I don’t see Cephalex on the list of Chlamydia treatment options. But Chlamydia is a bacteria, and Cephalex kills bacteria infections…
Is Chlamydia the wrong kind of bacteria, or should a regiment or Cephalex do the trick?
oh… and I’m asking for a friend of mine.
you’re … friend… should see a doctor.
Cephalex[in] would not be optimal treatment for Chlamydia, although it is possible it would work.
Cephalexin is a first generation cephalosporin, which inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis. It has an advantage over penicillins because it of its wider spectrum and resistance to staphyloccal enzymes that can make penicillin ineffective. Third generation cephalosporins (such as ceftriaxone) have more gram negative bacteria coverage and thus a much wider spectrum.
“Chlamydia” refers to a family of obligate intracellular bacteria, which includes C. trachomatis (cause of trachoma – the most common cause of blindness in the world, and you SHOULD have heard of it; also causes various STDs called LGV and urethritis, cervicitis and proctitis), C. psittaci (psittacosis – or “bird handlers disease”) and C. pneumoniae (a cause of pneumonia, often mild).
I assume you refer to the STD. Since these are often treated with erythromycin or tetracyclines, it would be reasonable to assume cephalex would work too. It would some of the time. However, there are two problems:
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Chlamydia often coexists with gonorrhea and it is thus wise to treat both conditions, using a combination of, say, cefixime and azithromycin, erythromycin or doxycycline (or other combinations).
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Cephalex would only be considered when antimicrobial susceptibility and follow-up culture can be performed. Follow-up is hard to ensure in some populations with prevalent Chlamydia. This is because many strains of Chlamydia are resistant to Cephalex. A much smaller percentage would be resistant to a third-generation cephalosporin such as ceftriaxone, which would be given intramuscularly if follow-up seems dicey (in addition to, say, eryhtromycin).
Actually, you’d probably need a division, perhaps even a corps.
As noted by Dr_Paprika, Cephalex** is not optimal.
As noted by Tapioca Dextrin, a visit to a real physician is strongly recommended. Self-medicating (especially without the necessary medical training) is generally a bad thing to do–“generally” is equal to “always” when addressing STDs or other persistent diseases.
So the more tricks you do, the less it does the trick.
This question has been covered quite well, but I just wanted to address this bit of illogic. Just because a drug is an antibiotic does NOT mean it kills all bacteria. Any given antibiotic drug will only affect certain types of bacteria - this is called its “spectrum”. There are wide spectrum drugs that kill lots of different types, and narrow spectrum drugs that only kill very specific types. And, of course, even within a drugs’ spectrum, it will be more effective against some bacteria than others. And for any given bacterial species, some drugs will work better than others. Then, too, the location of the infection on the body makes a difference, too.
So the point is, as others have said, go to a doctor. There’s a lot more to treating bacterial infections than just “Here, have an antibiotic”.
Thank you guys. And though I appreciate all the “go see a doctor; don’t self medicate…” comments, they’re not needed. But I understand people are just looking out for others.
Just to clear things up (no pun intended). This question came about during a conversation between a buddy and me. We were joking about how no matter what is wrong with you, the Army will give you either 800mg Motrins, or prescribe water. As a rule of thumb, Problem above the waist= Water. Problem below the waist= Motrin.
Then he says something about a problem in the middle. I jokingly said “Oh then you get Cephalex” The TMC hands out Cephalex like candy. Mainly to prevent or treat all the cellulitus and other infections.
He said that Cephalex wouldn’t do shit for Chlamydia. And I said it might. We’re both medics, but he is also an experienced nurse so his word holds more weight than mine. I understand about antibiotic spectrum and Gram’s stains. Cephalex, AFAIK, is pretty wide spectrum and I didn’t really know what kind of bacteria Chlamydia is - though I figured a penicillin type bolus in the ass would be ideal.
Anyway, I said (only half joking) that a heavy dose of 1000mg Cephalex every 8 hours would work. He laughed and said that it would kill all the flora in the body. “Yes” I said, Chlamydia included. Then we talked about the obvious complications of such a high dose. He said that is a ridiculous amount of Cephalex for a person to consume. I wouldn’t know without a drug book in front of me.
But it still left me curious if it would even work.
And NO DOCTOR would ever answer a question like this IRL. So I thought to ask Doctor Dopers.
I was just curious if it would work at all.
But thanks for the concern ; )
The other danger involved (speaking generally here) in taking an antibiotic that is not recommended for a particular infection because of marginal effectiveness: if it kills off only a percentage of the bug, the remainder can cause a smoldering infection that can do considerably more damage before it is ultimately controlled. (And this doesn’t take into account the factor of development of antibiotic resistance in surviving populations of the bacterium).
Also, taking an unnecessarily-prescribed wide-spectrum antibiotic and killing off a substantial portion of the body’s normal bacterial flora can have negative or even fatal consequences (i.e. development of pseudomembranous colitis, big-time fungal infections etc.).
[pedant] Cephalexin 1000mg three times a day is not a ridiculous dose for severe cellulitis; but probably overkill for that scoffed fingernail. It isn’t common to give 1 gram of ampicillin four times a day IV to adults as part of treating some infections. [/pedant]