Antibiotic shot or pills?

Recently I was miserable with what turned out to be strep throat. It was pretty bad and when I went to the doctor I requested the shot instead of the pills because I wanted it to work faster. She said she didn’t want to give me a shot and that they only would do that if it was so bad that it would keep me out of the hospital. So I ended up having to do the pills.

What is up with this? I remember when I was younger getting strep all the time and I don’t think they ever offered the pills. I just remember the nurse come in to stick the needle in my butt and shoot me with penicillin. Is this a sign of the times changing the what?

The shot doesn’t work any faster or more effectively, and if you end up being allergic to penicillin, there’s no way to stop giving it to you. It just sits in your muscle slowly releasing the thing that’s triggering your allergy. If you develop an allergic response to antibiotic pills, you can stop taking them and do a different one. So the injection is arguably more dangerous.

It also hurts like a sonofabitch. I got the shot a few years ago (don’t know why my doctor even offered it, except that he was older than god and just as old fashioned) and I will not do that again if I have a choice.

Also expense. Dispensing forty capsules costs less than a single shot.

This.

The shots are usually given only if the person cannot swallow, or is at high risk for noncompliance.

I’ve had antibiotic pills and an antibiotic drip into a hand vein. Never a ‘shot’

The pills work fine.The only problem is potential diarrhoea. The drip is used when immediate treatment of an infection is required and at doses higher than the digestive system likes.

Penicillin has a fairly short half life in the system so a single ‘shot’ stops being effective after a day or so. Pill courses extend the treatment to a week which is often enough to kill whatever bug.

Penicillin IM injections are usually a form that releases slowly over 2-4 weeks. While the drug has a short half life, it’s in a thick oily media that prevents it from being released all at once. That’s why it hurts so much. It’s like shooting school glue into your muscle.

Many of the “Godzillacillins” (and other IV antibiotics) are not absorbed orally, because the molecule is too big or for other reasons.

Exactly. I’d only expect some sort of shot (whether intramuscular or intravenous) if the pharmacokinetics (or formulation problems) demand it. Sterile fill (for intravenous) is difficult, expensive, and has been a real emphasis for the FDA in the last few years. (It seems like every sterile fill facility has had a 483 warning in the last few years.) An orally-available pill is easier to make, easier to store, and the biggest problem then is patient compliance.

Well that’s because u r a puss lol cause I’ve had the shot many many times and it send a little joltburn down ur leg for a few seconds but not it’s not that bad and he said he wasn’t allergic didn’t he? Just so we’re clear he did but yeah they don’t hurt that bad but I do agree that obviously if someone is allergic it’s better to find out through taking a pill being part of a dose instead of a full dose

Rx: Take 100 mg grammar b.i.d. for 10 days and report back if condition persists.

He could also use some coherence p.r.n.

Scatcat, welcome to the SDMB.
Two points:
insults and insulting language is not permitted outside The BBQ Pit forum.
Most posters use and prefer to read standard English with decent grammar and syntax.

Please pay attention to those guidelines, (the first point is an actual rule), to make you visits more enjoyable.

[ /Moderating ]