Is amoxicillin ok to take????

[Alisha]

I think my daughter may have an ear infection and its the weekend. Want to bring her to urgent care tomorrow but wondering if amoxicillin is ok for her to take? I thought I read somewhere before that amoxicillin contained some fructose?? Help???

[Tammy]

Yes, amoxicillin does contain sugar. All forms of it. Unless something has changed in the last couple of years, we've never found any form of penicillin that was safe.
There are several antibotics that are safe. Your doctor can look these up in the PDF (physicians desk reference). Just be sure to remind him to check the inactive ingredients. That is where the sugar would be.

I think my daughter used to take Septra for her ears. But again, have him check it as my memory is getting old. I'm thinking Kerflex one time for a tooth, and there was something one time that started with a C.

[nicoleh]

Hi Alisha,
I have 11 years of parenting behind me and we have never used an antibiotic. For the odd ear-infection, antibiotics may relieve symptoms marginally faster than doing nothing, but it greatly increases the likelihood of a repeat infection in 6 weeks time or so. Has she has another round of ear infection only a couple of months ago by any chance?

You can do a little research online about this and decide for yourself, but you may be able to save yourself the trouble of another infection, trying to find a fructose free option and a trip to urgent care if you read this : children.webmd.com/news/20101115/ear-infections-antibiotics-often-not-needed

article summary: A watch and wait approach is usually all that is needed.

We have used homeopathy (properly prescribed by a registered "Classical" homeopath) too when it was painful and I always give pure sodium ascorbate powder (vitamin C) which helps thin mucous to help the ears and nose drain better - plus it boosts the immune system. My kids have never had ear pain last more than 12 hours with this treatment.

Maybe some of this will help you. If she needs pain relief I hope you can find something fructose free for her. This will help her feel better so she can sleep, if that is an issue. I've never used pharmaceutical pain relief but I would do that before going to antibiotics.

[charlie]

Does she have an actual ear infection or earache? as megs always gets earache with a food reaction and has seen the doctor who says it is a little red but not an infection. Hers can go very sore and often it is only in one ear.

I know people do avoid antibiotics but I would tread with caution of not using anything if it is actually an infection as they can flare up very severely and very fast if left with serious consequences.

[khethma]

Yes, I agree that a true ear infection is not something to take chances with. I used to get them several times a year as a kid, and my mother didn't usually take me to the doctor since the acute infection would run its course in a few hours, and the antibiotics always made me very sick and I'd refuse to take them. She practically had to hold me down and force feed them to me.

When the infections came on, the pressure would build very fast, and in the course of hours, it would reach a point at which the ear drum would be perforated and the infected fluid would drain out. It was excruciating, even with pain medication. After the ear drum tore, the pain would be alleviated and the fever would go down, but I'd remain mostly deaf in that ear for days or weeks afterward.

Unfortunately, by the time I was 8 years old, I had scarring on my ear drums and was told that if I got anymore infections like that, I'd have permanent hearing loss. After that, I always had antibiotics with the infections no matter how sick they made me. And once I got older, the antibiotics stopped making me sick, so I suspect they're safer now. The ones I took as a kid were liquid and fruit flavored (yuck!).

Anyway, I did end up with some minor but permanent hearing loss from the scarring. So from someone who has suffered horribly from acute ear infections, I strongly suggest that you work with your doctors to find a safe antibiotic if you're uncomfortable with the amoxicillin.

I think I've read in earlier posts that quite a few of the confirmed HFI'ers suffered from chronic ear infections as kids. So it seems like ear infection could potentially be something that HFI'ers are prone to.

I am not a confirmed HFI'er, but I did suffer terribly with chronic ear infections as a kid, and from that perspective, all I can say is that if it were my child, I wouldn't hesitate to give the antibiotics. I doubt there's enough fructose in them to cause too much harm, but an acute ear infection has a lot of potential to cause serious illness and even permanent hearing damage. Plus it's horrifically painful (one of the worst pains I've ever experienced).

Heidi