Using Ampicillin
Ampicillin is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach with a full glass of water. Take this drug one hour before or two hours after having a meal. Your health care provider may need to test your blood and liver function while ampicillin is being used. Make sure you show up for regular appointments for your treatment to be successful and always go as planned. It’s important to take ampicillin for as long as prescribed, even if your symptoms get better soon enough. You shouldn’t expect ampicillin to treat a viral infection, such as cold or flu as it is not expected to be efficient against it. The accuracy of some medical tests may be affected by the fact you are taking ampicillin. Tell the doctor or nurse you are using this medicine to make sure the results of your test are accurate. Taking more of ampicillin is not likely to make your treatment more efficient. An overdose of this drug is also possible if you take too much. The following symptoms may indicate an overdose of ampicillin and need to be reported to your local emergency center: behavior changes, severe skin rash, urinating less than usual, seizure or confusion. It’s also very important to take ampicillin regularly for this medicine to remain at the same level in your bloodstream. You will need to make sure you remember to take this drug regularly without missing doses or skipping them. Skipping a dose is acceptable if you missed one and it’s almost time to take your next dose. In that case, instead of taking a double dose you are recommended to skip the one you missed and go back to the normal schedule of taking ampicillin.
However, bear in mind that the more doses you miss or skip –the less efficient your treatment becomes. Taking ampicillin from time to time is not going to help your immune system deal with the infection properly, and you may get a relapse of infection as a result. If that happens, taking ampicillin is not going to be as efficient for you anymore – as your bacteria will have developed resistance to this particular medicine. Never share ampicillin with other people to whom it was not prescribed and store it in some place where it will not be accessed by your family members, especially children. Taking ampicillin is sometimes associated with certain side effects, but this is unlikely to cause any particular problems, as side effects of this medicine are usually mild and go away on their own. It’s not recommended to share this drug with others, as you may not be aware of some contraindications they have. For instance, some people have allergies and can react unexpectedly to ampicillin or any other penicillin drugs. In case you share your dose with such people they may get serious allergic reactions and will need to seek emergency medical help.