Amoxiclav for sore throat: instructions for use

Among infectious diseases of the respiratory system, tonsillitis occupies a special position, because who would have thought that the inflammatory process in the throat area can knock down not only a child, but also an adult. In addition, this pathology, which usually occurs against the background of very high temperatures, can cause many complications in other vital organs. Not treating such a disease is more expensive for yourself. But to cope with the infection once and for all, you cannot do without antibiotic therapy. And although many antibiotics are effective against the most popular pathogens, doctors prescribe Amoxiclav for tonsillitis more often than other drugs.

It would seem that there are many antimicrobial agents that are perhaps even safer than penicillins, which cause severe intolerance reactions. Why do doctors tend to use a penicillin-type drug, and how does this medicine differ from other popular penicillins?

Angina and effective antibiotics

Most of us get acquainted with tonsillitis in childhood, when a fidget has to stay in bed for several days due to a high temperature, constantly gargle, suffer with food intake when a piece of food won't go down because of the pain in the throat, swallow delicious syrups and tasteless pills. And these tasteless pills were most often antibiotics.

Later, in adulthood, angina became the reason for sick leave, especially in the autumn-winter period. And again, bed, hot tea, gargles, compresses, inhalations, antipyretics and all the same antibiotics. But is there really such a need for them if angina occurs against the background of hypothermia and drinking cold drinks?

At first glance, it seems that such a disease can be cured without the help of strong drugs. It is enough to apply heat to the throat, tea with raspberries, salt rinses. And in some cases, this method works. But such treatment is not always effective. But why does the same disease have to be treated with different methods?

The reason is that the pathogens of the disease can be either bacteria or viruses. And hypothermia of the feet, throat or the whole body is only a provoking factor for the activation of pathogenic microbes, which take advantage of the fact that there has been a slight failure in the immune system.

In case of viral pathologies there is no need to use potent drugs. Doctors will only prescribe antipyretic drugs and immune stimulants. The body itself is able to fight the viral infection with the help of the antibodies it produces.

Only an organism with a high immunity can cope with bacterial infections, but in that case a person would not get sick at all. And if symptoms of angina have already appeared, it means that the organism is not able to fight such a fight and it needs help from the outside.

But who can deal with bacteria better than antimicrobial drugs called antibiotics? So doctors have to prescribe antibiotics that are effective for sore throats, have a wide range of action, which help to start fighting the pathogens even before their type is determined. In the vast majority of cases, the first antibiotic prescribed is enough to destroy the infection.

Based on the spectrum of causative agents of angina, doctors have determined that antibiotics of the penicillin and cephalosporin series are quite capable of coping with any of them. If a person has an individual intolerance to these antibacterial agents, they resort to the help of macrolides, which are somewhat weaker in the sense that they have a bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal effect. But even this effect would be enough if the bacteria were not such "adapters".

Yes, they can be called so, because adapting to unfavorable conditions, they fight for survival through various mutations that make entire subgroups (strains) of pathogenic microorganisms resistant to antibiotics. This happened with penicillins, which are considered to be quite safe for our body, if not for the relatively frequent severe manifestations of intolerance. Some strains of bacteria have learned to produce the enzyme penicillinase (aka beta-lactamase), which deactivates the antibiotic. Thus, penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, which were previously effective for sore throats, have become simply useless.

But science does not stand still, every year new and new drugs are developed to combat bacterial infections. But why develop something new if you can improve the old but effective one. So, the usual penicillin series drugs, the most effective against the main pathogens of tonsillitis (hemolytic and golden staphylococcus, streptococci, pneumococci and other pathogenic microbes), were replaced by protected penicillins.

These drugs are nothing more than a combination of "old" proven semi-synthetic penicillins (most often amoxicillin) and specific components (for example, clavulanic acid), making penicillins resistant to the action of bacterial enzymes. It is on the basis of these two components (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid) that the drug "Amoxiclav" was created, which is quite actively used for sore throats, because it is effective even against those strains of bacteria that were not amenable to treatment with conventional penicillins, the same amoxicillin.

