Erythromycin Oral Suspension 100 ml

Description

How to use

Shake the bottle thoroughly before every dose and measure with the syringe or cup supplied. It is usually given four times a day, or twice daily in some regimens; follow the prescription. Erythromycin is easier on the stomach when given with or just after food, and food does not meaningfully reduce absorption of the ethylsuccinate form used in suspensions. Space the doses as evenly as the day allows and finish the entire course. If a dose is vomited within half an hour, give it again; after that, wait for the next scheduled dose.

Important warnings

Tell the prescriber every other medicine being taken, because erythromycin has a long list of important interactions: it raises levels of theophylline, carbamazepine, warfarin, digoxin, ciclosporin and several statins, sometimes dangerously, and it must not be combined with certain antihistamines or with drugs that prolong the QT interval on the heart tracing. Avoid in known long QT syndrome and in liver disease. In young infants, erythromycin has been linked with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, so report forceful projectile vomiting in a baby under six weeks immediately. Stop for a rash with blistering, facial swelling or breathing difficulty, for yellow eyes or dark urine, and for severe or bloody diarrhoea.

Storage

Store the dry powder below 25 degrees Celsius in a dry place before reconstitution. Once made up, follow the label: some erythromycin suspensions require refrigeration and others are kept below 25 degrees, and the in-use life is usually seven to fourteen days. Write the date you made it up on the bottle, never freeze it, keep the cap tight, shake before each dose, and discard the remainder at the end of the stated period even if the bottle is not empty.