Antibiotic treatment

[Nialltom]

I am currently taking Ampicillin that my doctor prescribed for me for some slight acne that I have. I am taking it along with an acne treatment gel. I was wondering if taking an antibiotic for acne for long periods of time like 6 weeks would be bad for me. Would this make me more immune to the antibiotic? I haven't noticed any side effects yet and was just curious. Thank-you.

[Lurker]

It is the most common treatment for acne to take low dose antibiotics and this is fine. You should get no side affects and it should not affect your immunity. My son took antibiotics for acne for about 2 years with no ill affects. His skin is now fine - and he has no scarring.

[becks]

You don't say whether you're a boy or a girl but taking antibiotics can give us girls thrushso it might be worth supplementing the treatment with acidophilus to help stop that. As for the immunity i'm not sure about this, my body did get immune to antinbiotics when i was much younger as i just constantly had tonsilitis, til they took them out, i then didn't take any antibiotics for as long as possible and they work fine now. I'm sure if you have any other concerns your GP will talk to you.

[Lurker]

Becks is right about thrush if you are a girl. However, the dose of antibiotics given for acne is much lower than if treating an illness and shouldn't give problems with immunity. GPs these days are very cautious with antibiotics and don't give them unnecessarily. However, as Becks says if you have concerns your GP will discuss them with you.

[Doolallygirl]

I think Niall is a boy!

[tracymort]

I'll second Becks, you'll definately want to take a good probiotic. In fact poor gut health is thought to be a cause of skin probs like acne. you might find this interesting - http://www.whatreallyworks.co.uk/start/factsheets.asp?articl e_ID=350

[becks]

lol, didn't read name properly doolallygirl! Well maybe boys can get nasty side effects like thrush too, so might be worth checking out anyway! Sorry Niall!

[leathalmon]

Yes antibiotic treatment does cause bacteria to become immune to the antibiotic. Acne treatment is the biggest cause of antibiotic resistance because the doses are low and over a long period of time. There are many antibiotics that can be used to treat acne including tetracylcines (there are many), erythromycin, clindamycin etc. I would say it is best not to be on one antibiotic for more than 12months, ideally no more than 6 months. If there is no improvement are 3 months go back to your GP and he will revise the treatment, otherwise after 6 months as the doctor if it would be advisable to switch to another antibiotic or possibly to a topical antibiotic (applied direct to skin with acne). Topically applied antibiotics (in creams and gels) cause less antibiotic resistance, especially if combined with benzoyl peroxide which kills bacteria but the bacteria cannot become resistant to it. Hope this has helped. Any other questions: "health.science.question AT NOSPAMwwwww.plus.com". Replacing the AT with '@' and removing 'NOSPAM'. Chris 5W Network