Patient was educated on the side effects of using Vancomycin as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting
- This is the most common side effect of Vancomycin.
- Taking the antibiotic with some food and water can minimize the effects of nausea and vomiting.
- Diarrhea
- Human intestines have a lot of bacteria, both good and bad, living in a sensitive balance with each other.
- This helps maintain the normal natural intestinal environment. Vancomycin works by killing the bacteria.
- While doing this, Vancomycin does not differentiate between good and bad bacteria.
- Consequently, apart from killing the bad infectious bacteria, Vancomycin also kills the good bacteria in the intestinal system, thus compromising the balance between good and bad bacteria.
- This can result in reduction in the number of good bacteria and increase in the number of Vancomycin resistant bad bacteria, leading to irritation of the intestinal mucosa and diarrhea.
- Red man syndrome
- Administering the Vancomycin IV medication too fast can result in red man syndrome, characterized by flushing of the body, low blood pressure, and muscle pains. Inflammation at the site of injection with redness and tenderness around the injection site also can occur.
- Administering IV Vancomycin at the desired rate can help prevent this complication.