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Indications amoxiclav for a sore throat

So, we have figured out that Amoxiclav is a bright representative of protected penicillins. The spectrum of action of these drugs is truly unique, since there are very few microorganisms resistant to them, and even then they are unlikely to provoke the development of tonsillitis.

Due to their broad spectrum of action, beta-lactamase-resistant penicillins, and in particular Amoxiclav, are successfully used in the treatment of various infectious and inflammatory pathologies of the ENT organs, respiratory and genitourinary systems, infectious lesions of the skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles, tendons, cartilage and bones. When it comes to inflammatory diseases of the ENT organs, one cannot fail to mention the effectiveness of Amoxiclav in the treatment of various forms of angina.

Yes, tonsillitis can be not only viral or bacterial, it can also occur in various forms: catarrhal, lacunar, follicular or purulent. It must be said that in case of viral tonsillitis, Amoxiclav, like other antibacterial drugs, will be ineffective even due to the fact that it is simply impossible to defeat viruses with weapons against bacteria. After all, these are completely different forms of life. In addition, viruses are considered non-cellular structures that parasitize inside the host cell. So what should the antibiotic destroy in this case?

Moreover, such incorrect treatment can only aggravate the disease if its causative agent is a virus. While helping the body fight bacterial infection, antibiotics, however, cannot act strictly selectively. While killing pathogenic bacteria, they simultaneously “cleanse” the body of beneficial microflora that provides us with natural immunity. And viruses at this time, in conditions of reduced immunity, begin to multiply even more actively, aggravating the patient’s condition and complicating the course of the disease.

But in bacterial pathologies, few can compare with antibiotics. "Amoxiclav" for tonsillitis in most cases becomes the main drug, helping to reduce the temperature (and it stays very strong with inflammation of the throat), and eliminate the symptoms of the disease.

Catarrhal angina is one of the mildest forms of the disease, which occurs against the background of reduced immunity. It can be caused by both viruses and bacteria that have settled in the throat and upper respiratory tract. Moreover, in most cases, these bacteria are opportunistic microflora that actively multiply only when the body's defenses are reduced.

It makes sense to fight opportunistic microflora only when it becomes overly active. And this is exactly the case. Therefore, doctors can prescribe Amoxiclav even for catarrhal tonsillitis, despite the fact that this is a mild form of the disease.

In this case, an antibiotic helps to quickly relieve the unpleasant symptoms of the disease and does not allow the infection to go deep into the body. Provoking new inflammatory processes there. And this is quite possible, if you consider that the same bacteria can provoke diseases of completely different, practically unrelated organs (in fact, everything in our body is interconnected, because it is a multi-component integral system).

The decision on whether to take antibiotics for catarrhal tonsillitis is made by the doctor, based on the existing symptoms of the disease and the patient's condition.

An equally common form of throat disease is lacunar tonsillitis. The process can be localized both on the surface of the tonsils (then the throat in the area of the upper palate, uvula and tonsils appears deep pink or red), and deeper in the throat, when even the back wall of the pharynx turns red. The cause of the disease can be both bacteria already present in the body and those that have penetrated it from the outside.

In principle, adenoids serve to delay bacterial infection, which become inflamed during tonsillitis. But inflamed adenoids tend to grow and are often removed in early childhood. The worst thing is if the child's tonsils were removed along with the adenoids. In this case, bacteria quickly spread through the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs and causing a dangerous complication in the form of pneumonia (pneumonia).

Without antibiotics, treatment of lacunar tonsillitis will be ineffective, because even after the symptoms of the underlying disease disappear, the bacterial infection will not disappear, but will only lie dormant for a while under the pressure of the protective cells produced by the immune system. And as soon as the immunity decreases even a little, the bacteria will rush into battle again, provoking various pathologies inside the body, including repeated episodes of tonsillitis, fraught with rheumatic complications.

