Question: My girlfriend has been quite ill with a bacterial cold (her doctor already tested her for the presence of a viral infection and it proved to be negative) for the past three weeks. She was given a prescription for Amoxicillin (AKA Augmentin) 875 mg which she has been taking faithfully every twelve hours for the past five days, but her progress has been slight and very slow and she still is quite ill and a sinus infection that developed five days ago when I took her to her primary doctor (a GP and Internal medicine doctor) still is quite painful. (By the way, she is diabetic, and I know that high blood glucose compromises the immune system, but still....) I used to work in a hospital for nine years and I know a good bit more about these matters than most people, and I personally think that something like Aziththromycin should have been the med of choice--what do you think? I am going to take her back to her physician in about two hours and I am curious as to what possible change of medication (if any) that he will now prescribe. I remember that the last time that I had a serious bacterial cold about 5 years ago (I rarely ever take antibiotics--the same goes for my sick girlfriend) MY doctor prescribed Azithromycin and, within a few hours of taking the first (two) pills, I felt significantly better.

Isn't Amoxicillin (Augmentin) an unusual medication to be prescribed these days?

My girlfriend's sinus infection is still painful (it is on the left side of her heads) and was throbbing until a few days ago--but still painful--to the extent that she is chewing on the opposite side of her mouth.

Thank you for finally responding--one question remains: doesn't a gram stain or a culture on sinus secretions take days to get the results? If so, might her doctor (who she is going to see tomorrow morning) prescribe an antiviral drug (such as Tamiflu) to be taken in conjunction with the 850 mg Augmentin every 12 hours. just in case that she has both a bacterial as well as possibly a viral infection? Is it O. K. to take both at the same time? (Jayne has pain now and the only reason that it is bearable is because she happens to have some Vicodin pills left over from several years ago (but they still work fine) BUT she is running out and only has a few left. She has also been prescribed Tramadol for arthritic pain and has been taking TWO instead of one because of the sinus pain--if she was getting better she shouldn't have to take ANY of those pain medications (excpt for the one Tramadol several times a day).

You mentioned ibuprofen as an anti inflammatory, however, XXXXXXX had once had partial kidney failure two years ago (when she wasn't controlling her blood sugar properly--as I mentioned previously, from which she almost completely recovered after two weeks in the hospital). XXXXXXX is an insulin dependent diabetic and she was told by her nephrologist that she cannot take aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen sodium because they stress her kidneys. What anti inflammatory can she take--either over-the-counter or by prescription? All that she has been told that she can take for pain is Tylenol, which has no anti inflammatory properties. (Jayne has been prescribed the other pain meds that I mentioned--even the Vicodin (from an old prescription from ten years ago), which she is almost out of.