When you leave the doctor’s and head to your local pharmacy with a prescription you are under the assumption that what you have been given is exactly right in treating your condition. That’s because it’s given to you by a doctor you trust and so you never feel the need to question him. But do you even know what he’s writing down? Do you know what it is your are taking and what it is supposed to treat? Maybe you don’t feel the need to know because you believe that trust is enough to see it through but it never hurts to have a list of a few antibiotics in your head to know what they do and how they treat you.

Azithromycin – This is called the Z-Pak. It is one of the more popular drugs on the market. It is considered a macrolide. You will often see this prescribed to you if you have a respiratory tract infection. While it can be given for a genital infection as well as a gastrointestinal tract infection, but it is most commonly prescribed when you get flu like symptoms. The upside to Azithromycin is that there is very little side effects and not a whole lot of allergic reaction. However, they do advise taking the food on an empty stomach as it is not a drug that settles well.

Cephalexin – This one is usually written as Keflex and it is considered a Cephalosporin. This is a pretty common antibiotic. The range for cephalosporins are pretty big. Keflex can be used to treat a variety of things from pneumonia, staph infections, tonsillitis, bronchitis, and even the sexual transmitted infection known as gonorrhea. The only issue is that this drug is closely linked to the penicillin family an that could be potentially harmful to someone who has an allergic reaction to penicillin drugs. The side effect with this is the same as with most medications. There is a slight risk of issues with the stomach but beyond that there is nothing that would propose any danger to a patient on this medication.