Antibiotics

Misanthropeic

I had a dental abscess and the dentist perscribed some Clindamycin to treat the infection.

I started taking it tuesday afternoon and now it's thursday. So that's almost two full days, my mouth still hurts like it did and is still swollen. How long untill antibiotics normally start to work?

LondonBridge

I was on Amoxcillian last week for tonsilitis and it took a few days for it to kill the symptoms. Maybe you should take some Advil for the inflammation.

ege02

It might be that the bacteria are resistant to that particular antibiotic.

Call your doctor and explain the situation. He can recommend another one.

Leitner

ege02 wrote: »

It might be that the bacteria are resistant to that particular antibiotic.

Call your doctor and explain the situation. He can recommend another one.

The chances of that are pretty low. I'd give it two more days and if you haven't started to feel better I'd phone your GP/equivalent.

EWom

My abscessed tooth was going to kill me. They said the infection was spreading to my brain, and immediately not only sucked out what they could with a little hose thing, but prescribed me high dosage of antibiotics they said they usually use on horses. And still it took around 5 days before it went down.

Feral

It typically takes at least three days for most antibiotics to start to work at all.
It could be up to seven.
One of the assistants at the dentist's office should be able to easily answer your question, though, and a phone call is free. If it hasn't started to recede by tomorrow, give them a call.

Nogs

antibiotics can take awhile. IMPORTANT: Do NOT stop taking the antibiotics, even if you think they aren't working. Go through the entire precription, and try not to skip a day. Not finishing the perscription can sometimes lead to even stronger bacteria, and may eventually lead to some bad things - such as surgery.

Taximes

I had the same problem (only mine was getting worse, not just staying the same) so I called and the endodontist prescribed Amoxicillin along with a steroid instead of the Clindamycin, and that did start to work.

You could always give him a call - he'll either tell you to keep taking it or he'll prescribe something else. He knows about your condition better than we do.

Pheezer

Yeah, whatever you do, keep taking the pills and finish the prescription. Don't stop for any reason, even if the side effects get really unpleasant. If you're concerned about the effectiveness, discuss it with a doctor or the dentist, but until you're on something different, keep taking the damned pills.

Feral

I think the important thing here is that if the side effects get really unpleasant, call your dentist/doctor's office and discuss it with them. Most mild side effects can be safely ignored, but more severe ones could be indicative of a sensitivity to the drug and your dentist/doctor should know about it. But the overall message here is correct: even if you make that phone call, continue taking the drug until you're told by a medical professional to stop.

misbehavin

pheezer FD wrote: »

Yeah, whatever you do, keep taking the pills and finish the prescription. Don't stop for any reason, even if the side effects get really unpleasant. If you're concerned about the effectiveness, discuss it with a doctor or the dentist, but until you're on something different, keep taking the damned pills.

This is absolutely untrue. Mild side-effects are normal, but if you start getting severe diarrhea, or a skin rash, or any other sever side-effects that become painful, you need to discuss it with your doctor, and possibly discontinue use in lieu of a different antibiotic.

Pheezer

I didn't say he shouldn't contact his doctor. He should if he feels the side effects are severe. But he definitely should not stop taking the medication until a doctor advises him otherwise and it would be potentially unsafe to suggest otherwise.

JWFokker

Misanthropeic wrote: »

I had a dental abscess and the dentist perscribed some Clindamycin to treat the infection.

I started taking it tuesday afternoon and now it's thursday. So that's almost two full days, my mouth still hurts like it did and is still swollen. How long untill antibiotics normally start to work?

Clindamycin, or any antibiotic for that matter, doesn't directly treat the pain and swelling. They are prescribed to combat the infection. The pain and swelling won't subside until the infection is significantly reduced or eliminated. If it's bothering you a lot, you may want to contact your physician to get a prescription for a corticosteriod as someone else mentioned, or an analgesic of some sort.

That said, I'm somewhat surprised you weren't also prescribed an antiseptic rinse like a chlorhexidine or povidone iodine rinse, which would clear up the infection faster.

naengwen

Ugh, dental abscess. I had one of those 2 weeks after my wisdom teeth were pulled, though mine was rather nasty. It popped up over the weekend, so the dentist just prescribed me amoxicillian over the weekend and had me come in on Monday. On Saturday night, after... I believe it was my 2nd dose of the stuff, I woke up with rancid breath and a horrible, yet familiar taste in my mouth. About 2 seconds later, I discovered that the abscess had ruptured, and that I had been drooling blood onto my pillow. After that, I scrambled for what gauze I had left from when my teeth were pulled and nearly called the ER. Man, what a long night...

Back on topic though, the pain subsided the day after that little incident, but the swelling didn't go down for about 5 or 6 days. Well, it was a little smaller, what with half the abscess oozed out into the gauze (betcha can't wait for lunch today!) but it remained pretty consistent. As far as the swelling goes, you could see if it's possible to take an Advil or something to that effect for the pain/inflammation, or if not you could try applying a piece of ice wrapped in plastic. Actually, I probably wouldn't recommend the ice.