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What is amoxicillin?

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic in the penicillin group of drugs. It fights bacteria in your body.

Amoxicillin is used to treat many different types of infections caused by bacteria, such as ear infections, bladder infections, pneumonia, gonorrhea, and E. coli or salmonella infection. Amoxicillin is also sometimes used together with another antibiotic called clarithromycin (Biaxin) to treat stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. This combination is sometimes used with a stomach acid reducer called lansoprazole (Prevacid).

Amoxicillin may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Precautions

Instructions

Side-effects

Interactions

Precautions

Do not use this medication if you are allergic to amoxicillin or to any other penicillin antibiotic, such as:

• ampicillin (Omnipen, Principen);
• carbenicillin (Geocillin);
• dicloxacillin (Dycill, Dynapen);
• oxacillin (Bactocill); or
• penicillin (Beepen-VK, Ledercillin VK, Pen-V, Pen-Vee K, Pfizerpen, V-Cillin K, Veetids, and others).

Before using amoxicillin, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs (especially cephalosporins such as Ceclor, Ceftin, Duricef, Keflex, and others), or if you have:

• asthma;
• liver disease;
• kidney disease;
• a bleeding or blood clotting disorder;
• mononucleosis (also called "mono");
• a history of diarrhea caused by taking antibiotics; or
• a history of any type of allergy.

If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take amoxicillin.

FDA pregnancy category B. This medication is not expected to be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment.

Amoxicillin can make birth control pills less effective, which may result in pregnancy. Before taking amoxicillin, tell your doctor if you use birth control pills.

Amoxicillin can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

The amoxicillin chewable tablet may contain phenylalanine. Talk to your doctor before using this form of amoxicillin if you have phenylketonuria (PKU).

Antibiotic medicines can cause diarrhea, which may be a sign of a new infection. If you have diarrhea that is watery or has blood in it, call your doctor. Do not use any medicine to stop the diarrhea unless your doctor has told you to.

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Instructions

Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.

Overdose symptoms may include confusion, behavior changes, a severe skin rash, urinating less than usual, or seizure (black-out or convulsions).

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at your next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

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Side-effects

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

• fever, sore throat, and headache with a severe blistering, peeling, and red skin rash;
• nausea, stomach pain, low fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
• diarrhea that is watery or bloody;
• fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms;
• easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness;
• urinating less than usual or not at all;
• agitation, confusion, unusual thoughts or behavior; or
• seizure (black-out or convulsions).

Less serious side effects are more likely to occur, such as:

• nausea, vomiting, stomach pain;
• vaginal itching or discharge;
• headache;
• swollen, black, or "hairy" tongue; or
• thrush (white patches or inside your mouth or throat).

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Tell your doctor about any unusual or bothersome side effect.

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Interactions

Before taking amoxicillin, tell your doctor if you are using any of the following drugs:

• methotrexate (Rheumatrex, Trexall);
• probenecid (Benemid);
• a sulfa drug (such as Bactrim or Septra);
• an antibiotic such as azithromycin (Zithromax), clarithromycin (Biaxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin), telithromycin (Ketek), or troleandomycin (Tao); or
• a tetracycline antibiotic such as demeclocycline (Declomycin), doxycycline (Adoxa, Doryx, Oracea, Vibramycin), minocycline (Dynacin, Minocin, Solodyn, Vectrin), or tetracycline (Brodspec, Panmycin, Sumycin, Tetracap).

This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with amoxicillin. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.

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