How do you deal with a medicine that says "take one every 6 hours"?

I also do what you do and finish the bottle.

breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime would be fine. It doesn’t have to be exactly every 6 hours.

^^Thanks.

I set an alarm so I don’t go more than 7 hours.

I had a situation where I was undermedicated, long story, and ever since then I don’t play around too much with when I take my antibiotics and the half life of the drug. If you are getting a megadose it probably won’t matter if you go longer, but I can’t guess if you are getting a megadose.

I set it up so the six hours isn’t the middle of the night. I take it at 12 and 6 or 11 and 5. Depending on my sleep habits at the time and if it has to be taken with food, etc.

I set it up by taking the first two or three pills closer together if necessary, maybe just 5 hours apart, to get on a reasonable schedule. Front loading antibiotics isn’t necessarily a bad thing anyway, and one hour wouldn’t matter much.

As you know I am not a doctor.

When I wake (around 7)
With lunch (12:30)
With dinner (6)
At bedtime (midnight)

@filmfann Your waking hours are longer than mine! lol

@janbb I have insomnia, so it’s worse than that.

I’ve never had a 6-hour interval. It’s always been at least 8, which for me easily translates to 8 am, 4 pm, and 12m. If I had to do 6, I’d set an alarm rather than reduce the dosage. Better to live with the inconvenience for a few days than risk the infection it’s preventing.

I would take one around midnight, or as late as possible when you’re awake, then take the next upon waking up in the morning. Then I’d two two during the day, maybe 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock. If you’re up earlier, then I’d do the second one around noon and then six o’clock. I think that it’s expected that it won’t always be perfectly timed, and life does get in the way (work, sleep, travel, etc.). As long as it’s steady, and it’s building up in your system, that’s the goal with antibiotics, which is why they always say to finish all of the doses, and don’t stop until they’re finished.

Thanks all! I think I’ll go with the doc’s suggestion which is similar to @jca2.‘s

You’re being a bit too literal. Just before bed, as soon as you wake up, and then evenly spaced out between those in the day is good enough.

I don’t think you want to back off the dosage though…especially with antibiotics. If this were a painkiller, I’d say ‘do whatever as long as you can bear it’, but with antibiotics, I’d stick with four a day if it’s saying four a day, even if you’re not quite perfect with the schedule. Just get as close as you reasonably can.

The reason I feel that way is for the same reason you don’t NOT finish a course of antibiotics – because then instead of killing the bacteria, you’re more putting them through an accelerated training regimen.

I’ve never seen that. I have seen instructions to take four per day….with meals and bedtime.

And @janbb You’re probably okay with the 3 times a day anyway.

^Thank you, doctor.

Oh, @janbb, ouch. Hugs.

Depends on the drug and the dose. Some penicillins have short half-life’s and probably if you are petite you are taking a large dose for your size and it will keep you at a high enough blood level that it’s therapeutic taking your medicine late, but if not you will have to start all over again when three days after stopping your drug you start getting sick again.

You could look up your illness and the recommended dosage and see if your doctor went on the high side.

Next time you can ask your doctor for a drug that is 3x or 2x a day, there probably is an option, it might be broader spectrum than you need or some other difference.

If it’s treating an infection I would not play. Dentists notoriously under-medicate from what an ER friend tells me, and I saw it with my niece. If it’s just to prevent infection then probably not as big of a deal.

@janbb. I hate root canals! Hope you recover quickly.

@chyna It was a rerooting because it still bothered me after the first one and I’m still not sure that was the problem. But the procedure wasn’t as bad as I feared.

I would keep taking them four times a day, because that is what is prescribed. But, as someone above said, it doesn’t have to be exactly six hours apart. Take on right before bed, and one as soon as you get up. Space the other two evenly throughout the day. If you are one of those rare (and lucky) individuals that sleeps more than 8–9 hours in a night, you might want to set an alarm, and then go back to bed after taking it, but otherwise, you really shouldn’t have to worry.

Antibiotics work best when taken as directed (such as every 6 hours, if it says so).
However the antibiotics will still work if you just divide up your waking hours by 4, and take the pills on that schedule.