When prescribing Amoxiclav for lacunar tonsillitis, doctors try not only to cure the disease faster, but also to prevent possible dangerous complications. In this case, antibiotic treatment begins from the very first days of the disease, supplementing it with antihistamines and immunostimulants in the form of vitamin complexes.

Purulent tonsillitis is not a separate disease, but a complication of catarrhal or lacunar pathology, if they are not treated or are treated with ineffective means. In principle, such a development of events is often observed when catarrhal tonsillitis, due to its mild course, is tried to be treated without antibiotics. The most common causative agent of the disease is Staphylococcus aureus, which is simply waiting for the right moment to begin to multiply.

The transition to a purulent form may be indicated by a strong increase in temperature, great difficulty with swallowing and eating, the appearance of whitish pustules on the surface of bright red tonsils. In most cases, the disease occurs with an increase in lymph nodes at the bottom of the lower jaw, which in itself is dangerous, because with the flow of lymph, the infection can spread throughout the body much faster and further than through the respiratory tract.

Penicillins and cephaloporins are considered to be especially effective in cases of purulent tonsillitis. However, most cephalosporins that are effective against Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogenic microflora are intended for injection, which requires certain skills or a visit to a medical facility. It is easier to use oral medications such as Amoxiclav in cases of purulent tonsillitis, especially if the pathology is not treated in a hospital setting.

By the way, this treatment also solves the problem of enlarged lymph nodes.

One of the varieties of purulent pathology is considered to be follicular tonsillitis, in which there is an increase and suppuration of the tonsil follicles. Purulent follicles look like round pustules filled with white or cloudy-yellow liquid. The pustules subsequently open up on their own, forming a whitish coating on the tonsils.

In this case, the causative agent of the disease is usually streptococci and pneumococci, although the contribution of other bacterial factors to the purulent process cannot be ruled out. Actively multiplying and releasing waste products, bacteria become a source of toxic substances that cause poisoning of the body, and then the symptoms of angina are joined by manifestations of intoxication (headaches, weakness, nausea, disruption of internal organs, etc.).

Antibiotics, and in particular Amoxiclav for follicular tonsillitis, help to actively fight the infection, which leads to a decrease in its “population”, and therefore the concentration of toxic substances in the body gradually decreases, preventing negative impact on human organs and systems.

As we can see, the antimicrobial drug "Amoxiclav" is not in vain so loved by doctors, because it helps with any form of bacterial tonsillitis. Moreover, its effect is visible even where other penicillins do not show good efficiency.

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Release form

"Amoxiclav" is considered a combination drug, because it contains two complementary active substances. It is clear that the main effect (antibacterial) is still provided by the antibiotic amoxicillin, but without the help of clavulanic acid, it would not be able to overcome the infection, which is capable of producing protective enzymes.

Excipients depend on the form of the drug, and there are quite a lot of them. There are several varieties of tablets called "Amoxiclav":

• Amoxiclav 375 mg (250/125 mg – where the first number indicates the dosage of amoxicillin, the second – the content of clavulanic acid in the tablet)
• Amoxiclav 2X 625 mg (or 500/125 mg)
• Amoxiclav 2X 1000 mg (or 825/125 mg)
• Dispersible tablets Amoxiclav Quiktab 625 mg (or 500/125 mg)
• Dispersible tablets Amoxiclav Quiktab 1000 mg (or 875/125 mg)

As we can see, Amoxiclav in tablets, which can be used for sore throat in hospital and at home, may differ in the dosage of amoxicillin (and the composition of excipients), while the content of clavulanic acid in them remains constant. It should be said that Amoxiclav 250/125 mg and 500/125 mg are interchangeable. That is, instead of a tablet containing 500 mg of amoxicillin, you can take 2 tablets of 250 mg, and it does not matter that the content of clavulanic acid in this case will be 2 times more. This is not dangerous for the body, the main thing is that the daily dose of clavulanic acid does not exceed 600 mg.

