advice.
New research indicates that antibiotics used to treat patients with infections could be linked to a disruption in brain function, called delirium, and to other brain problems. Delirium causes temporary confusion that may be accompanied by hallucinations and agitation.
Drugs that may lead to depressive, anxious, or psychotic syndromes include corticosteroids, isotretinoin, levo-dopar mefloquine, interferon-a, and anabolic steroids, as well as some over-the-counter medications. PSEs are often difficult to diagnose and can be very harmful to patients.