If an antibiotic is prescribed for a clear indication, and a minimum duration is supported by evidence-based guidance, patients should be advised not to stop treatment until the end of the course.
If you stop treatment before the antibiotic cycle is over, the remaining bacteria can continue to multiply. If these bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics, they can potentially do even more harm. It may take longer for you to recover from your illness, and your physician may have to prescribe more medication.
The Risks of Too Many Antibiotics
"If we don't complete the course of therapy, there is concern that the bacteria that are left over may be more likely to develop resistance to the antibiotic," Hicks says. "That turns out to be much less of a problem than was originally believed."
If you fail to complete a course of antibiotics, some of the bacteria causing the infection may survive - and these will be the ones with the greatest resistance to the antibiotic.
Dozens of studies show that for many bacterial infections, a short course of antibiotics, measured in days, performs as well as the traditional course, measured in weeks. Shorter courses also carry a lower risk of side effects.
If an antibiotic is prescribed for a clear indication, and a minimum duration is supported by evidence-based guidance, patients should be advised not to stop treatment until the end of the course.
Your doctor will advise you how long to take amoxicillin for (usually 3–7 days). For most infections, you should feel better within a few days. Always take your amoxicillin exactly as your doctor has told you.
Many cases are viral and cannot be treated by antibiotics. According to the Infectious Disease Society of America's guidelines, the duration of treatment for bacterial infections should be 5 to 10 days. A meta-analysis completed in Britain determined that a 5-day course is as effective as a 10-day course.
If a doctor prescribes an antibiotic, but the symptoms persist after a few days of taking it, a person should also consult a doctor. However, anyone who has a severe side effect or allergic reaction while taking antibiotics should immediately stop taking the medications and seek medical attention.
In most cases, you can take the dose you missed as soon as you remember and then continue to take your course of antibiotics as normal. But if it's almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule.
Most of us were taught that terminating antibiotics prematurely can lead to the development of bacterial resistance. This has proven to be a myth as mounting evidence supports the opposite.
If you forget to take a medicine for a day (or several days), stop treatment too soon, or use incorrect antibiotics (such as taking someone else's medicine), bacteria start reproducing. As they multiply, they can change (mutate). Mutated bacteria become increasingly more resistant to a medicine.
The current recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) is to "always complete the full prescription, even if you feel better, because stopping treatment early promotes the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.”
Once you start taking an antibiotic, it is important to take it exactly as prescribed and continue taking it until it is all gone or until told to stop by your doctor. Do not keep leftover antibiotics and save them for future use. Antibiotics should only be taken if they have been prescribed by your doctor.
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Infections that are not severe may be treated in as little as 3 days, but the typical course of treatment is 5-10 days. Your prescription label insert will tell you how long you should take your amoxicillin.
The most common side effects of amoxicillin are feeling sick (nausea) and diarrhoea. Liquid amoxicillin can stain your teeth. This does not last and is removed by brushing. You can drink alcohol while taking amoxicillin.
Tiredness or fatigue is not a common side effect of antibiotic use, but it can happen. The antibiotics most likely to cause tiredness as a side effect are amoxicillin, azithromycin, and ciprofloxacin.
Penicillin allergy in all of its forms is self-reported by about 5 to 10 percent of patients [1-3]. Many of these patients have delayed forms of hypersensitivity, which typically begin more than six hours after the last administered dose and often after days of treatment.
Antibiotics begin to work right after you start taking them. However, you might not feel better for 2 to 3 days. How quickly you get better after antibiotic treatment varies. It also depends on the type of infection you're treating.
A duration of 5–7 days of antibiotics is recommended in adults. This is supported by a systematic review showing no significant difference in outcomes between 3–7 days of antibiotics compared to 7 days or longer.
After you start taking your prescription, you may start to feel better in 2 to 3 days, but it may take longer for certain infections. Even if you start feeling better, it's important to finish all of your prescribed doses. In general, amoxicillin is well-tolerated and the side effects are manageable.
Findings from one 2022 clinical research trial suggested that a short course of Amoxicillin (5 days) was just as effective as a longer course (10 days) for uncomplicated commonly acquired pneumonia in children under 10 years old. Antibiotics like amoxicillin need time to clear bacteria out of your body.
Simply put, 7 – 10 days is the “Goldilocks number”: It's not so brief a span that the bacterial infection will shake it off, but it's also not long enough to cause an adverse reaction.
By mouth. 125 mg 3 times a day for 7–14 days. 250 mg 3 times a day for 7–14 days.