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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Should We Complete The Full Course Of A Medicine Before Starting Another?

My son has been taken the generic azithromycin for 5 days 1 each day, he is asthmatic, did the nebulizer, prednisolone 4mg 2x a day and coughs constantly. So much coughing he vomited 3x over the past couple days. Went to the dr today and dr ordered Amoxicillin 2x daily, prometh and 20mg of prednisone 2x daily for 7 days and a chest xray. He has 2 tabs left of the generic z pack. Should we finish that before we start the amoxicillin or just start the amoxicillin. I do give him acidophollis daily too.
Tue, 26 Aug 2014
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Internal Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
If the doctor ordered a new antibiotic, he or she probably thought the azithromycin wasn't working. That drug may often work within 3 days. I would double check with the doctor to be sure the plan wasn't to have 2 antibiotics, but generally if another is ordered, the first one is stopped, so you do not need to finish the first. But please verify with the doctor. Hope this answers your query.
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Should We Complete The Full Course Of A Medicine Before Starting Another?

If the doctor ordered a new antibiotic, he or she probably thought the azithromycin wasn t working. That drug may often work within 3 days. I would double check with the doctor to be sure the plan wasn t to have 2 antibiotics, but generally if another is ordered, the first one is stopped, so you do not need to finish the first. But please verify with the doctor. Hope this answers your query.