Amoxicillin is an antibiotic. It is applied to the treatment of infections brought on by specific kinds of bacteria. Despite being a strong and potent medication, some people say they experience a slight feeling of tiredness or drowsiness after taking it. Does Amoxicillin make you tired? Yes. Please read on for more information.
What Is Amoxicillin?
An antibiotic on the prescription is amoxicillin. It is employed to treat infections brought on by a specific variety of bacteria. It might be a component of multimodal therapy. This implies that you might have to combine it with other medications.
There are two types of oral tablets available: chewable and immediate-release (IR). These are only obtainable as generic medications.
Drugs that are generic typically cost less. Additionally, suspension and capsule forms of amoxicillin are available. Every form must be swallowed.
Why It’s Used?
Antibiotics include amoxicillin. It is applied to the treatment of infections brought on by a particular kind of bacteria.
Amoxicillin may be used in combination with other medications. You might therefore need to take it in addition to other medications.
How It Works?
The antibiotic amoxicillin is a member of the penicillin drug class. A class of drugs is a collection of drugs with comparable mechanisms of action. The treatment of conditions like these with these medications is common.
Amoxicillin kills bacteria and prevents their growth inside of your body.
Why Is Amoxicillin Used?
A penicillin antibiotic called amoxicillin is used to treat bacterial (not viral) infections like dental abscesses, meningitis, sepsis, whooping cough, and chest infections like pneumonia and bronchitis. The majority of doctors typically recommend it in addition to other antibiotics and medications to treat stomach ulcers. It also treats ear infections in kids.
Amoxicillin is only available with a prescription and comes in liquid form (if you don’t like capsules). Although only typically administered in hospitals, it is also injected.
Immediately after consumption, this antibiotic with a penicillin base begins to treat infections in the body. The patient must take this medication consistently and in a number of doses throughout the day in order for it to be effective.
It normally relieves symptoms well within 72 hours, or sometimes even sooner, depending on their condition.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises taking 500 mg of amoxicillin orally three times per day for seven days for sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, for which amoxicillin is typically prescribed. According to a study, giving amoxicillin to gonorrhea patients on a regular basis led to a cure rate of up to 100%.
How Does Amoxicillin Affect Your Sleep?
Are you sleepy or even exhausted after taking amoxicillin? – True, but it doesn’t happen frequently. Antibiotics in general sometimes make people feel drowsy and exhausted. Azithromycin and ciprofloxacin have also been discovered to sporadically cause these symptoms in addition to amoxicillin.
One reasonable explanation is the widely held notion that tiredness and sleepiness are indications that antibiotics or other medications are actively battling the bacteria that are wreaking havoc on the body, or that they may be affecting the neurotransmitters in the brain. However, even for the majority of amoxicillin-dependent patients, these symptoms are uncommon.
Amoxicillin misuse, which can result in liver damage or disease, is yet another potential explanation.
Even though amoxicillin is a safe medication to use in patients with cirrhosis or chronic liver disease, studies reveal that this medication’s combination with clavulanate is currently the most common reason for drug-induced liver disease in both the US and Europe.
Chronic tiredness is a symptom of liver disease and may account for this occurrence, though most scientists concur that liver damage from amoxicillin is extremely uncommon.
In any case, if you suspect an antibiotic is contributing to your constant tiredness or sleepiness, talk to your doctor about switching to a different antibiotic or medication that is less likely to cause these side effects.
Ask your doctor more questions to help identify whether your tiredness is a side effect of the condition you are treating with the antibiotics or the medication you are taking. Many of the conditions that antibiotics are used to treat can also make you feel tired or sleepy.
Benefits Of Amoxicillin
- active against the bacterial species that frequently cause ear, nose, or throat infections.
- The treatment of skin, lower respiratory tract, or genitourinary tract infections brought on by susceptible bacteria is also possible.
- Specifically active against:
- Aerobic gram-positive bacteria: Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus species (beta-lactamase negative strains only), certain strains of Streptococcus species including S. pneumonia
- Aerobic gram-negative bacteria (beta-lactamase negative strains only): Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Proteus mirabilis.
- Also has activity against Helicobacter pylori, a bacteria often associated with stomach ulcers. Amoxicillin can help lower the risk of duodenal ulcer recurrence when combined with other medications (like lansoprazole and clarithromycin).
- generally accepted.
- Amoxicillin is available as a generic drug.
Side Effects Of Amoxicillin
Although it doesn’t make you sleepy, amoxicillin oral tablet can have other adverse effects.
More Common Side Effects
The more common side effects of amoxicillin oral tablets can include:
- nausea
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- rash
- vaginal yeast infection
In the event that these side effects are minor, they might disappear in a few days or weeks. Consult your doctor or pharmacist if they become more severe or don’t go away.
