Curious question about antibiotics?

Question

when you are prescribed an antibiotic that you need to take for a week, does it always take a week for it to completely cure you? Or is it possible that it killed all the bacteria it was supposed to before you finish them but you have to finish out the rx just to be sure?

i know you should take all of them no matter what. whether you feel better or not. i'm just curious whether or not it's possible that they did their job before you finish taking them, but you keep taking them, or if there's no way it can be cured until you take that last pill.

Answer 1

Your body is fighting an infection.

It did not come on right away, it wont go away right away.

Your bopdy has to build up an amunity, then hold it until the infection is quelled.

The take it until its gone doctrine, work for the average person. Some it works longer, some shorter.

Answer 2

It;s really killed before the week is over they just make you take it for a little more  for your body to fully get rid of it!!!!!!!

Answer 3

my honest opinion is that the antibiotic did the job b4 the last pill was taken but they make you take atleast a weeks worth so they can charge your insurance more money,it's all about the money.

Answer 4

well when the doctor order a antibiotics for someone they order the range or the period of how long u take this meds by looking at ur labs reports or the whtever symptoms u told ur doctor..soo yes u should finish the course or how many tablest the doctor ordered u..finish every single of it..cause if u didn't finish ur course of meds..then the bactria even if there only left one gonna spread again..and will be more powerfull cause he already survive from ur first meds...soo u gonna get sick again..and this time doctor had to ordered a strong and long period of meds for u...

Answer 5

not all antibiotics kill bacteria. some of them - like tetracyclines - are referred to as bacteriostatic which means they only slow down or stop bacterial replication or growth giving your body time to kill the bacteria via the immune response.

The bacteroicidal drugs - like penicillin - do kill the bacteria and if not all of the bacteria are killed the new generations have a possibility to develope a resistance to the drug and since the body starts feeling better before all the bacteria are dead it is important to continue to take the medication to reduce the chance of new resistant bacteria to emerge.

Answer 6

Yes, it is quite likely. Unfortunately many patients fail to complete the full course of medicine, and recover without incident. But there are a few who experience a relapse, sometimes with a bacteria that is now resistant to the original antibiotic. Prescribing guidlines are based on extensive studies including clinical trials, and are intended to cover the vast majority of cases. So some patients may be cured a bit early, and a few may require additional time. I know there are some PhD pharmacist and biochem types in this board who may be able to provide a more sophisticated response. It is a good question.

Answer 7

yeah it is possible.

but you always want to be safe and make sure ALL the bacteria is killed.

if you think you're better when the symptoms go away, that doesnt mean all the bacteria is gone, if you stop taking the medicine they can start to grow again.

Answer 8

Its definitely possible for the antibiotics to kill off the bacteria before the course is through. Or like with azythromiacin you finish the antibiotics before they kill it off, it just keeps working for days after you are done. The reason why it is so important for you to complete the course of antibiotics is if they *didn't* kill off all the bacteria yet and you stop, then the remaining bacteria can become resistant to that antibiotic. It's not worth the risk of creating super germs.

Answer 9

This is the gestation period that bacteria will live.

Answer 10

In the first few days of the course you will be killing the weaker microorganisms while the stronger ones remain. If you finish the course you will manage to kill those as well. If not those that remain will become stronger causing re infection and they will also become drug resistant ie that antibiotic will not work against them.