Didn't finish doxycycline am I effed?
June 24, 2013 6:21 AM Subscribe
Went to Southeast Asia a few months ago and just didn't finish my doxycycline (30 days 1 pill a day). I stopped about a week short. I am a fool. I don't think I have malaria or any other bacterial infection but have I effectively done myself harm in some way?
Was it just a prophylactic course so you didn't get sick while you were there? Or was it to actually treat something you contracted?
But it's been several months. Unless you're sick you're probably fine. Just don't do it again. It's bad practice.
posted by phunniemee at 6:32 AM on June 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
But it's been several months. Unless you're sick you're probably fine. Just don't do it again. It's bad practice.
posted by phunniemee at 6:32 AM on June 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
Lived in Southeast Asia for several years. I never took a malaria preventative while there. I never got malaria, and I'm pretty sure that if you had malaria you would know it, and with a vengeance.
posted by seemoreglass at 7:04 AM on June 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by seemoreglass at 7:04 AM on June 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
As phunniemee said, if it was just a prophylactic course, you're most likely fine. I had to stop taking doxy a month before leaving a malaria zone because it was giving me horrible stomach issues. I did not get and do not have malaria.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:06 AM on June 24, 2013
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:06 AM on June 24, 2013
Not effed, though you became more vulnerable to malaria about 48 hours after you stopped taking it. If you weren't hosting an active infection, resistance issues don't really crop up -- anything in your body that shouldn't have been was either dead from the doxycycline, or already resistant to it and you didn't make that factor worse.
For most things, a three week course of antibiotics is more than enough to do the job, and the fact that you were consistent those three weeks.
But still -- prophylaxis doesn't work if you're not used the prophylactic agent. So, next time, don't do that.
posted by eriko at 7:17 AM on June 24, 2013
For most things, a three week course of antibiotics is more than enough to do the job, and the fact that you were consistent those three weeks.
But still -- prophylaxis doesn't work if you're not used the prophylactic agent. So, next time, don't do that.
posted by eriko at 7:17 AM on June 24, 2013
I did the same thing (twice!) and nothing bad happened. If you're assymptomatic, I wouldn't worry about it. (Said breezily, by someone with no medical training or experience :-))
posted by Susan PG at 2:52 PM on June 24, 2013
posted by Susan PG at 2:52 PM on June 24, 2013
Malaria can lie dormant in your liver for up to about a year. So, make it to a year and you'll know for certain whether your error resulted in an infection. But even if it did... malaria is generally a treatable disease that is mostly dangerous for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children under the age of 5. So I think it's very unlikely you're "effed" unless by effed you mean "have a greater, but still small, chance of contracting malaria".
posted by treehorn+bunny at 5:00 PM on June 24, 2013
posted by treehorn+bunny at 5:00 PM on June 24, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:26 AM on June 24, 2013