Do antibiotics work for everyone?

Question

I was previously taking a antibiotic that was working but I had to stop taking it because of the horrible side effects. My doctor gave me new antibiotics now and they don't seem to be working. What would be the reason for this

Answer 1

They might not cover the particular organism you are infected with. Some antibiotics only cover particular types of bacteria. If you are really sick and are worried that the medication you have been given is not working, speak to your doctor again, as it may be taking some time to work or you may need a blood/urine/stool/sputum culture to be done. Culturing the organism also involves working out which antibiotics it is sensitive to and WILL work. Do NOT stop taking them without medical advice, and always try to finish your course even if you feel better. Not doing some encourages further antibiotic resistance.

Answer 2

It really depends on your body's immune system. Most of the time when I'm given antibiotics, it has no positive effect on me and I only end up feeling the side-effects.

Answer 3

Nothing's perfect. You don't mention what you're treating, either. Doctors generally don't bore you with statistics, but something along these lines is typical: Disease X has a course of illness lasting, let's say, two weeks, and a mortality rate of 8%, without treatment, while with treatment it averages one week and has a mortality rate of 2%. That would be a great treatment. Many illnesses are treated with less dramatic differences. Again, this is just a top-of-the-head hypothetical.

Another way to look at it is "number needed to treat" and "number needed to harm." For instance, in little kids with acute otitis media, NNT is about one in twelve, and NNH is about one in fifteen; that is, if a hundred kids are treated, about eight will get well a day or two faster, four will get diarrhea and a couple will get a rash, the bulk of them will get well whether treated or not, and a few will not get well whether treated or not.

Answer 4

Not everyone, believe it or not some people are allergic to some types of antibiotics. I once had a patient that was allergic to amoxicillin.

Answer 5

Antibiotics fight microbes. So as long as the infection was caused by a microbe the antibiotic should work, assuming the correct kind of antibiotic, and right dosage and duration was taken. However, there are some people who are allergic to certain types of antibiotics, such as natural penicillins. They are given another type of antibiotic, usually a cephalosporin. Also, there are many types of infections, and one which is not caused by microbes, such as those caused by certain fungi or parasites, will persists with the administration of antibiotics, because antibiotics cannot fight the fungi or parasite effectively. In these situations, antifungal or antiparasitic drugs or preparations are used instead of antibiotics. So assuming that a superbug did not invade your body, tests should confirm which type of microbe is present in your body in abnormal amounts and a suitable medicine should be administered to help you maintain your health.