Drug Uses

Amoxil is an antibiotic in the class of drugs called penicillin. It fights bacteria in the body. Amoxil is used to treat many different types of infections, such as tonsillitis, pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea, and infections of the skin. Amoxil may also be used for other purposes.

How Taken

Amoxil comes as a capsule, chewable tablet, liquid, and pediatric drop to take by mouth. It is usually taken every 8 hours (three times a day). Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take Amoxil exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor. Shake the liquid and pediatric drops well before each use to mix the medication evenly. Use the bottle dropper to measure the dose of pediatric drops. The pediatric drops and liquid may be placed on a child's tongue or added to formula, milk, fruit juice, water, ginger ale, or other cold liquid and taken immediately. The tablets should be crushed or chewed thoroughly before they are swallowed. The capsules should be swallowed whole and taken with a full glass of water. Continue to take Amoxil even if you feel well. Do not stop taking Amoxil without talking to your doctor.

Warnings/Precautions

If you have ever had an allergic reaction to another penicillin or to a cephalosporin, do not take Amoxil without first talking to your doctor. Before taking Amoxil, tell your doctor if you have kidney disease, or stomach or intestinal disease. Amoxil is in the FDA pregnancy category B. This means that it is not expected to be harmful to an unborn baby. Amoxil is generally considered to be safe for use during pregnancy. Do not, however, take Amoxil without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment. Amoxil passes into breast milk. Although serious problems have not been reported, rarely, Amoxil may cause a yeast infection, diarrhea, or an allergic reaction in a nursing infant, although no serious harm is expected. Do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

Missed Dose

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember, and take the rest of the day's doses at evenly spaced intervals. However, if it is almost time for the next regularly scheduled dose, skip the dose you missed and take the rest of the doses for the day as directed. Do not take a double dose of this medication unless otherwise directed by your doctor.

Possible Side Effects

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience severe or bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps during treatment with Amoxil. If you experience any of the following serious side effects, stop taking Amoxil and seek emergency medical attention or contact your doctor immediately: an allergic reaction (shortness of breath; closing of the throat; hives; swelling of the lips, face, or tongue; rash; or fainting); seizures; or unusual bleeding or bruising. Other, less serious side effects may be more likely to occur. Continue to take Amoxil and talk to your doctor if you experience mild nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain, white patches on the tongue (thrush/ yeast infection); itching or discharge of the vagina (vaginal yeast infection); black, "hairy" tongue or sore mouth or tongue. Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome.

Storage

Keep out of the reach of children. Store away from heat and direct light. Do not store the capsule or tablet form of Amoxil in the bathroom, near the kitchen sink, or in other damp places. Heat or moisture may cause the medicine to break down. Store the oral liquid form of Amoxil in the refrigerator because heat will cause this medicine to break down. However, keep the medicine from freezing. Follow the directions on the label. Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed. Be sure that any discarded medicine is out of the reach of children.

Overdose

Symptoms of an Amoxil overdose may include muscle spasms or weakness, pain or twitching, pain in the fingers or toes, loss of feeling in the fingers or toes, seizures, confusion, coma, or agitation. Seek emergency medical attention if an overdose is suspected.

More Information

Contact your doctor immediately if you experience severe or bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps during treatment with Amoxil. Take all of the Amoxil that has been prescribed for you even if you begin to feel better. Your symptoms may begin to improve before the infection is completely treated. Amoxil may decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills. If you are taking birth control pills, use a second method of birth control while taking Amoxil to ensure protection from unintended pregnancy.

Disclaimer

This drug information is for your information purposes only, it is not intended that this information covers all uses, directions, drug interactions, precautions, or adverse effects of your medication. This is only general information, and should not be relied on for any purpose. It should not be construed as containing specific instructions for any particular patient. We disclaim all responsibility for the accuracy and reliability of this information, and/or any consequences arising from the use of this information, including damage or adverse consequences to persons or property, however such damages or consequences arise. No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made in regards to this information.

Other info about Amoxicillin at Wikipedia.org and other resources:

Prediction of delayed recovery from pediatric community-acquired pneumonia
Conclusions: Respiratory rate and erythrocyte sedimentation rates were associated with rapid decrease of fever. Anyway, none of the reported characteristics was able to predict treatment failures or delayed fever decrease in children suffering from CAP. (Source: Italian Journal of Pediatrics)

Sweet's Syndrome
A 31-year-old woman with no significant medical history was admitted to the hospital with a 5-day history of development of slightly painful, pustular lesions on her face and neck, chest, upper back, axillae, and suprapubic area. The patient had been seen in an urgent care center and diagnosed with “strep throat” approximately 2 weeks before admission and had received a course of oral amoxicillin. Five days before admission, she was reevaluated at the urgent care center because of low-grade fever and pustular lesions on the right side of her face and neck. Oral trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was administered, but her skin lesions continued to progress as described, and she presented for admission. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)

Escherichia coli strains causing edema disease in northern Vietnam share an identical verotoxin 2e
Abstract  Edema disease (ED) is a common fatal disease in newly weaned piglets. To develop an effective control program for ED, we carried out a study to better understand the incidence and spread of the disease and the characteristics of the causative agent. In our study, 69 Escherichia coli strains, isolated from 92 piglets showing clinical signs of ED from 13 provinces in northern Vietnam, were positive for both the VT2e toxin and the F18 major fimbrial subunit gene fedA. Of these, 40 strains (58%) were positive for AIDA and 16 isolates carried one or more enterotoxins. Forty-six (67%) of the 69 VT2e+/F18+ E. coli isolates belonged to classical serotypes (O139:K82, O141: K85, O138:K81, and O149:K91) while the remaining strains did not belong to the common serotypes in pi...

Decrease in serum valproic acid levels during treatment with ertapenem.
Conclusion After initiation of ertapenem, decreased serum valproic acid levels were observed in two patients. PMID: 20651316 [PubMed - in process] (Source: American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy : AJHP)

Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid: Symmetrical drug-related intertriginous and flexural exanthema: case report
(Source: Reactions)