Serious Side Effects
If you experience any severe side effects, contact your doctor right away. If your symptoms seem life-threatening or you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911. Serious side effects and their symptoms can include the following:
- hypersensitive responses. Symptoms can include:
- flu-like symptoms, such as fever, body aches, or sore throat
- a painful red or purple rash that spreads
- blisters that could cause the skin to break down and cause open sores
- This effect is uncommon; liver damage. Symptoms can include:
- increased liver enzymes showed on a blood test
- pain in the abdomen (stomach area)
- yellowing of the skin and eyes
- tiredness
Disclaimer: We want to give you the most current and pertinent information possible. However, we cannot guarantee that this information includes all potential side effects because drugs have different effects on each individual.
The advice provided here is not intended to replace that of a physician. Talk to a medical expert who is familiar with your medical history whenever possible about potential side effects.
Tips On Using Amoxicillin
- Follow the directions exactly. The frequency of amoxicillin administration varies depending on the infection being treated and can range from eight to twelve hours. Follow your doctor’s instructions for taking the amoxicillin course.
- Both with and without food may be consumed.
- If you have a hard time swallowing capsules, there are chewable tablets and an oral suspension available.
- If you have any difficulty breathing, throat tightness, or swelling, call 911.
- Consult a medical professional if you experience significant or prolonged diarrhea or a rash.
- Your doctor might need to routinely order blood tests and check your kidney and liver function if you’re taking amoxicillin for a prolonged period of time.
- A follow-up STD test, such as a syphilis test, may be required after three months if you are taking amoxicillin for gonorrhea.
Amoxicillin May Interact With Other Medications
When taken with amoxicillin, drugs that interact with the antibiotic may lessen its impact, shorten its duration of action, exacerbate side effects, or have no impact at all. It’s not always necessary to stop taking one of the medications because of an interaction between two drugs, but occasionally it is. Ask your doctor how to handle drug interactions.
Common medications that may interact with amoxicillin include:
- allopurinol (may increase the incidence of rash)
- anticoagulants (blood thinners), such as warfarin (may prolong bleeding time)
- oral contraceptives (may decrease absorption leading to reduced efficacy)
- other antibiotics, such as chloramphenicol, sulfonamides, macrolides, and tetracycline
- probenecid (may increase blood concentrations of amoxicillin).
With copper reduction tests (such as Benedict’s or Fehling’s solution), amoxicillin might result in a false-positive result for glucose in the urine, but not with enzyme-based tests.
Note that only commonly used drugs that may interact with amoxicillin are included in this list, which is not exhaustive. A complete list of interactions is provided in the amoxicillin prescribing information.
Amoxicillin Warnings
Several cautions are included with this medication.
Allergies
A severe allergic reaction to amoxicillin is possible. Symptoms can include:
- trouble breathing
- swelling of your throat or tongue
Call your physician or the nearest poison control center as soon as you experience an allergic reaction. Call 911 or visit the closest emergency room if your symptoms are serious. If you have ever experienced an allergic reaction to this medication, do not take it again. It could be fatal (cause death) to take it again.
Warnings For People With Certain Health Conditions
- For people with mononucleosis (mono or kissing disease): Your chance of getting a severe rash increases when taking amoxicillin.
- For people with diabetes: When testing for glucose (sugar) in the urine, amoxicillin may result in a false-positive reaction. How to control your blood sugar while taking amoxicillin should be discussed with your doctor.
- For people with kidney disease: Your kidneys might not be able to remove this medication from your body quickly if you have severe kidney disease. The result may be that your body’s amoxicillin levels rise. Your doctor might administer a reduced dose of this medication to help prevent this.
Warnings For Other Groups
- For pregnant people: The fetus is not negatively impacted by the mother taking amoxicillin, according to research on animals. Human studies have not been sufficiently conducted to determine whether the drug endangers the developing fetus. However, if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant, you might still want to consult your doctor.
- For people who are nursing: Amoxicillin may enter the breast milk and have an adverse effect on a nursing infant. If your child is being breastfed, consult your doctor. Either stopping this medication or nursing will likely need to be considered.
- For seniors: It’s possible that older adults’ kidneys don’t function as well as they once did. Your body may take longer to process drugs as a result of this. As a result, more of the drug stays in your system for longer. Your risk of experiencing negative effects increases.
Final Words
Several bacterial infections can be successfully treated with the help of the potent antibiotic amoxicillin. Occasionally, side effects do occur, but they are typically minor and go away on their own or after using straightforward treatments. Although tiredness or drowsiness are rare, it’s still not clear whether they are safe or not.
You should always keep your medications out of the reach of children, never share your medications with others, and only use amoxicillin for the purposes recommended.
To make sure the knowledge presented on this page applies to your specific situation, always check with your healthcare provider.
