antibiotics

[looobylooo]

evening all,
my mums been prescribed a 7 day course of antibiotics (flucloxacillin) after being told by the doctors she hasa condition called cellulitis (on the lower part of her legs, shin area)
how important is it that these tablets are taken an hour before food/on an empty stomach as advised please, because shes finding it tricky judging her times, and has on occasions forgotten and taken one just as shes about to eat...?
thank you for any advice :o)

[Pea Pod]

Food can stop it absorbing properly so she will not get the full benefit from it.

[looobylooo]

really? .. tut ... oh dear..
thank you pea pod for replying

[boxtops]

It is important if it says it should go into an empty stomach, then it should. It's like tablets which have to be taken at night, they are not so effective if you taken them in the morning, our metabolism is different at different times of the day.

[looobylooo]

yeah, makes sense boxtops, thanks.
mum will have to try and get into a better routine with them

[DEN53]

looby - I was taking flucloxacillin a few weeks ago - it is a pain judging the timing - what I did was wrote out the times I was going to take them and worked around that with eating etc. I then ticked off each time when I had taken the tabs.

I found this the easiest way.

[looobylooo]

hi den, shes doing that already!, writing the times down when shes to be taking them.
but like tonight - she'd just sat down to eat her tea when she stopped in mid chew and exclaimed 'bl00dy hell! ive not taken me antibiotic!' lol ......

[boxtops]

Could she not put the pills in the cutlery drawer so every time she goes to get out her knife and fork, she'll see the pills first? I must admit the only way I get to remember to take my tabs at night is to put the strip in the toothpaste beaker.

[looobylooo]

lol oh boxtops that made me smile that did - putting the strip in the toothpaste beaker lol.
well, shes got the big box of tabs on the ,in the kitchen, on show, alongside a pen and the piece of paper with all her times written down on it lol ...
probably on the whole i think shes doing alright with the food and taking them, its just here n there .. but beings shes only got a 7 day course, theres probably one too many here n theres happening isnt there..
i dont want her to get to the end of the course and shes no better off...

ps - did your course of tabs do the trick den?

[Eve]

I had a nasty bout of cellulitis last year and it took quite a while to get rid of properly and I was on a high dose of co-amoxiclav and had to cope with an additional flare up before I finally managed to get rid of it.

It's a nasty thing if it gets out of control so she is best getting it shifted the earliest she can.

Could she set a phone alarm of similar to remind her to take them?

[looobylooo]

hi jenna,
yeah thats a good idea about setting her phone alarm, i will suggest it to her - good thinking!
im glad your cellulitis is now better, mums is quite painful and uncomfortable, she says her skin feels hot and taught, is that how yours felt? and theres areas that look inflamed and bruised.

[shaneystar2]

Hi loobylooo
I 'm sorry to hear about your Mum.Cellulitis is very unpleasant as I know only too well.I'm still attending the hospital nine months after I got it in my leg last year.The leg was hot ,tight , swollen , very painful and ulcerated .
I had three weeks worth of penicillin and flucloxacillin at the time and have just had another lot of antibiotics as it's come back and won't clear up .
Tell your Mum to keep her leg elevated as much as possible and to keep the skin well moistured to prevent ulceration.
Making a note the way Den says and working it round meals is the easiest way with the tablets .I found that the easiest as I had to take some before food and some twice a day .I was so fed up with it I felt swallowing the whole damn lot at once :)
Best wishes to you Mum for a speedy recovery .

[looobylooo]

aww thanks shaneystar, thanks for posting and for your kind thoughts, that was nice of you, thank you, and i will pass them on in the morning.
i hope you get yours sorted pretty soon as it cant be nice for you.
ive suggested my dad sets his alarm on his phone, as jenna suggested, an hour before theyre likely to eat, to remind her she needs to pop a pill, and yes shes got it written down on a bit of paper too, so fingers crossed lol.
good luck with your teatment shaney x

[Sqad]

looby....it 's not that "big a deal" about timing.

[tamborine]

Hi sqad.....hope your day is bash-free ;)

[Sqad]

tambo Hi!.......I doubt it LOL

Left a little aphorism for you on your "too much operating thread" did you see it?.

[tamborine]

so true - I wish you were on Facebook for some advice?

[looobylooo]

thanks squad .. is it really not too much of a big deal if she takes them with food then?

[Sqad]

looby, with that particular antibiotic it is better if she can take it 30mins but, if she forgets, it is better to take them with food, than not at all.

[looobylooo]

ok, thanks alot, i will tell her

[smart1]

It is reasonably important, but not life threatening. More important is that she takes them regularly, and completes the course. Reason being, if she is prescribed 'every 6 hrs' then after 6 hrs her resistance is decreasing- if the interval is too long between doses, it's like starting againwhich allows the original bacteria to flourish again - the more often this happens - the greater is the resistance the bacteria build up to the anti B's, thus the requirement for so-called super antibiotics, which for some reason GP's prescribe at the drop of a hat, and so the abuse and process continues.