Augmentin is not FDA-approved for treating strep throat, which is also known as streptococcus pharyngitis. In addition, the Infectious Diseases Society of America does not recommend Augmentin for treating most cases of strep throat.
When used to treat pneumonia, Augmentin and Augmentin XR are typically used in combination with other antibiotics. Augmentin is FDA-approved to treat ear infections, also known as otitis media, in children and adults. However, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics , Augmentin is not usually the first-choice antibiotic for treating ear infections in children. Augmentin is often reserved for children who have recently been treated with another antibiotic such as amoxicillin.
It may also be reserved for those who have had previous ear infections that were not effectively treated by amoxicillin. Cellulitis is a type of skin infection.
Augmentin is FDA-approved to treat some types of skin infections, including cellulitis caused by certain bacteria. However, Augmentin is usually not the first-choice antibiotic for treating cellulitis. Augmentin is approved to treat certain types of respiratory infections. In some cases, this can include bronchitis. Bronchitis is often caused by a virus, so antibiotics are not usually effective in treating it.
Antibiotics are sometimes used for treating certain types of acne. Although it may be used off-label for treating acne, Augmentin is not usually a first choice for this purpose. Augmentin is not FDA-approved for treating diverticulitis. Augmentin XR is usually considered a second-choice antibiotic for diverticulitis. Drinking alcohol while taking Augmentin may increase your risk of certain side effects, or make your side effects worse. Below is a list of medications that can interact with Augmentin.
This list does not contain all drugs that may interact with Augmentin. Different drug interactions can cause different effects. For instance, some can interfere with how well a drug works, while others can cause increased side effects. Before taking Augmentin, be sure to tell your doctor and pharmacist about all prescription, over-the-counter, and other drugs you take. Also tell them about any vitamins, herbs, and supplements you use. Sharing this information can help you avoid potential interactions.
If you have questions about drug interactions that may affect you, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Taking Augmentin with oral anticoagulant drugs such as warfarin Coumadin, Jantoven might increase the effects of the anticoagulants. This could result in increased bleeding. If you take an anticoagulant drug with Augmentin, your doctor may need to monitor your bleeding risk more often.
Taking Augmentin with allopurinol Zyloprim, Aloprim might increase your risk of developing a skin rash. Some antibiotics, including Augmentin, might decrease how well oral contraceptives such as the birth control pill work. However, research on this interaction is inconsistent and controversial. Until more is known about this potential interaction, consider using a backup method of contraception while taking Augmentin.
Milk and other dairy foods can interact with some antibiotics. You might start to feel better before you finish your entire treatment. Augmentin is taken two or three times daily. You can take Augmentin on an empty stomach or with a meal. Taking it with a meal may reduce stomach upset and help your body absorb the drug better. You should take Augmentin XR at the start of a meal. This increases the amount of medication your body absorbs and helps reduce stomach upset.
Augmentin can be crushed. However, Augmentin XR should not be crushed. If either type of tablet is scored has an indented line across it , it can be split in half. If you have trouble swallowing pills, ask your doctor or pharmacist about taking Augmentin liquid suspension instead. Augmentin is a penicillin-type antibiotic. It contains two components: amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. Augmentin kills bacteria by attaching to proteins within the bacteria cell.
This prevents the bacteria from building a cell wall, which results in the death of the bacteria. Augmentin is considered a broad-spectrum antibiotic. This means it works against many different types of bacteria.
Augmentin begins to work against bacterial infections within hours of when you take it. However, you may not notice improvement in your symptoms for a few days.
Augmentin has not been studied enough in pregnant women to know for sure what effects it could have. Studies in animals have not found any harm to the fetus when given to pregnant mothers. Augmentin is excreted in breast milk in small amounts. Augmentin is a combination medication that contains amoxicillin in addition to another drug. Augmentin and amoxicillin are often used to treat similar types of infections. If your doctor suspects that your infection may be resistant to amoxicillin alone, they may recommend Augmentin instead.
Because it contains amoxicillin as well as clavulanic acid, Augmentin works against more types of bacteria than amoxicillin alone. In this regard, it could be considered stronger than amoxicillin. Yes, Augmentin is an antibiotic in the class of penicillins.
This is because it works against many different types of bacteria, including some that are normally resistant to penicillin drugs. Augmentin starts working within a few hours of when you take it.
However, your symptoms may not start to improve for a few days after that. Diarrhea and stomach upset are common side effects of Augmentin.
Veterinarians sometimes prescribe Augmentin to treat infections in dogs and cats. The form approved for animals is called Clavamox. If you think your dog or cat has an infection, see your veterinarian for an evaluation and treatment. There are other antibiotics that are often used to treat the same conditions as Augmentin.