Amoxiclav 2X tablets with increased dosage have a protective shell. They contain flavors with the taste of tropical fruits and citrus fruits.

Amoxiclav Quicktab is not a regular tablet that needs to be swallowed whole with water. It is a tropical-flavored lozenge. It dissolves in the mouth, which means it is suitable for those patients who have difficulty swallowing tablets.

In addition to Amoxiclav tablets, a suspension for internal use is also used for sore throat, which is used to treat children over 2 months and adults. It is available in the form of a crystalline powder with a slightly yellowish tint in a 100 ml glass bottle. To prepare the suspension, shake the bottle, open it, add water to a special mark, close it and shake it well. For precise dosing, a pipette with a piston is included with the drug, the division value of which is 0.1 ml.

The suspension may have 2 dosages: 156.25 mg/5 ml and 312.5 mg/5 ml (Amoxiclav forte). In the first case, it can be understood that 5 ml of suspension contains 125 mg of amoxicillin and 31.25 mg of clavulanic acid, in the second case, the ratio is 250 to 62.5 mg.

The drug "Amoxiclav" also has such a form of release as powder for intravenous infusions in 2 dosages: 600 (500/100) and 1000 (800/200) mg. The powder is used to prepare an infusion solution. This is a solution that is introduced into the body through the system. In this case, water for injection is used as a solvent.

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Pharmacodynamics

If you look closely, the composition of the drug "Amoxiclav" is already indicated by its name, which consists of two parts. The first part is an abbreviation of "amoxicillin", the second is 4 letters of the word "clavulanic". Now the strange name of the drug does not seem so. But the strength of the drug is not in the name, but in the effect it produces.

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. This is one of the most commonly used semi-synthetic penicillins, which are characterized by a pronounced bactericidal effect. Its activity extends to many types of streptococcal, staphylococcal and enterococcal infections, including pneumococci. The drug can be successfully used to combat pathologies caused by E. coli, Proteus, Clostridia, Klebsiella, Helicobacter pylori and many other pathogenic bacteria.

Unfortunately, amoxicillin cannot cope with bacteria that produce a special enzyme against penicillins, which destroys antimicrobial agents of the penicillin and cephalosporin series. Clavuonic acid comes to its aid, which forms stable compounds with bacterial beta-lactamases that are not capable of harming the antibacterial component of the drug. Of particular note are such compounds with plasmid beta-lactamases, which are associated with cross-antibiotic resistance.

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Pharmacokinetics

The drug also exhibits good activity due to the fact that it penetrates the blood well and quickly with various methods of administration. The possibility of oral administration of the drug is due to the fact that both components of the drug dissolve well in water at various pH values in the stomach and body. They are not destroyed in the acidic environment of the gastrointestinal tract, which is typical for many natural penicillins and cephalosporin antibiotics. It is possible to take the drug both at the beginning of a meal and during a meal, which has virtually no effect on its absorption and effectiveness.

The maximum content of the active substance in the blood plasma and physiological fluids of the body is achieved within an hour after taking the medicine. The components of the drug can accumulate in the affected areas. In case of angina, this is the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract, where the active fight of the drug "Amoxiclav" with the bacterial infection occurs. The presence of the antibiotic in the blood, as well as other fluids and tissues of the body prevents the generalization of the infection.

The kidneys excrete amoxicillin from the body. It is excreted unchanged. Unlike the antibiotic, clavulanic acid is metabolized in the liver. Its metabolites are found in exhaled air, feces, and urine.

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Dosing and administration

Since angina is considered a multifaceted pathology and can occur in different forms, there can be no talk of universal prescriptions for the antibiotic "Amoxiclav". Some things depend on the form of angina. Thus, with catarrhal angina, "Amoxiclav" and other effective antibiotics are not always required. With a mild form of the disease, doctors limit themselves to prescribing plenty of fluids, antiseptics and thermal procedures (at low temperatures).

