There was a time when I was on my butt sick with a serious chest cold, fluids gushing from every orifice. It was like that for five days without any sign of my symptoms getting any better. I finally got a hold of some antibiotics, and I swear I was 70% better in a matter of four to five hours. My sinuses suddenly popped open, my nose stopped running, and I stopped coughing. They say that antibiotics take effect in 24 to 48 hours - is it physically possible for them to work sooner? I’ve been sick for the past few days and just took my first pill five hours ago, and I feel much better now. Dramatically better. Is it a placebo affect, or can antibiotics work that quickly?
Antibiotics are not at all effective for colds and flu as these are viral diseases. Antibiotics are for bacterial infections and taking them when not indicated is thought to contribute to the emergence of resistant strains. Don’t do it.
I think you “peeked” a day or so before in your sickness and that the antibiotic was a coincidence in your well being the next day. As stated above, antibiotics don’t cure virual infections…, unless it was yeast that was coming out from every orifice! :eek:
Make that, “peaked”.
It should start working as soon as the antibiotic is in the blood, which is why a doctor gives a seriously ill person a shot right at the visitation. It of course takes time for it to work, sice it’s basicaly a lethal dose of poison for the bateria that need to be killed, that is still a dose your body can withstand. Pill’s take more time to obtain a lethal dose in your blood stream that will be toxic for the bacteria.
You are correct in saying that they do nothing for the virus if you have a cold or flu, but giving antibiotics to people prone to a secondary bacterial infection infection, which can occur in very bad cases of a flu or cold, is an important part of practicing good medicine. The people prone to this being the very young, the very old, and the immunologically compromised patients.
Answer to the OP, I’m no doctor, but from what I’ve learned in my microbiology and pathophysiology classes is that they work very fast, but it is still very important to continue to take them for however long the prescription was in order to completely overcome the infection. If you stop taking them early you may leave behind the organisms which were the most resistant and the infection can reemerge and the same antibiotic might be less effective, if not completely ineffective.
So basically I’m agreeing with **ticker **, but adding that there are exceptions.
A few years ago, my son was seriously ill, and when I got him to the doctor, the doctor said, “We either give him two shots right now or put him in the hospital and deliver it intravenously.” Can’t remember what high-powered antibiotic it was, but we went for the shots (in the butt, one in each cheek, poor kid), and he was indeed dramatically better within just a few hours.
Upper respitory problems are many times baterialogical not viral, and you may have had a sinus infection or strept. I have suffered for about 35 years from nuralogical damage from a strept throut that has made it hard not to be a periah, and the symptoms alone are almost unbearable at times. A second cousin had heart damage from the strept infection that usualy accompanies the condition I got, but didn’t. He never was able to do much in the way of physical activities ever. I had to refrain from many physical activities for a year, before being allowed to bicycle, run or play hard. Both conditions are pervented by antibiotics given for stepic infection immediately, so the infection doesn’t damage the heart or brain.
What BigBaby says is true, but 95% of the folks who think they need antibiotics for their respiratory infections don’t.
I’d say that overall, 2/3 of antibiotic prescriptions in the US are unnecessary. The medical profession is pushing hard to cut back on antibiotic abuse, especially trying to stop them from being prescribed reflexively for bronchitis, sore throats, and ear infections.
Sadly, I’ve had patients leave quite angry, not listening to reason, because I don’t give them what they want to treat their symptoms.
The CDC has a good FAQ aimed at public education about antibiotics. http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/community/faqs.htm
As for the OP, when antibiotics are needed, they can be lifesaving! However, most take at least 24 hours to make a clinically observable difference in the patient’s condition (falling WBC count, normalization of vital signs, decrease in purulent drainage or observable cellulitis, etc.)
As for strep throat, yes this needs treatment. NOT to make the throat feel better (antibiotics won’t shorten the clinical course of the sore throat), but to prevent possible complications like heart and kidney damage.
