can i take penicillin, for a common cold, no fever .. yet.?

Question

im coming down with a bad cold, i have a bottle of penicillin that was given to me by a doctor for something else and i never used it. Can i take it for the cold

Answer 1

No, it will not help your cold at all. A cold is a virus and there is no cure for viruses. All antibiotics are for are bacterial infections, etc. Antibiotics are useless against a cold. The only thing an antibiotic would do is to help the symptoms of a cold such as infected throat, nose, sinuses, cough with phlegm production, etc. But for the cold itself you will have to wait 7-10 days which is the average time for a cold to run it's course. Hope you feel better soon.

Answer 2

NO penicillin doesn't help colds. But if you have any type of heart problem, sometimes you may be told to take penicillin at the first sign of an infection. Check the expiration date, it's probably expired anyway. I don't think they last over a year.

Answer 3

It won't do you any good. A cold is a virus, you cannot fight a virus with penicillin. Your best bet is to take lots of Vit. C and B and drink alot of fluids. There is also some thing at the pharmacy that is suppose to help cut a cold short, but I cannot recall the name.
Don't take medications for anything other than what it was prescribed for...why didn't you finish it??

Answer 4

That would be really stupid because if you take it for the common cold which is a virus it will do no good. Antibiotics ONLY work for bacterial infections!! If you don't get over the cold in 7-10 days it would prly be safe to assume you would need antibiotics.. Abusing drugs like penicillin makes your body less able to fight diseases its self.. Its really good for your body's own immune system to do the work..

Answer 5

No. The 'Common Cold' is a viral infection, Penicillin isnt used to treat this type of virus, done despair though, try this...1pint glass of water in the fridge an hr at least before bed, wrap up well, drink the 'ice cold' water then get into bed,well wrapped (2or more layers) the cold temp of the water drops your body temp, thus resulting in your body 'fighting' to return to normal temp, resulting in the 'cold virals' burning out, the key is to stay wrapped up,no matter how hot you get through the night! - Good luck!

Answer 6

Unless the antibiotic is prescribe by a doctor, it is a bad idea to use it. Its specificity is doubtful for the cold virus as antibiotics are directed against bacterial infections & you lower the potency of the drug in future viral infections -when you will really need it - & please do not play with this class of drugs they can do more harm than good when used haphazardly..
In common cold, take plenty of hot drink, aspirin ,IF you are NOT ALLERGIC to it, go to bed & try to sweat .
Viruses do not survive temperature above 40 C, so burn out the little blighter . A hot bath followed by a warm wrap-up & hot drink with sugar/honey, a dash of alcohol [if not taking other medication]then in bed well covered. These ough to raise your temperature sufficiently to do the trick. Good luck.

Answer 7

It won't help the common cold.
There really is no cure for a cold, just some things to help with symptoms. Penicillin won't do a thing.

Answer 8

Penicillin is an antibiotic and cannot help you with a common cold.

Answer 9

I would just take cold meds. I don't know if penicillin would make you feel better because it's just an antibiotic. If you're just getting a cold then take some Airborne...works like a charm!

Answer 10

There is no cure for the common cold and I wouldnt take a prescription that was for something else.

Try drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep, maybe you can flush your system before you get a fever.