Keep Taking Amoxicilllin or Drop It?

[DD454]

I have previously had C Diff two years ago. I took half a round of Flagyland then a two week course of Vanco. C Diff resolved after that. Now, I was put on Amoxicillin for sinus related issues. I am afraid I may be having C Diff symptoms but I cannot tell. My doctor is not giving me a solid answer. I am very confused on what to do.

I am confused on how to proceed. I started an Amoxicillin (500 mg, 2 pills twice a day) on Sunday. It is a 10 day course. I am 4 days in and have 6 days left. I did not take any of the doses today because my stomach feels off. I have gone to the bathroom three times, my stomach is jumping a little, and the poop smells and is not as formed. I called my doctor and they said I could stop the antibiotic only if I were to come back in for a follow up appointment or go to an ENT. The antibiotic was helping the symptoms which they could not diagnose. I think I had an ear infection. Now, I am afraid to stop the antibiotic and risk antibiotic resistance or risk developing C Diff. I told them I would not be back for a follow up or an ENT visit, since I know they will not give me a definite answer anyways. I do not know how to proceed. Any advice?

[D1dad]

I can’t answer this although they say you aren’t supposed to stop taking it once you’ve started. I can personally testify that augmentin is what caused my case an I’d never take it again unless it was life or death. Doxycycline and zpak have been noted in my chart as go to’s courtesy of my GI. I literally just saw that today.

[beth22]

I have been told to take an antibiotic for at least 5 days in order to not get resistance and for it to have some effect. You might check with a pharmacist. Maybe they can tell you about antibiotic resistance.

[D1dad]

I know that my GP only prescribes 5 days now for anything upper respiratory and gives a penicillin shot for strep versus long drawn out doses. This is because of cdiff specifically. He’s also the house doc at the long term care facility my dad was at briefly. We had this discussion when he inquired about how I was feeling.

[DD454]

Thank you guys! I have decided to stop taking the antibiotic completely. I do not want to risk anything further. I will tell my doctor about shortening the length of my antibiotics in the future to prevent similar situations. I am just taking the next few and see how my body adapts off the antibiotic. If I keep having diarrhea, I will go back to a GI doctor for possible C Diff.