Some may be better suited for you than others. If you think you or your child has taken too much of this drug, call your doctor or seek guidance from the American Association of Poison Control Centers at or through their online tool. But if your symptoms are severe, call or go to the nearest emergency room right away. Treatment of overdose will depend on the symptoms you have. A doctor may do tests to check for problems with your heart, liver, or kidneys, or breathing issues.
They may also check your oxygen levels. In some cases, they may administer intravenous IV fluids. When Augmentin is dispensed from the pharmacy, the pharmacist will add an expiration date to the label on the bottle. This date is typically one year from the date the medication was dispensed.
The purpose of such expiration dates is to guarantee the effectiveness of the medication during this time. However, an FDA study showed that many medications may still be good beyond the expiration date listed on the bottle.
How long a medication remains good can depend on many factors, including how and where the medication is stored. Augmentin pills should be stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed and light-resistant container.
The dry powder for the liquid suspension should also be stored at room temperature. The mixed liquid suspension should be refrigerated. If you have unused medication that has gone past the expiration date, talk to your pharmacist about whether you might still be able to use it.
Before taking Augmentin, talk with your doctor about any medical conditions you have. Augmentin may not be a good choice for you if you have certain medical conditions. Augmentin contains amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. Amoxicillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic that has bactericidal activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
Beta-lactamase-producing bacteria are resistant to amoxicillin. Clavulanic acid is also a beta-lactam that can inactivate some forms of beta-lactamase. The most common side effects for Augmentin are nausea, upset stomach, gas and diarrhea. Largely, this is because clavulanic acid can irritate the gut, Geddes said. In addition, like other antibiotics, Augmentin wipes out a broad class of bacteria, so it may also kill "good" bacteria that line the gut and help digest foods.
Augmentin can also leave people more prone to yeast infections — again, because it wipes out good bacterial populations that normally inhibit the growth of yeast. People who are allergic to penicillin-like drugs are often allergic to Augmentin as well, because it contains amoxicillin.
To test for this drug allergy , doctors can do a skin-prick test called PrePen. In some instances, an allergy to Augmentin can lead to anaphylaxis, a deadly allergic response that can cause the narrowing of the airways, the swelling of the lips and tongue, and a deadly drop in blood pressure.
Rarely, the drug can cause problems with how the liver functions, which will lead to yellowing of the skin called jaundice. And a few isolated cases of children reacting negatively to the clavulanic acid in Augmentin have also been reported.
For instance, 10 children who tested negative for penicillin allergy, broke out into hives after taking Augmentin, according to a study in the journal Allergologia and Immunopathologia. Humans gained their first powerful weapon in the war against bacteria in the s. Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming was culturing a bacteria, when he noticed that a mold growing in one of his petri dishes had killed off the surrounding bacteria, according to the Nobel Prize website.
After much work, he discovered that the active agent was what is now known as penicillin named after the fungus, penicillium, which produces it. Though penicillin worked wonders, it had some side effects and was not effective against all that many bacteria.
So, in the s, scientists at Beecham Research Laboratories, which was created by the same company that produced Lucozade soft drinks and Brylcreem hair gel, began developing new antibiotics. Their strategy was simple and clever: they used the core chemical structure of penicillin, but added different side chains to it, Geddes said. One of their early successful drugs was amoxicillin, a close relative to penicillin. Both amoxicillin and other penicillins have a key molecular structure that helps the kill bacteria: a chemical ring called a beta-lactam.
Beta-lactam rings bind to enzymes in bacterial cell membranes. These enzymes are responsible for cross-linking peptidoglycans, the building blocks used to form the bacterial cell wall. When drugs like amoxicillin disable these membrane enzymes, they prevent the bacteria from building up the cell wall, even as the bacteria continue to break down their old cell wall.
The bacteria die as a result. Amoxicillin was seen as a breakthrough because it was absorbed better than earlier antibiotics, had fewer of the side effects of antibiotics such as methicillin, and seemed to work against a broad class of bacteria. However, it had one flaw: at least some resistant populations of bacteria had evolved an ability to fight amoxicillin and other antibiotics by making an enzyme called beta-lactamase, which essentially snipped the beta lactam ring open and disabled it.
But in , Beecham Research Laboratories discovered that a certain bacteria called Streptomyces clavuligerus produced a chemical lookalike to penicillin, called clavulanic acid, as a byproduct of its fermentation, according to an article published in in the International Journal of Microbial Agents.
Like other antibiotics, it had a beta-lactam ring, but on its own, wasn't much good at killing bacteria. However, when combined with amoxicillin, it created a superb antibiotic.
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