"Amoxiclav" for catarrhal tonsillitis in an adult patient or a child can be prescribed in the presence of such threatening symptoms as:

• high body temperature that lasts for at least 3 days (meaning a temperature of 38 degrees, lower temperatures indicate that the body is fighting the disease on its own and quite successfully),
• the appearance of a light coating on the tonsils, which indicates that the disease has progressed to a more severe form, and any complications are associated with the addition of a bacterial infection, even if this was not initially discussed,
• enlargement of the submandibular lymph nodes, which indicates an inflammatory factor and is fraught with the spread of infection throughout the body.

But with lacunar, follicular and purulent forms of tonsillitis, you cannot do without antibiotics, because dangerous symptoms are usually evident at the very beginning of the disease. And many experienced doctors prefer the drug "Amoxiclav" for tonsillitis, especially if amoxicillin is prescribed to a person for the first time due to infectious pathologies. It is important to understand that with subsequent prescriptions, doctors will prefer drugs with other active ingredients to avoid the development of bacteria addiction to the drug.

The dosage regimen of an antibiotic based on amoxicillin and clavulanic acid depends not only on the type of angina and the patient's well-being, but also on the age and, in some cases, the patient's weight.

Let's consider the method of application and dosage of the drug, which are recommended in the instructions for use of the drug.

Tablets. As for regular Amoxiclav tablets, they are recommended to be taken during meals (preferably at the very beginning of the meal). The tablets do not need to be crushed, they are swallowed whole and washed down with water.

Amoxiclav 375 mg tablets are intended for the treatment of adults and children. It is recommended to give tablets to children no earlier than 6 years of age.

For small patients under 12 years of age or until reaching a weight of 40 kg, the dosage is calculated as 40 mg per 1 kg of the child's weight. The medicine in the resulting dosage is recommended to be given to the child 3 times a day.

For patients whose weight exceeds 40 kg, the drug is prescribed in a dosage of 375 mg for mild forms of the pathology. The drug should be taken in this dosage every 8 hours, i.e. 2-3 times a day.

For patients with moderate angina, the preferred dosage is 625 mg, so you need to buy the appropriate drug and take it 1 tablet at 12-hour intervals. The drug 250/125 mg is also suitable for treatment, but you will need to take it 3 times a day, 1 tablet at an eight-hour interval between doses.

In severe cases of the disease, drugs of 625 or 1000 mg are prescribed. The first one should be taken 1 tablet three times a day, the second one – twice a day.

Amoxiclav Quicktab tablets, like Amoxiclav with increased dosage, are also intended for adult patients. They are taken only by those patients whose weight is over 40 kg.

The dosage regimen for soluble tablets is identical to the dosages and frequency of taking regular tablets of 625 and 1000 mg, respectively. But the method of administration is slightly different. The tablets can be sucked, chewed or dissolved in water (half a glass), after which the resulting suspension is drunk.

Oral suspension. "Amoxiclav" for sore throat in children under 6 years of age is prescribed mainly in the form of an oral suspension, which contains small concentrations of active substances. The effective dosage of the drug in the form of a suspension is calculated in accordance with the child's weight.

For newborns up to 2 months of age, the suspension can be prescribed in a daily dosage of no more than 30 mg per kilogram of the baby's weight. For children from 2 months to 2 years old, the daily dosage can be increased to 40 mg per 1 kg of body weight.

For children over 2 years old whose body weight does not exceed 40 kg, the daily dose, depending on the severity of the pathology, can range from 20 to 60 mg per kilogram of the child's weight. In this case, the proportion of clavulanic acid per kilogram of the child's weight will not exceed 15 mg. With a weight of 40 kg, this will be 600 mg, which is considered the daily maximum for adults.

