Sergio Jr will have to take 500mg of Keflex 3x/d for a week to treat an infection in his leg as a result of a bike crash two weeks ago racing the State Championship.
He has to race the Road Nationals in 20 days and mentions that he feels fine besides minor discomfort.
Considering his health is first by far over glory, I will appreciate your medical comments regarding the effect of taking this antibiotic under the circumstances.
Thanks beforehand.
Sergio
A medical doctor has told a parent of a 14 year old child to take an antibiotic to recover from an infection. What is the question here?
Exactly. What is more important, the kid’s health or the race?
Not to mention the messages you risk sending to your kid-
Jodi
Considering some Mexican MDs are still using antibiotics that USA MDs would not dare to use I was wondering if that particular one is a good choices for a young athlete.
Sergio
Dont take it and count how many days / hours till the wound starts to smell…my personal record is about 4 days and that was when on antibiotics. I had to get on super ones to take care of that particular infection.
I’d say either listen to the person that spent 10 plus years in further education or talk to a bunch of people on a forum that might have stayed in a holiday inn express last night.
Let me try to ask the same in a different way.
Is it safe for my kid to train for an important race while using THAT particular antibiotic?
As you can see in my first post if you read carefully I am worried about his health first.
Sergio
Sergio,
Not sure why your getting railed on. Seems to me your asking if taking the meds and exercising is an issue. I would ask a doctor, of which there are many on ST so I don’t know why your getting so much crap.
Sorry not a doctor so I can’t tell you if there are any side effects of that drug and exercise. Good luck.
Did you ask this question to his doctor, who has seen and evaluated your son and knows his medical history and culture results?
Would you rather ask an anonymous slowtwitcher who may or may not know how to make flat coke?
Jodi
The antibiotics should have zero effect on his training performance. Keflex is very safe and commonly used in the US for skin infections. 500 mg three times per day is a standard dose. It is not effective against MRSA, so if he’s worse instead of better after a few days, go back to the doc.
MD here, now follow others’ advice and start the meds ASAP.
Sergio,
Not sure why your getting railed on. Seems to me your asking if taking the meds and exercising is an issue. I would ask a doctor, of which there are many on ST so I don’t know why your getting so much crap.
DH… Thanks for taking the time to read my first post carefully 
.
Sergio
Jodi… I sincerely thank you for your concern, but if you read my first post carefully you will see that I mentioned that “…his health is first by far over glory,…”. Maybe the title was not the best (English is not my first language), but what I was trying to point out is that the antibiotic was going to be taken while training for an important race. The MD thinks it is no problem to train and take the antibiotic at the same time, but I want to be sure that this is the case.
I already pulled Sergio Jr. out of last year’s National State games because he got a rotaviral infection. He begged me to let him race and I said no without a doubt. This race is very important to him because he won last year the Triathlon Nationals in his AG and he has a very good chance to win the Road Cycling Nationals this year. It will be a very hard blow for him if I tell him that he can not ride while being under antibiotic treatment, but again, his health is first.
Regarding your comment: **“Did you ask this question to his doctor, who has seen and evaluated your son and knows his medical history and culture results?” **I can say that (maybe because of the particular health care status here in Mexico) the doctor that checked Sergio Jr. had never seen him before. He does not know his medical history and he did not even ask about culture results. He is regarded as the best MD in town for that type of injury but he does not know that my kid practices triathlon and road cycling very differently than most kids his age.
When I told the MD that Sergio had a very important road cycle race in a few weeks, I am not sure if he knows what this means from a sports medicine point of view. He mentioned something that could be translated like “No problem if he rides his bike and also takes the antibiotic. Just let him do what a normal kid does”. He got a little impatient when I tried to explain further. Please do not take this as a provocation, but if you would ride besides Sergio at his TT pace you would notice easily that he is not a normal 14 year old kid in this regard. I am just being very careful about what antibiotic he takes because of this particular aspect.
I am concerned that some antibiotics could make him dizzy or cause some type of cardiac reaction that could put him at risk. The reason I asked here in ST is because some MDs that frequent ST have helped me before (after taking that comment to my local MD) to take the right decision on a medical topic.
Again I sincerely thank you for your concern.
Best wishes,
Sergio
Edited to correct an important spelling error.
Thanks for the advise Louis.
