Patient was educated on the side effects of using Neomycin as follows:
- Nausea and vomiting
- This is the most common side effect of Neomycin.
- 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.
- Neomycin works by killing the bacteria.
- While doing this, Neomycin does not differentiate between good and bad bacteria.
- Consequently, apart from killing the bad infectious bacteria, Neomycin 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 Neomycin resistant bad bacteria, leading to irritation of the intestinal mucosa and diarrhea.
- Diarrhea secondary to the clostridium difficile bacteria in the intestines, is a standard example for this.
- Skin rash and itching
- Neomycin use can result in less serious side effects of itching and skin rash.
- Anaphylaxis
- A rare, but serious anaphylactic response can occur for Neomycin.
- Patients can present with extreme itching and rash, swelling of the face and throat, dizziness, bronchoconstriction, and difficulty breathing.
- This is an emergency and medical attention should be sought immediately, without any delay.
