Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: lyner on 07/03/2008 21:46:51

Title: antibiotics and side effects
Post by: lyner on 07/03/2008 21:46:51

On the very rare occasions that I take a course of antibiotics I notice that they tend to make me very drowsy.  Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a reason (medics please help)?

Title: antibiotics and side effects
Post by: Bored chemist on 08/03/2008 02:21:24

Just to play devil's advocate, how do you exclude the idea that whatever it is that you are taking the antibiotics for is making you drowsy?
I know that when I'm under the weather I get tired easily.

Title: antibiotics and side effects
Post by: lyner on 08/03/2008 11:30:22

Good point but I seldom bother to visit the Doctor and usually see a minor illness through to self-limiting; I never get this particular sort of effect then. It's not just like feeling generally knackered etc; it's more of  a specific 'dozy' feeling. This constitutes a reasonable 'control' for my observations, I think. Onset of this particular feeling always seems to correlate with starting the antibiotic course - within the first two or three doses.
Antibiotics do / can have pretty impressive effects on gut bacteria, I'm told but I have never experienced any of them - I have relatively iron-guts as they say.
This occasion involved an inflamed eye which didn't make me feel particularly bad - it was just a nuisance and I visited the Doctor as a preventative measure. The feeling only came on the day after my visit.