so many drugs

So I was supposd to start those antibiotics like, three weeks ago. Now, legit, I had to wait for the first of April to pick them up as money+time was a problem.

...it is now the fifteenth.

That's not true, exactly; I do know--medication apparently scares me except methylphenidate and levothyroxide (thyroid) and--improvement!--my nasal sprays. No reason, though, and no real pattern other than my ability to make my brain (sometimes) stop this shit.

This has been a thing since the August 2017 Anxiety Thing, or rather, about two weeks after that when things got weird. I am wary of ibuprofen, for fuck's sake, and nyquil, and basically if it exists. I know the logic chain as it exists now, but--I don't know exactly how it started, though my best guess is back in 2008, when I was hospitalized (For the second time) with pneumonia and the antibiotics they gave me induced what I still refer to as Life Ending Nausea, like, worse than morning sickness (and mine sucked). I've been reasonably wary since then, but the outright avoidance/fear, that part's about two years and change.

Granted, it does not help that they're fucking horsepills: Amox-Clav 875 MG twice a day with a warning to take a probiotic for gut flora reasons we shall smooth over now because eww. For twenty one days. After that, the steroids. Then I go back for a CAT scan of my nose and to see if anything else needs to be done. The reason for the helldrugs is that all signs point to a severe long-term sinus infection and pretty much the only way to get rid of it is to nuke it to the ground.

I have to start dammit. They're antibiotics. It'll be fine. But if anyone has any advice on how to take them and with what to reduce nausea and horror, please feel free to share.

Comments

[krait]

I have no advice, pills always having been easy for me (seriously, I remember when I was old enough to get pills instead of odd-tasing liquids and feeling that this was a great improvement, and that I was officially an adult) but I wish you all the best as you try to nuke the sinus trouble!

Sinuses are the very devil and I go several rounds with my own every winter, so I know what a misery that is.

[aurumcalendula]

re: horsepill-sized antibiotics, do you have a pill/tablet cutter? (I think CVS and/or Walgreens sells them)

[niqaeli]

I don't know if my nausea translates, as it's significantly reflux-y in nature (but weirdly I don't get heartburn, as such, just -- a ton of OTHER reflux symptoms; because bodies) but I find minimising the carbonation in my life helps a lot as well as eating a little bit of something every few hours even if I'm not actually hungry at all.

As far as taking horsepills -- unless it's contraindicated, I take any large pills with a strongly flavoured liquid. So, like, orange juice or lemonade or something like that. In a pinch, even something like iced tea is better than plain water. It makes them go down and stay down much better.

[vicki_rae]

Good luck and I hope it helps you feel better!

What usually works for me to reduce the reflux and nausea is several bites of food first, then the antibiotics, then more food and a cup of tea. Also, probiotics every day approx halfway between antibiotic doses mostly reduces the ... chaos. You're allowed to cut Amox-Clav 875 pills in half with a pill cutter and swallow the two pieces separately if that helps?

I have the same problem with reflux and nausea after antibiotics. Sinuses from hell and Amox-Clav is what they give me for nuking chronic sinus infections. If you get stuck with this again, it's available in adult dosage liquid form which is what I get because a swallowing dysfunction makes pills of any size dangerous.

[lilacsigil]

Yeah, those are horse pills! You can chop them up or crush them and take them in any non-dairy liquid, or on a spoon with apple sauce or jam/jelly if you want.

And that level of nausea is a good reason for your brain to be noping out of antibiotics! Do you know what it was they gave you, so you don't get it again?

[vicki_rae]

Amox-Clav 875 is extended release. Can't chew or crush. Cutting in half and swallowing each piece whole is the only option.

[lilacsigil]

My pharmacy guidelines say they can be crushed for immediate use and taken in the way I describe above.

[vicki_rae]

Oh, okay, sorry. It's been at least 10 years since I could swallow pills and I was going on memory that this was the extended release form.

[lilacsigil]

My pharmacy guidelines say they can be crushed for immediate use and taken in the way I describe above.

[lilacsigil]

And why did that double-post? Sorry!

[ratcreature]

I have no advice, since actually so far I have managed to avoid ever taking antibiotics, except as eyedrops for operations and infections there, but nothing oral.

Good luck though! I hope the infection will be susceptible and finally go away.

[kore]

I haaaaaaaate amox/clav but damn it does the job. What worked for me was really thick Greek yoghurt: I would eat a spoonful, bury a pill in the yoghurt so I couldn't see it, spoon it up, swallow it, swallow another spoonful. Eating the whole container, too.

[siegeofangels]

I second this, you can also use ice cream. Maybe get a kind of chunky ice cream and try swallowing pill-sized chunks of brownie/whatever whole, then sneak the pill into a spoonful and gulp it before you realize it's not a brownie chunk?

Best of luck, I hope you feel better soon.

[ruinsplume]

I’ve had to take those same pills (for a massive dental infection that was in the verge of breaking into my sinuses) and the probiotics I took to stave off the abx side effects were fantastic—no yeast infection (which is a first for me while on abx) and no stomach upset. The salient ingredients in the probiotics were L reuteri, L acidophilus, and L rhamnosis. I’ve taken acidophilus alone in the past and it didn’t help at all, so the addl probiotic ingredients were key.

If you are in the US, the brand I used was “Nature’s Way Primadophilous Reuteri”

I hope your sinuses get better soon!

[thornsilver]

Def take probiotics. I don't know what your dr/pharmacist told you about those, but you should take it a couple of hours after you take your antibiotics. Every time, even if that is not probiotic dosage is saying.

[aerialiste]

1) Probiotics are your new best friends.
2) I've taken Amox-Clav, it wasn't that bad!
3) You will be able to BREATHE it will be a MIRACLE please DO THE THING NOW PLEASE I LOVE YOU.

[bonibaru]

All I can offer you from medication anxiety land is a commiserating hug, and reassurance that I have taken and survived clavamox many times and have full faith that you, too, will make it.

Can you eat yogurt or cottage cheese with probiotics in them?

[timespirt]

They do have nausea meds that they could prescribe so you don't get sick. I got bit by a tick and took the antibiotics for a month but they only made me somewhat nauseous. I also made sure to take the probiotics and drank Keefer (liquid yogurt) so I wouldn't get that lovely yeast infection that comes with antibiotic use. I'm allergic to two of the major antibiotics so It's hard for them to give me something powerful that works for me.

[monanotlisa]

I don't want to sound like one of those crazies (I know, you think, That Train Has Left The Station). But have you tried Sinupret? It's the only thing that has ever even touched my chronic sinusitis.

[templemarker]

My vote is cutting in half + milkshake of choice. Or dairy alternative.

[azurelunatic]

Oatmeal tends to be more soothing to my stomach than dairy anything or applesauce. (Though when I don't have the brain for anything else, I take my pills with pouch of applesauce.)