Keflex Cephalexin is used to treat bacterial infections. This cephalosporin antibiotic fights bacteria that cause upper respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, skin infections, and ear infections. The antibiotic may be used for other purposes other than those listed in this guide.

Keflex Cephalexin: Uses and Effects

Keflex is the brand name of Cephalexin. It treats infections caused by exposure to susceptible bacteria. Its antibacterial activity works in a similar way as Penicillin, where it binds to and disables the activity of enzymes that facilitate the formation of peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan is a crucial component of the cell wall of bacteria. Keflex is most effective in fighting gram-positive bacteria.

Keflex Cephalexin: Dosage Instructions

Follow prescription directions from your pharmacist or doctor carefully. Keflex Cephalexin does not treat viral infections. Use this medicine to treat only those conditions that have been checked by your doctor. Dosage instructions vary depending on individual circumstances. Patients with moderate or advanced kidney disease require an adjusted dose. Keep the medication out of reach of children.

Use the medicine only for the purpose prescribed by the physician. Keflex Cephalexin reaches peak concentration in an hour after dosing, but it may take close to 48 hours for symptoms related to the infection to subside and you begin to feel better. Take the directed amounts and for the intended duration. Complete your dose unless instructed otherwise by your doctor. Consult your physician for review and for information relating to your individual circumstances.

Do not adjust dosage to take more or less amounts other than the prescribed. Use it only within the prescribed period. Due to its effectiveness, you may notice an improvement in your condition after taking for a brief period of the treatment. However, take the full dosage as prescribed and do not use this medication for a longer period than prescribed.

Skipping or reducing doses may additional infections by drug-resistant bacteria pathogens. Do not share your dose of Keflex Cephalexin with anyone else even if you have similar symptoms.

Keflex Cephalexin may distort some medical tests. Inform your doctor if you are on the treatment with Keflex before undergoing any tests.

Keflex Cephalexin: Side Effects

Although some side effects that manifest once you start using Keflex Cephalexin are expected, call the doctor if you experience yellowing of the eyes or skin that is characteristic of jaundice. Get medical attention if you notice you bruise easily or start having unusual bleeding through the rectum, nose, vagina, or mouth.

Gastrointestinal disturbances, such as bloody or watery diarrhea, as well as reduced or no urination are conditions that warrant a doctor's intervention. The same applies to neurological disturbances such as hallucinations, confusion, and agitation.

Lookout also for severe skin reactions with signs that start out as a sore throat accompanied by fever, then swelling of the tongue or face, and progressing into a burning sensation in the eyes and eventually effects manifest on the skin as a rash. This purple or red skin rash causes skin pain, appears on the upper body or face and causes peeling and blistering.

Seek emergency medical help if you have hives, swelling of the throat, lips, face and tongue, and difficulty in breathing. These signs show you are allergic to Keflex Cephalexin.

The normal side effects include vaginal discharge or itching, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, joint pain, and dizziness. However, consult your doctor if these effects become severe. Seizures may occur in rare cases.

Use the drug cautiously if the patients are children, seniors, are malnourished, or have some medical conditions like diabetes, heart problems, kidney or liver disease, and seizures. Since Keflex Cephalexin may prolong the time for blood clotting, therefore use it with care in people on anticoagulants. These conditions may cause acute adverse effects.

This list is not a comprehensive outline of side effects associated with treatment with Keflex Cephalexin. Call your doctor or pharmacist if you experience any discomfort while on the treatment.

Keflex Cephalexin: Treatments and Contraindicated Drugs

The following are the most common drug contraindications. You need to go through this with your doctor.

• Avoid taking Keflex Generic if you are allergic to cephalosporin antibiotics or to Cephalexin. Some examples of cephalosporin antibiotics include Cefadroxil (Duricef), Cefprozil (Cefzil), Cefpodoxime (Vantin), Cefaclor (Raniclor), and Cefdinir (Omnicef).
• Inform your doctor if you have kidney disease, and any allergy you suffer to any other drug, especially Penicillin. Alert the physician if you have colitis or a history of other complications of the digestive tract.
• Although no negative effects have been noted for unborn babies, inform your physician or pharmacist if you are planning or intend to get pregnant in the course of this treatment.
• Inform your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby as Keflex Cephalexin can pass into breast milk and affect your nursing baby.
• Although antibiotics may cause bacteria, it can also be a symptom of another infection. The overgrowth of Clostridium difficile bacteria is a related side effect of most antibacterial medication. Call your doctor immediately if notice its symptoms which include persistent, bloody or watery diarrhea. Do not start any anti-diarrhea treatment without approval from your physician.
• Update your health care provider if you are on any other over-counter drugs, or if you are taking herbal products and supplements such as vitamins since some of them may cause interaction with Keflex.

Some medicines' effects extend for some duration after the treatment completion. For that reason, inform your physician of any medicine you have stopped taking in the recent past or any that other that you have started or you take regularly for another pre-existing health issue.

Why Should You Choose Keflex Cephalexin

You should opt for Keflex Cephalexin because it is effective in the treatment of many infections. Besides infections of the ear, skin, respiratory tract, and genitor-urinary organs, it also treats bone infections.

It acts on gram-positive streptococci and staphylococci bacteria as well as susceptible isolates of Haemophilus influenza, moraxella catarrhalis, streptococcus penumoniae, klebsiella pneumonia, proteus mirabilis, and S. Pyrogens. Unlike many antibiotics that require elaborate dosage, you may take Keflex Cephalexin for a convenient interval of only twice daily, and with or without food.