But 99+% of sore throats are not strep, and even when all the “classic” signs and symptoms of strep are present (sudden onset, high fever, headache, pus on the tonsils, swollen tender glands the size of marbles, lack of cold symptoms like runny nose, sneezing, cough), it turns out to not be strep in over half the cases. Many viral throat infections can produce the same symptoms in the throat as strep. Fortunately these viruses aren’t likely to damage heart and kidneys the way strep is. (And that’s Group A bet-hemolytic strep that does the damage, not the other types)
OK, I’ll get off the soap box.
And harmonious Discord’s struggles with the complications of strep demonstrate why it is necessary to test for strep on those who are at risk for the infection. Evidence shows that if the patient has 3 or 4 of the symptoms of strep I outlined above, a strep test should be done. And if positive, then the patient should get penicillin (still the medication of choice!).
It’s actually ok to wait a few days for the results to come back before treating. As long as the patient gets the antibiotic within 10 days of the symptoms, the risk cardiac and kidney complications should be minimal (Rheumatic fever occurs in 3% of kids between age 3 and 15 who have untreated strep throat. Both before and after that age, this complication is much less likely.)
I want people to have the strep test done too be sure. The doctor can perscribe the antibiotic when it’s strep and not if it’s viral. People need to have thetest done though and not wait. Strept can also be present when many of the symptoms go away, too come back nasty a month later. Anybody that has contact with a person where siliva or other fluids contact themsleves should be watching for strept. A spoon liked by a kid and the parent is a good path of infection, or a sneeze on a person.
When I have a urinary tract infection (which is all too often), and I get an antibiotic from the doctor, I feel better a few hours after taking the first dose.
That may be the exception to the “24 hour rule”. It happens because, by and large, all antibiotics get concentrated in the urine - the net effect is rapid improvement for (lower) urinary tract infections. The same cannot be said, for example, about pneumonias or skin infections.
There are a couple of things to consider here that haven’t been mentioned:
The symptoms of an infection are not necessarily proportional to the number of live, infecting bacteria. For example, with whooping cough, by the time the symptoms are established, the bacteria are gone. That’s why antibiotics are rarely prescribed for established cases of whooping cough. In general, symptoms are caused by the body’s reaction to the bacteria (live or dead) and bacterial products, so killing off the bacteria doesn’t have a rapid effect on symptoms and may have no effect on symptoms at all.
Antibiotics don’t kill instantly and don’t kill completely. Some bacteria are killed quickly. For example, after a single dose of ceftriaxone, it takes only a few hours before the bacteria that cause gonorrhea can no longer be cultured from a person with a genital gonorrhea infection. Other infections take longer to cure. For example, tuberculosis, leprosy, and osteomyelitis have to be treated for months.
I know that azithromycin works extremely fast and very well I might add. I had strep throat and within one day I was starting to feel better after taking z pac.
I’m not sure of what you’re getting at here, but of course antibiotics won’t do a thing against yeast (quite the reverse, actually). Yeast is a fungus, not a bacterium.
Thanks for the explanation! I’ve always been sort of awestruck by the effects, but never bothered to find out why it acts so quickly. I was too busy being grateful that it does.
If you get put on phenazopyridine (aka pyridium) pills along with the antibiotic, you can get fast relief that way, too. It’s a topical anesthetic which is concentrated in the bladder, thus numbing up the bladder and urethra (and letting you pee bright orange, too!)
So how do antibiotics work? Meaning how do they kill off the bacteria?
Depends on the type of antibiotic.
Two general ways: Either kill the bacteria, or keep it from reproducing.
Here’s a list of more details:http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/Miscellaneous/mechanisms.html
[quote]
Penicillins: Inhibits formation of the bacterial cell wall by blocking cross-linking of the cell wall structure. The cell wall is a needed protective casing for the bacterial cell.
Quinolones: Blocks DNA synthesis by inhibiting one of the enzymes (DNA gyrase) needed in this process.
[quote]
etc.