are some antibiotics stronger?

[michiganpandas]

Hi...I should probably know this...but, are what is the difference between phrophaytic (sp???) antibiotics and regular ones? is one "stronger" or are they the same, but one is take to just prevent sickness??

 

also...are some antibiotics considered stronger or maybe even harder on their systems than others?

[MomWithOCDSon]

Hi there!

 

Well, I don't have a medical background, but this is what I understand from my own research and experience.

 

Typically prophylactic antibiotics are the same abx used for treatment, just at lower and/or more irregular doses. Those with longer half-lives, such as azith, some people only need to take once every three or four days in order to remain protected from strep or other microbes to which they are susceptible. Others, like Augmentin with shorter half-lives, though, even prophylactically, need to happen daily, though sometimes lower doses than treatment doses are effective.

 

I don't know if there are, per se, "stronger" and "weaker" classes of antibiotics, but there are definitely "narrow spectrum" and "wider spectrum" abx. Dox typically want to stick with the narrowest spectrum abx they can for treating a given infection for fear that the patient will develop resistance and then it will be difficult to find another drug to which the patient will respond.

 

As far as which ones might be harder on a system, that probably varies from person to person and what their innate natural gut flora is like as a general rule, even before the abx regimen is begun. For instance, we found regular Augmentin -- possibly because of its high clavulanic acid component -- to be relatively hard on our DS's gut (diarrhea, cramps) -- and regular, healthy doses of probiotics helped but didn't completely alleviate that response. On the time-released version of that medication, however (Augmentin XR), we find his gut issues are virtually non-existent, so the lower clav acid component and/or the slower, more gradual release of the medication seems to help.

 

Does that help at all?

Edited September 8, 2011 by MomWithOCDSon