I've been prescribed amoxicillin for a throat infection and I've been taking it every 8 hours for two days now. I still have pain and fever - is it normal for it to take longer to work, or should I have improved by now?
Amoxicillin starts working pretty quickly, usually within 24 to 48 hours, so it's true that you should notice some improvement within two days. But here's the important part: having a fever and pain doesn't necessarily mean it's not working, because those symptoms can take longer to go away than it takes for the infection to get under control. That said, if you have a high fever or the pain is really severe, don't wait for more days to pass - call your doctor so they can check whether you might need to switch antibiotics or if something else is going on. In the meantime, keep taking it every 8 hours without skipping doses, even if you don't see immediate improvement.
Did your doctor prescribe it after seeing you in person or over the phone? Because amoxicillin usually starts working between 24 and 48 hours, so if you've been on it for two days and still have pain and fever, that's not unusual yet, but it shouldn't be that intense either. What's really important is that you keep taking it every 8 hours without skipping doses, because consistency is key. If you don't notice considerable improvement in three days or your fever goes up, call your doctor so they can check whether it's the right infection or if you need to switch antibiotics.
Amoxicillin usually starts working between 24 and 48 hours, so it's normal to still have discomfort after two days, especially if the infection was pretty serious. You'll typically notice clear improvement from the third or fourth day onwards, but in the meantime you can take paracetamol or ibuprofen to manage the fever and pain. If after four or five days you're still the same or getting worse, that's when you should contact your doctor because it could be that you need a different antibiotic.
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