Sergio
Keflex is fine. I wouldn’t worry about it.
From drugs.com:
What should I avoid while taking Keflex?
• There are no restrictions on food, beverages, or activities during treatment with Keflex unless otherwise directed by your doctor.
What is the most important information I should know about Keflex?
• Take all of the Keflex that has been prescribed for you even if you begin to feel better. Your symptoms may start to improve before the infection is completely treated.
And:
Keflex is the #1 prescribed oral cephalosporin in the US.
And then you say: “Considering some Mexican MDs are still using antibiotics that USA MDs would not dare to use I was wondering if that particular one is a good choices for a young athlete.”
So what are you saying? Doctors in Mexico do not know what they are talking about? It looks to me he gave your son a prescription that an equivalent US doctor probably would have given and one that would not affect his training.
There are many good websites that give very good information about drugs, their interactions, and other important information. Many better than a bunch of triathletes on a forum on a Saturday afternoon.
And her name is spelled Jodi.
Sergio,
I read that you consider the health of your son most important, above sports. That’s good I had infections where I took antibiotics and was tired, and other times I was fine. I think the key here is that when your body has an infection of any kind, it has to fight it and that requires energy. So if he feels great while taking the antibiotics I would tell him to train easy for a week. If he doesn’t feel good he shouldn’t train at all. He won’t lose much fitness if he continues to train lightly but if he doesn’t listen to his body and takes care appropriately he could be out for longer and miss the rate alltogether and even get worse.
A kid that is ambitious can’t listen to his body, or most of the time they ignore what the body tells them. Even true with most adults. If I were you I’d reduce the intensity and volume of his training for the next week. If everything goes well he can do some sprint work and some higher intensity intervals the following week and he should do just fine.
just my 2cts.
Mito
Sergio -
I prescribe Keflex all the time for sensitive, uncomplicated skin/soft tissue infections, in children as well. So, as for “std of care”, the same. In fact, we often call it the “Keflex reflex”. Actually, it really isn’t that great of an antibiotic any more as a lot of the 1st generation cepahlosporins are becoming ineffective for it’s intended bacteria (Gram + bugs mostly).
It is generally a VERY well tolerated drug though and Sergio jr. should experience little to no side effects at all. The most common side effect would be some minor GI distress or diarrhea, so a probiotic (i.e. yogurt, etc.) is always a good idea to take with it.
As a side not, were cultures taken, or just empiric treatment with the Keflex (I’m assuming a pretty minor infection/localized cellulitis).
Quote of the day: “Would you rather ask an anonymous slowtwitcher who may or may not know how to make flat coke?”
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… …
Daniel and Rodney. Thanks for your comments. No, no cultures were taken, just empirical treatment with the Keflex. This procedure is always never done in Mexico.
Today will be exactly two weeks from the crash. This is not the first case of road rash for Sergio since for the last year he has been road cycling more than doing triathlons, but it is the first time he gets some rash around the wound. Everything seemed like it was evolving fine as usual for the first 10 days and then cellulitis appeared on the 11th. He was sleeping when I left home, but I will check him soon. He seemed better yesterday before going to bed than a day before.
Thanks to all that provided comments. My first messages were sent in a hurry via my cellular on the way to the drugstore. I just wanted to make sure it was safe for Sergio to take that particular antibiotic under his particular training/racing regimen.
There are many great MDs in Mexico. Some of Sergio Jr’s MDs also work in the USA, but there are also some in Mexico that I would not recommend. I had no experience with this MD so I was just being careful. A couple of years ago Sergio was prescribed chloramphenicol for an infection. When I saw the prescription I was alerted. I would get in big trouble if I would treat shrimp with that antibiotic. I figured that there was a good reason for the FDA to ban this antibiotic for shrimp production. A second MD opinion steered us into a better choice and all went well.
There is always a risk asking these types of questions in ST, but I am glad I asked.
Thanks again to all,
Sergio
Holy cow, your son was prescribed chloramphenicol!? Yikes! Well, from your posts over the years, I know you to be a very intelligent poster and I’m glad you sought a 2nd opinion on that! I wish more parents were as involved with their children as you (sadly, myself included - but I try)!
I keep thinking I’m going to see Sergio jr. on the tour or in ITU racing or something soon enough