Wednesday, January 7, 2009

What are the most common side effects of oral antibiotics?

Believe this is one of the questions we all want to know before taking oral antibiotics.

The most common side effects of antibiotics include upset of stomach and nausea, increased sun sensitivity, headaches and yeast infections in women. However, some antibiotics are more prone to cause some of the side effects than others. For example:

  1. Clindamycin - Pseudomembranous colitis, a potentially serious intestinal problem which is usually associated with clindamycin.

  2. Doxycycline – sun sensitivity is more of a problem with doxycycline family of antibiotics compared with other antibiotics.

  3. Erythromycins - known to be more likely to cause stomach upset, even though all antibiotics can cause this.

  4. Minocyclines – often associated with an autoimmune condition called lupus erythematosus, i.e. a kind of autoimmune disorder where antibodies are created against our body's own tissues that will eventually lead to a host of other symptoms including a rash on the face. However, the autoimmune condition is reversible once we stop taking the medication.
Do pay extra attention on:
  • Never combined taking oral antibiotics with isotretinoin, due to the risk for a condition called pseudotumor cerebri, which make us feel like having a really bad headache as a result of the increased of pressure build-up on our brain.

  • Never drink alcohol if we are on oral antibiotics. Because most antibiotics are digested by the liver, drinking alcohol will cause the stress and with potential damage to our liver.


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