Antibiotics are to be used a certain way once prescribed and taking the right dose of any antibiotic at the right time and duration of days cannot be overemphasized. For instance, let’s say you have a prescription for Metronidazole (Flagyl) 400mg to be used three times daily. You should not take them “as the spirit leads”. Keeping to the timing and religiously following instructions is crucial to avoid side-effects.

Here’s a little insight to how antibiotics work.
When you take the first dose, the medicine in your blood gets to the optimal level for killing the bacteria. But as hours go by, it starts dropping to a point where it cannot continue killing the microbes, which is why you need to take the next dose at the right time to keep the drug at the level needed to kill the microbes.

When that doesn’t happen, two scenarios are possible:
You take the next dose later than required and the level of the drug would have a reduced effect in the blood, that the next dose might not increase the blood level to that previous level where it can continue killing the bacteria.
If the next dose is taken earlier than required, the drug level rises and increases the severity of any side effects associated with that medicine.

When you feel uneasy and need to get medication, do this:
1. Get the right drug
2. The right dose
3. The right interval
4. The right duration