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Finishing courses

Why do I need to finish my whole course of antibiotics?

Take antibiotics exactly as your prescriber tells you. The traditional advice is to finish the course, but follow the specific instructions you were given, as some conditions now use shorter courses.

Esta información es solo orientativa de carácter general y no constituye un consejo médico. Consulta siempre a un profesional sanitario cualificado para cualquier asunto médico personal. En caso de emergencia, llama al número de emergencias de tu zona.

Historically patients were told to always finish every tablet to avoid leaving behind hardier bacteria that could survive and regrow. The most important rule is to follow the exact instructions your doctor or pharmacist gave you for your specific infection.

Medical thinking has been evolving: for some infections, shorter courses are now recommended, and stopping at the planned time matters more than an arbitrary fixed number of days. What you should not do is stop early on your own just because you feel better, or save leftover tablets for next time.

If you are unsure how long to take them, or you are getting side effects that make you want to stop, contact your prescriber or pharmacist before stopping rather than guessing.

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