Corryn said:
On our last trip, I had something going on, I didn't know what, though. At first I thought it was a wisdom tooth coming in, then I thought it was strept throat. One of my friends had a prescription for antibiotics, so I took those. Even after taking them for three days it didn't help at all.
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Okay, I know this is off topic but PLEASE Folks don't take antibiotics that aren't prescribed. And if they are, make sure you finish them even if you feel better. First of all, not all antibiotics work with all bacterial infections (they do absolutely nothing for viral infections). Secondly, if they do start to kill off the bacteria but you don't clear the infection, the doctor's tests will probably come back negative because you were taking antibiotics. They won't be able to figure out what you have. Thirdly, taking antibiotics that aren't effective and don't kill all the bacteria helps lead to antibiotic resistance (that's why a lot of antibiotics don't work so well anymore, the bacteria learn to survive with them). And lastly, antibiotics work by interfering with the life cycle of bacteria (usually they just can't reproduce). So you may feel better but still have a slight infection. If you don't finish the antibiotic regime then the infection will start to grow again and you'll get sick again or get others sick.
Sorry this is OT, but I feel strongly that people need to know these things.
I'm posting under my daughter's name, I can't switch it!
I agree, and my bf, who was travelling with us, is a pharmacist and saw how I was suffering. She usually brings with her a few prescriptions and we've never had to use them. This time, we were in the airport and she said, I forgot the meds! We said, it's all right, we never get sick on vacation anyway.... She saw the bottle I borrowed from another friend and said, it's not going to do much, but give it a try (I guess she knew what type it was). We rarely take antibiotics (we don't get sick much) and we know (Kathy keeps me well-informed) what happens when you don't finish the cycle, but desperate times.....I wound up just sucking it up, but when I returned home I went straight to the doctor and he said it was a really bad infection.
But you're absolutely correct with your post