Purmycin: what is it and how does it work?

What Is Purmycin?

Purmycin: what is it & how does it work? If you’ve ever visited your GP for an infection or tight chest, chances are you’ve been prescribed purmycin.

Purmycin Capsule is a prescription medicine and is an antibiotic. Antibiotics will not treat viral infections but are prescribed for bacterial infections. Purmycin is usually administered in capsule form for adults and syrup for kids.

Viral vs Bacterial

The main difference between a viral infection and a bacterial infection is bacteria are free-living cells that live both inside or outside a body, explains Boystown Hospital. A virus is a non-living collection of molecules that need a host/you to survive. Antibiotics will usually kill bacteria, but they aren’t effective against viruses.

Unfortunately, there is no medicine to speed the recovery when it comes to viruses. Doctors and clinics will usually treat the symptoms. However, antibiotics will help clear up a bacterial infection. Taking an antibiotic like Purmycin for a virus could introduce you to side effects and problems related to the medicine.

What Is Purmycin Used For?

Antibiotics treat bacteria that cause a whole range of common infections. Upper respiratory tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, and ear infections.

These include inflammation of the tonsil and throat, voice box, and cavities around the nasal passages- as well as pus-filled pocket behind the tonsil and secondary infections in influenza – and inflammation of the windpipe, the lining of airways of the lungs (bronchitis), and for pneumonia in newborn babies.

Purmycin Capsule is also used to prevent pre-and post-operative trauma, whooping cough (pertussis), burns and complication of strep throat (rheumatic fever).

Dermatologists also prescribe purmycin for skin infections, particularly those around the toenails and fingernails (paronychia), pus-filled pockets under the skin, and a pus-filled bulging patch of the skin (pustular acne), red sores around the mouth and nose, and other bacterial skin infections.

There is also a list of stomach, bladder, and kidney conditions treated by various doses of Purmycin.

How to use it

Purmycin can be taken after meals or on an empty stomach. That all depends on what your doctor prefers and which symptoms you’re trying to treat.

The typical adult dose is 333 mg every 8 hours or 500 mg every 12 hours (but do not take more than 4000 mg per day). A typical dose for kids is 30-50 mg/kg/day or 13.6-22.7 mg/lb/day in divided doses (also not more than 4000 mg/day).

Commonly, Purmycin is used for around two weeks for inflammation of the eye of the newborn, three weeks for pneumonia of newborn baby, seven days for infections of reproductive organs and the urinary system during pregnancy, 10-15 days for the first stage of the painless sores in or around the mouth, genitals, or anus, and seven days for pelvic inflammatory disease. There are no known habit-forming tendencies with this medicine.

Purmycin Side Effects

Taking any antibiotic has adverse side effects. The problem is that antibiotics like purmycin cannot distinguish between the good and bad bacteria in the body. That means you will need to supplement the loss of good bacteria in your mouth, stomach and other areas. For women, it is common to experience vaginal thrush from taking antibiotics, as the vagina has its microbiome. The same is true for the stomach. People on antibiotics usually report gastric discomforts such as stomach pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea and flatulence. Some also experience a loss of appetite.

If you experience intense side effects, including bloody diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, or uncontrollable vomiting, immediately contact a doctor.

More severe antibiotic side effects include:

Severe allergic reaction including difficulty breathing and facial swelling.
Severe watery diarrhoea, sometimes containing blood or mucus.
Belly cramps
Yeast infections in the mouth and the vagina ( This presents as a white discharge and severe itching in the area, sores or white patches in and on your mouth or tongue)

You can counter the effects of antibiotics by adding probiotics to your regimen and eating certain foods.

Probiotics and more

According to Cleveland Clinic, probiotics are made of good live bacteria and/or yeasts that naturally live in your body. When you get an infection, you develop more bad bacteria knocking your system out of balance. Good bacteria help eliminate extra harmful bacteria, returning the balance. Probiotic supplements are a way to add good bacteria to your body.

Besides taking probiotic medicine, foods also have probiotics in them and can benefit the health of your microbiome.

Foods that contain probiotics include:

Yoghurt.
Buttermilk.
Sourdough bread.
Cottage cheese.
Kombucha.
Tempeh.
Fermented pickles.
Fermented sauerkraut.
Kimchi.
Miso soup.