Do antibiotics make a cold worse?
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As the first answer states, antibiotics are useless for a cold. Taking them will do absolutely nothing for your illness. Antibiotics only work with bacteria not virusus such as colds and flu. Im not sure how you got antiboitics if all you have is a cold.
While this may not make your immediate problems worse, it can cause existing bacteria to become adapt and resistant to antibiotics. Over use of antibiotics is a bad practice in general.
Antibiotics don't do anything for a cold. A cold is a virus, the only thing that can kill it is your body's own immune system.
No, they generally help to fight the problem. If it seems a cold is worse when you take antibiotics: A. You MAY NEED a higher strength or B. If you've taken a great deal of the drug(s), there may be a resistance to some of the properties in the drug.
Antibiotics do not affect viruses. A cold is caused by a "rhinovirus". Often someone with a cold will end up with a secondary opportunistic bacterial infection that is then treated with antibiotics.
Taking antibiotics when there is no bacterial infection present may cause overgrowth of nonsusceptible organisms (i.e., a yeast infection!).
Overuse of antibiotics has caused many bacteria, including gonorrhea and streptococcus, to become more resistant to common antibiotics. Stronger and newer antibiotics must then be developed; then the bacteria become more resistant to the new antibiotics.
Do not take antibiotics unless a physician has evaluated, diagnosed, and prescribed them for you.
Antibiotics do not affect cold viruses. Too take them anyway can reduce the normal flora of the gastrointestinal tract. This can cause an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. C-diff or clostridium difficile can occur. You should exhibit some cardinal signs of infection such as redness, swelling, pain, temp over 100, etc. Infection should also be diagnosed using a simple blood test called a differential. Part of a test called a CBC, or complete blood count.
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