The calculated dose, depending on the doctor's prescription, will need to be divided into 2 or 3 doses. The intervals between doses (8 or 20 hours) must be observed as accurately as possible.

The suspension can also be used to treat adults, but given the low dosage of the drug, it is advisable to use it only in mild cases of angina. The adult dosage of powder for suspension is 500 mg three times a day, i.e. 1500 mg in total.

When we talked about the dosage of the suspension, we were not talking about the finished product, but about the ampicillin content in the amount of powder needed to prepare the specified dose. But there is no need to prepare a single dose separately each time. The powder is mixed with water immediately in the bottle, adding liquid in 2 steps and constantly shaking the tube so that the compositions are evenly mixed. The result is 100 ml of the finished medicine (suspension).

The package with the drug should contain a special dosing syringe or measuring spoon, with a volume of 5 ml. Based on the dosage indicated on the package, 5 ml of suspension will contain 125 or 250 mg of amoxicillin.

Usually, patients do not need to calculate how much medicine they will have to drink in terms of ampicillin. The doctor prescribes the drug, clearly indicating the number of spoons or volume of suspension that should be drunk per dose. In case of a mild course of the disease, the child is usually prescribed 5 ml of a ready-made suspension containing 125 mg of amoxicillin and 31.25 mg of clavulanate. If the disease is more severe, the doctor may prescribe a drug with an increased dosage, containing 250 mg of amoxicillin in the same 5 ml of suspension.

The suspension is taken, like tablets, during meals, at the very beginning, i.e. immediately before meals.

Powder for injection. Intravenous administration of the drug is carried out using a syringe or system. The medicinal solution for them is prepared from powder and water for injection (for droppers, the finished composition is additionally mixed with saline). Injections and droppers can be prescribed only in hospital conditions for severe tonsillitis or when oral administration of the drug is impossible. The pediatric dose is calculated as 30 mg per kilogram of the patient's weight, and the frequency of administration, depending on the patient's condition, can vary from 2 to 4 times a day. Adults are prescribed 1200 mg three times a day.

The drip is placed for 30-40 minutes. In this case, the freshly prepared injection or infusion solution must be used within 20 minutes, after which it becomes unusable and must be disposed of.

Only the attending physician can answer the question of how many days to take Amoxiclav for tonsillitis. Usually, the course of treatment lasts no more than 2 weeks. With a mild course of tonsillitis, the symptoms may go away in 3-5 days, but the antibiotic will have to be taken for at least 7 days. The disappearance of symptoms of the disease does not mean the complete destruction of microbes. It only indicates a decrease in the activity of the bacterial infection.

Overdose. The maximum daily dose of amoxicillin for an adult is 6000 mg, for a child - 2400 mg. Exceeding these doses in comparison with the recommendations for dosing the drug is unlikely. But if very high doses were accidentally taken or with prolonged use of the drug in high doses, symptoms such as dizziness, insomnia, nervous excitement, stomach problems, less often convulsive syndrome appeared, hemodialysis and symptomatic therapy are effective.

If a large dose of medication was taken orally, you should immediately wash out your stomach and take enterosorbents.

Many people are used to thinking that such potent drugs as antibiotics cannot be prescribed to children and pregnant women. Penicillins are designed to destroy this not entirely true belief. After all, a child with a completely unformed immune system is not able to effectively resist infection, which means that antibiotics are indispensable. At the same time, Amoxiclav for sore throat in children is prescribed by doctors no less often than in adults, because this antibiotic brings much more benefit than possible harm. It does not have a negative impact on the development of the child and on the formation of various organs and systems. In addition, the drug has a special form of release in the form of a suspension, which is intended for babies starting from 2 months, but can be used according to strict indications even from the first days of the child's life.

Read more about the advisability of prescribing antibiotics for tonsillitis in children here.

