Should You Finish Your Antibiotics' Course?
Or should you stop it once you feel better? Doctors have confusing conflicting answer. Read on.
It seems that the old rule to complete the course of your antibiotic medication is wrong and should be overturned!
image from pixabay
Doctors always tell us that we should complete the entire course of our antibiotics when we are sick to prevent bacteria from mutating and become resistant to the drug. But experts recently published their analysis on the issue and concludes that the previous claim is not supported by evidence.
According to the experts, there has been too little research into the ideal length of a course of antibiotics which varies from one individual to the next and what antibiotics they have taken in the past.
Martin Llewelyn of Brighton and Sussex Medical School and his colleagues say “the idea that stopping antibiotic treatment early encourages antibiotic resistance is not supported by evidence, while taking antibiotics for longer than necessary increases the risk of resistance”.
“Outside hospital, where repeated testing may not be feasible, patients might be best advised to stop treatment when they feel better.”
But another group of experts expressed their concerns.
"Recommended courses of antibiotics are not random. They are tailored to individual conditions and in many cases, courses are quite short – for urinary tract infections, for example, three days is often enough to cure the infection."
“We are concerned about the concept of patients stopping taking their medication midway through a course once they ‘feel better’, because improvement in symptoms does not necessarily mean the infection has been completely eradicated. It’s important that patients have clear messages and the mantra to always take the full course of antibiotics is well known. Changing this will simply confuse people.” - Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair - Royal College of GPs.
Confused? I know. What do we do now?
Which advise are we going to take?
Thankfully, UK’s chief medical officer Prof Dame Sally Davies has a better answer:
“The message to the public remains the same: people should always follow the advice of healthcare professionals. To update policies, we need further research to inform them.
Personally, I always complete my antibiotics and I would usually ask for the stronger drugs to make the course shorter.
The number of days adviced is not random. If you feel better that is great. But the main aim is to destroy the bacteria which made you sick. Unfortunately the amount of bacteria and your personal feeling do no correlate all the time.
The time adviced is overlooked often and corrected if necessary - Manipulating the times on you own may do way more harm than good.
Agree! We might feel better but it doesn't really mean that our body is free from infection. Thanks for dropping by.
Personally I would not take antibiotics at all. Fair enough if you actually NEED them. But antibiotics do not distinguish between the good and bad bacteria, both are destroyed. If you are on antibiotics please take a probiotic, continuing after the prescribed antibiotic course is over. Your gut is pretty much the central business district of your body! You dont want to be messing with it. If your life depends on it take them, though try and look for natural alternatives. Remember... many of the products today are produced for their economic importance and capacity to be successfully marketed.
I only take it if a doctor tells me and I don't usually visit a doctor unless I NEED to. Thanks for the probiotic advise. I will definitely do it.
I personally don't take antibiotics unless it is the very last option and is an absolute treatment prescribed to fight a bacterium identified and diagnosed. It is scary how these superbug variants are defeating mainstream medicines last line of defence and unless we get some serious breakthroughs, we could be returning to the dark ages with treatment of infections. Macrophages look promising and also killing bacteria with viral RNa could be a beacon of hope in the fight against bacteria and superbugs.
There is no such thing as good or bad bacteria in reality. It doesn't serve these nano sized organisms a useful system to kill its host and im sure nature will balance itself with micro evolutionary changes in humans to adapt. The only worry is how many people will die needlessly unless we can beat the clock with our brains and practical ability!
Whoa! Macrophages looks awesome. Scientists should look more into it.
There is NO conflicting answer. One should always take the full course of their antibiotic prescription, taking less than the full course contributes to the development of antibiotic resistant pathogens. It is not the main contributor mind you, but it is a contributor.
NO physician recommends not finishing the full course of an antibiotic regimen, EVEN if you feel better.
Thanks sir for clearing that up! I'm just confused that doctors now are challenging the old conventions regarding antibiotics. Thanks for dropping by sir. ;)
I'm currently midway on Co-Amoxiclav. Until there is a concrete research supporting stopping meds once you feel better, I'm going to stick to finishing the course. Because relief of symptoms isn't equal to being treated. Often times, when an infection begins (or is at the minimal), they don't even manifest any symptom so I'm guessing it's true for the reverse. Symptoms being gone could mean the infection is receding.
:( you're taking a lot of medications. Yeah I finish mine too because virus and bacteria are tricky.
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