(NSFW I guess) Will this antibiotic give me my least favorite side effect?

You may be able to prevent it by eating yogurt while taking the course of antibiotics. Doesn’t always work, but it doesn’t hurt to try. I always eat at least one serving of yogurt per day if I’m taking antibiotics, just a habit now.

Massive dose of Acidophilus. One or two capsules a day.

I am not a medical professional.

Less likely than when you take penicillin.

Why not buy a 3 days OTC yeast infection kit at the drug store and use it every third day while you take the Flagyl if you are prone to yeats infections and dread the possibility. Or, ask your doctor to prescribe diflucan once a week while you take the flagyl.

Also, take some acidopholus.

When I’ve been on penicillin I’ve taken probiotic capsules well away from the time I take the antibiotic. You could try that. Make sure you ask your pharmacists just how long after taking the antibiotic you need to wait before taking the probiotic so you don’t cancel out the effect.

Is it absolutely necessary that you get Flagyl, specifically? I don’t react well to it either (dry heaves) and I’ve found that, if I request, I usually can get Cipro instead, which doesn’t bother me. It seems to serve most of the same purposes.

I have no major side effects taking Flagyl, Cipro is worse for me, so I would just take what is prescribed and see how it goes. Also, not everything is sensitive to Cipro, we would have to know what is being treated to know the other medications that would work.

@JLeslie Sure, that’s why I asked if Flagyl is definitely necessary. If Cipro (or anything else) might work for what she’s being treated for, she might consider asking for a different antibiotic. Better to try something that she might not react to than go ahead and take something she definitely knows she reacts badly to.

@Mariah I assumed she has never taken Flagyl before. Was I incorrect? Then I agree maybe ask for something else, if she knows she hates being on the drug already.

Ahh, I read too quickly. She said “last time I was on antibiotics” not last time she was on Flagyl specifically. @sliceswiththings, if you’ve already taken Flagyl before and had problems, I’d recommend asking to see if something else would work for what you have, but if it’s the first time, go ahead and try it. Not all antibiotics produce the same results or side effects. There are good suggestions in this thread to stack the deck in your favor.

Try the four that the doctor said at first. If you can handle four, it will clear up the infections faster.

Take probiotics.

Eat yogurt with live cultures.

@sliceswiththings To pick up on the four tabs a day, you don’t mention the dose? Sometimes 2,000mg at once is prescribed, I ammguessing you won’t be taking hat much. Definitely try the four tabs a day, to get a loading dose at the front, and then reduce later if you feel overmedicated. Did you look at the package insert to see what is typically recommended for your illness? You might want to look at that. Probably take into account the dose is used for men also, so if you are a petite woman, you might be overmedicated easily.

I just looked on line and I did not find the insert, but a few websites say three times a day, so definitely look at the actual insert when you pick up the medicine. I still would take 4 the first few days if I could tolerate it. Especially if your pills are only 250 mg.

One last comment, the generic pills are horrible if you have trouble swallowing. They fall apart in a second, and Flagyl tastes horrible. Just giving you a heads up to swallow quickly. If you are taking capsules no problems then.

Thanks so much for all the answers! Thanks for the swallowing tip, @JLeslie. I do have trouble swallowing and it is the generic. I’ll get some peanut butter.

@Mariah I have in fact not have Flagyl before. I’ve had the yeast infection with penicillin, and unfortunately Cipro didn’t fix my problem.

They are 250 mg pills. He said four of those instead of two 500s so I can reduce as needed.

How long will the 3-day thing fix it for?

Be careful with the 3 day kits. The 7 day ones are a lower dose and I still find them really painful sometimes.

The 3-day kits are usually fine for me, but it seems like a waste if the infection will come right back, right?

@sliceswiththings If you use the 3 day, or even the 7 every couple of days or so while on the Flagyl, it will keep your yeast numbers in check so they never grow out of control. Or, hopefully that will be the case. You always have some yeast in the area, just while on antibiotics it can grow out of control and become an infection. You don’t have to wait for the infection, you will be using the yeast medication prophylactically.

@Mariah I am allergic to Monistat, I can use the other ones without irritation, you might want to try a different antifungal.