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Use amoxiclav for a sore throat during pregnancy

As for expectant mothers, there have certainly been no studies of the drug's safety on pregnant women, but animal experiments have not shown any teratogenic effects of the drug on the fetus. The drug also does not cause premature birth. For this reason, the use of the drug during pregnancy can be considered entirely acceptable if there is a risk to the life of the expectant mother and her baby.

In any case, the decision on the possibility of treatment with the drug "Amoxiclav" is made by an experienced doctor. As in the case of other potent drugs "Amoxiclav" for sore throat and other diseases is better not to take in the first 3 months of pregnancy, when the vital organs of the future child are formed.

Some part of the antibiotic gets into breast milk. And, despite the fact that the antibiotic itself is considered quite safe for newborns, breastfeeding during treatment with the drug can lead to upset stool in the child and the appearance of fungal lesions of the mucous membranes. Yes, antibiotics have such a feature that, by killing harmful and useful microflora, they provide soil for the growth and reproduction of fungi. Based on the above, we conclude that breastfeeding during antibiotic treatment is best interrupted if possible.

Contraindications

As already mentioned, penicillins have found their wide distribution not only due to their good effectiveness against various bacterial infections, but also due to the relative safety of drugs of this type, which makes it possible to prescribe them in childhood and old age, as well as in delicate periods associated with pregnancy and breastfeeding.

However, like other penicillins, taking Amoxiclav for sore throat can provoke the development of severe allergic reactions, which in the absence of effective emergency care can lead to the death of the patient. And there is a considerable percentage of people with congenital intolerance to penicillins, which makes it impossible to treat sore throat in such people with Amoxiclav and other penicillin and similar cephalosporin drugs. In principle, any hypersensitivity reactions to beta-lactam antibiotics are a contraindication to the use of Amoxiclav.

But hypersensitivity to penicillins is not the only contraindication to the use of this drug. The whole point is that the blood, containing particles of medicinal substances, is filtered by the liver. Amoxicillin does not have a noticeable negative effect on the liver, but clavulanic acid with its metabolites can cause some disruptions in the functioning of the organ. For this reason, the drug is not prescribed to patients who have previously had episodes of jaundice and other symptoms in their medical history that indicate liver problems.

The drug is also not prescribed for infectious pathologies such as mononucleosis and lymphocytic leukemia or suspected of them. The fact is that in the vast majority of cases, the above-mentioned diseases are caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, i.e. this is not a bacterial infection, which means there is no need to use antibiotics.

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Side effects amoxiclav for a sore throat

Probably, before starting to take the drug "Amoxiclav" a person will want to know what he may encounter while taking the medicine and what unpleasant symptoms he may experience. This is quite logical, because whoever is informed is armed.

Let's start with the youngest patients. Children often experience diarrhea while taking the medicine. Parents often also note symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Similar symptoms are also possible in breastfed babies if their mothers take Amoxiclav due to an infectious disease, such as tonsillitis.

In adult patients, diarrhea is also considered one of the most common side effects. There are slightly fewer complaints about fungal pathologies of the skin and mucous membranes, nausea, vomiting, heaviness in the epigastrium associated with digestive disorders, headaches and dizziness, and increased levels of liver enzymes.

Very rare symptoms include convulsive syndrome, which can be observed in patients with severe kidney pathologies, as well as in those who take the drug in high doses. Complaints about the development of antibiotic-associated colitis (intestinal inflammation) are also rare.

Changes in blood composition and quality are rare and are considered reversible after discontinuation of the drug.

Quincke's edema and anaphylactic reactions are possible in patients with hypersensitivity to beta-lactam antibiotics.

Rare symptoms during treatment with Amoxiclav also include hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and cholestatic jaundice (stagnation in the gallbladder causes discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes). This symptom is more common in men and older people.

Bactericidal antibiotics can cause dysbacteriosis and the development of superinfections against its background, associated with excessive growth of bacteria insensitive to a specific drug. For "Amoxiclav" such a consequence is not typical, such a condition occurs only in isolated cases.

