Penicillin

[Tilly2]

I have been feeling really rough for the last couple of weeks with a cold that developed into sinusitis and a chest infection. On Friday, I went to the GP who prescribed penicllin. Within two hour of taking the first tablet, I began to feel better and now, I feel very much better.

Is ther some psychology involved in me feeling the benefits of the first tablet or is penicillin really that good?

[ummmm]

I find the same. I wonder do they work better if you rarely take them.

[Sqad]

If there are indications that your upper respiratory chest infection is due to a bacterial invasion and that your immune system is struggling to cope with it, then the effect of penicillin in such cases is NOT psychological.

[Tilly2]

It's the speed at which they work. Amazing.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah Penicillin really is that good.

Normal healthy people died in droves from infections in Victorian times.
My mother was in hospital practice when the first antibiotic came in - prontosil rubrum which changed the face of obstetric infection and...

my father was in a German POW camp when one of the Germans said - in German, you'd better read this it is causing quite a stir. It was the Lancet report of Penicillin 1942.

[Tilly2]

Thank you all. Onwards and upwards.

[anneasquith]

tilly, although you feel better so quickly, complete the course of the antibiotic.

[Tilly2]

I will, Anne. Thank you. I don't want to go through that again.

[murraymints]

Can I have some ? Was given amoxicillin ...doesn't seem to do much for me !

[Sqad]

murray....Amoxicillin is a penicillin and is the drug of choice for upper respiratory chest infections.

[Tilly2]

That's what I've got. minty. 500mg every eight hours. Working a treat for me.

[murraymints]

Doesn't do much for me !

[anneasquith]

minty, with 'chest' things ive found 250mg. of amoxycillan rubbish. whereas 500mg, does the job .

[Tilly2]

Is all the 'rubbish' shifting?

[LazyGun]

Sounds like the Penicillin has worked a treat. I am allergic to the stuff, unfortunately, quite severely.

I am sure that it is the penicillin that has worked its magic for you Tilly, especially if you were suffering from a bacterial URTI as Sqad describes, but its also possible that the placebo effect from the "rituals of care" of going to your GP and having a discussion with a (hopefully) friendly, professional and sympathetic medical person and the knowledge of something being done contributes to your recovery.

And there is also the possibility of the contribution of "regression to the mean". That is the understanding that most colds and infections tend to be self-limiting - that is, there is a natural span of time for the infection to run its course and for you to return to feeling good/normal again, and it might just be that your cold had more or less run its course anyway.

[murraymints]

It is now but it's taken a while and left me a bit wabbit haven't been able to eat till yesterday...

[Tilly2]

You have explained the psychology aspect of my question so well, Lazy Gun.
Thank you.

[Tilly2]

Well it sounds like you're on the mend, minty. Onwards and upwards, as I said earlier.

[Prudie]

I am of an era when penicillin/antibiotics were always given for throat/chest infections and I thought they were like a miracle cure, usually within 24 hours. Trying to get them prescribed nowadays is a miracle in itself.

[Canary42]

Penicillin saved my life in 1953 when I had pneumonia.