Drug Interactions:
Antibiotics (General)

See also Amoxicillin; Cephalosporins; Ethambutol; Fluoroquinolones; Isoniazid; Nitrofurantoin; Rifampin; Tetracyclines; Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole

There are an enormous number of antibiotics in use today. Issues common to antibiotics in general are discussed below.

Some of the drugs that fall into this family include

• amoxicillin (Amoxil, Trimox, Wymox)
• amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate (Augmentin)
• ampicillin (Omnipen, Principen, Totacillin, Marcillin)
• azithromycin (Zithromax)
• bacampicillin (Spectrobid)
• carbenicillin indanyl sodium (Geocillin)
• chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin Kapseals)
• cinoxacin (Cinobac)
• clarithromycin (Biaxin)
• clindamycin (Cleocin)
• clofazimine (Lamprene)
• cloxacillin sodium (Cloxapen)
• colistin sulfate (Coly-Mycin S)
• dapsone
• dicloxacillin sodium (Dycill, Dynapen, Pathocil)
• dirithromycin (Dynabac)
• erythromycin (E-Base, Ilosone, EryPed, E.E.S., Ery-Tab, E-Mycin, Eryc, Erythrocin, PCE )
• fosfomycin tromethamine (Monurol)
• kanamycin (Kantrex)
• lincomycin (Lincocin)
• metronidazole (Flagyl, Protostat)
• nafcillin sodium (Unipen)
• nalidixic acid (NegGram)
• neomycin (Neo-Tabs, Mycifradin, Neo-fradin)
• novobiocin (Albamycin)
• oxacillin sodium
• paromomycin (Humatin)
• penicillin V (Pen Vee K Beepen-VK, Penicillin VK, Veetids)
• troleandomycin (Tao)
• vancomycin (Vancocin)
• and others

Vitamin K

Possible Nutritional Depletion

Vitamin K plays a crucial role in blood clotting and also seems to be important for proper bone formation.

There are concerns that antibiotic treatment might reduce levels of vitamin K in the body. However, this effect seems to be slight, and only significant, if at all, in individuals who are already considerably deficient in vitamin K.^1–4

Acidophilus and Other Probiotics

Probable Helpful Interactions

One common side effect of antibiotic therapy is diarrhea (about 25 to 30% of people taking antibiotics report this problem). It's primarily caused by the antibiotic killing many of the bacteria that normally live in the intestines. Changes in bacteria can also cause yeast infections. However, if you take "friendly" bacteria such as L.acidophilus or Bifidobacterium longum at the same time you start antibiotics and continue for some time afterward, you may be able to significantly reduce the risk of these complications.^5–10

Last reviewed March 2002 by Medical Review Board

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