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Interactions with other drugs

When prescribing any medications as part of a combination therapy, the doctor must take into account the interactions of the prescribed medication with other drugs and solvents (in the case of powders for preparing a solution and solutions that need to be additionally diluted). The same is recommended for patients who prescribe medications for themselves or do not bother to inform the doctor about the drugs they are taking.

As for the drug "Amoxiclav", often used for sore throat, it should not be taken simultaneously with probenecid, allopurinol, methotrexate, estrogen-containing drugs, oral contraceptives, bacteriostatic drugs. Caution should be exercised when prescribing "Amoxiclav" in parallel with acenocoumarol and warfarin.

Powder for the preparation of intravenous solution can be combined with water for injection, Ringer's solution, saline. In glucose solution it forms unstable compounds, so it is better to limit yourself to the above-mentioned solvents.

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Storage conditions

Any form of antibiotic can be stored at room temperature.

It is recommended to store the finished suspension for oral administration in the bottle in which it was sold, placing it in a cool place with a temperature no higher than 8 degrees. Such a suspension should be used within a week.

Pre-prepared suspensions and intravenous solutions must not be frozen. The injection solution must be administered to the patient within 20 minutes after preparation.

Any form of the drug, and especially a ready-made suspension for oral administration with a pleasant taste and smell, should be stored in a place where children have limited access. It is possible that the baby will want to speed up his recovery by taking an additional dose of the drug, especially if it is as tasty and sweet as a suspension or smells deliciously of citrus, like high-dose tablets.

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Shelf life

Their shelf life in their original packaging is 2 years.

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Reviews and analogues

It is not for nothing that doctors so often turn to the help of the drug "Amoxiclav" for angina, because this drug shows good and fast results in the treatment of this pathology. In most cases, stabilization of the patient's condition or complete disappearance of symptoms of the disease occurs already on the 3-5th day of antibiotic therapy. The temperature, which could not be brought down by any antipyretic drugs and folk recipes, drops to normal values.

But even after the symptoms disappear, doctors insist on continuing treatment with Amoxiclav for at least 2-3 days. Only then will a stable, reliable result be achieved.

Enough has been said about self-prescribing antibiotics for people to understand that this should not be done. And yet self-medication continues to flourish, and negative reviews of the drug confirm this.

Yes, cases of pathogen resistance to Amoxiclav (new resistant strains and atypical pathogens cannot be ignored) and treatment inefficiency due to individual characteristics of the organism are not excluded. But an incorrect diagnosis is mainly the prerogative of the patients themselves.

For example, in the absence of the necessary knowledge and experience, purulent tonsillitis can be confused with fungal, herpetic or other viral pathology of the throat, in which antibiotics are not only ineffective, but sometimes dangerous. Uncontrolled use of antibiotics can also be harmful in the case of chronic tonsillitis, when it is more likely an allergic reaction to irritants than a bacterial infection.

As for the safety of using the drug "Amoxiclav", which contains clavulanic acid, which in large doses has a negative effect on the liver, everything is corrected by reducing the dose or switching to other treatment options. So, if a typical pathogen sensitive to penicillins is suspected, doctors prefer to treat with analogues of "Amoxiclav", which are also effective for sore throat. Such analogues include "Ampicillin", "Amoxicillin", "Flemoxin Solutab".

In case of intolerance to penicillins and cephalosporins, doctors resort to the help of macrolides. The most popular drugs for sore throat are "Azithromycin" and its analogue "Sumamed", which can be considered a universal medicine for many infectious diseases. Despite the fact that macrolides have only a bacteriostatic effect, but in azithromycin (the active substance of both drugs) it is expressed so much that it is quite sufficient for the treatment of any form of sore throat.

If the doctor nevertheless decided on the drug "Amoxiclav", but it was not available in the pharmacy, for tonsillitis you can safely take an antibiotic called "Augmentin", which is a complete analogue of the drug we are describing.