Doubling the first dose of an antibiotic?

Question

Well, I grew up with my mom always making me take double the normal dose of an antibiotic the very first time I take the medication. After that, I would always take the normal dose. She said the double dose gave a "jump start"; I guess she meant it would start working faster or etc. She said her mom did this to her and she has done it with all her children since they were babies.

I have only had one doctor tell me to do this. Is there anything wrong with doing this? Does it actually give a "jump start"?

Thank you for any answers!

Answer 1

There are two factors to how quickly any drug goes to work.  One is pharmacokinetics and the other is pharmacodynamics.  In plain language, you can think of those as how the drug works on your body and how your body works on the drug, respectively.

Pharmacokinetics is how much drug is actually absorbed by your body and goes to work (bioavailability, absorption, distribution and elimination).  This is affected not just by the dose but by a lot of other factors you can only partly control (how good your circulation is, interactions with other drugs, how quickly your stomach empties, etc.).  Taking more a given drug may or may not increase the bioavailability--if the body has to process the drug for it to work, it may not be able to handle any more than the dose you are prescribed.  You also clear a drug at a given rate and you may, if you take more than one dose at a time, be unable to clear it before you take the next dose.

Pharmacodynamics is about the effects of the drug on the body and the relevant issue is the "dose-response curve".  We tailor doses of drugs so as to give an effective amount with the least possibility of adverse effects--this part of the dose-response curve is called the "therepeutic window."  Taking more of the drug will put a higher amount into your circulation, but it will also tend to push the concentration beyond that therapeutic window.  So taking more than you are prescribed raises the possibility that you will have adverse effects without improving the action of the drug.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying generally that no, it's not necessary and it may be a bad idea.  *g*  We do "load" a drug sometimes in the hospital when we want it to be at full strength very quickly, but we do that with caution and we test blood levels of the drug to make sure it doesn't go too high.  You probably won't do anything bad to yourself just by doubling an initial dose of an antibiotic, but I don't think you'll do anything to help yourself either.

Answer 2

You should follow the Doctor's orders when taking antibiotics!  It is especially important to not skip doses because the infection is cured.  That is how bacteria develop a resistance to drugs.  The bacteria that survive the antibiotics are likely to multiply.