Sergio, my docs have told me that it is safe to train on antibiotics and i will probably see a 3-4% drop in my peak performance. I have never raced well with it.
Sergio Sr.
Hope that your son heals up quickly. Skin infections are no fun…especially in the summer heat and humidity.
-Danielle
Frenchfried… 3-4% drop is a lot in cycling. He will have to race very smart this time. He gets ill not very frequently but he has been unlucky this year and has not reached the most important road races in his best shape. Nothing serious, but just some crashes that have put a dent on his performance, mainly because he was not able to train as programmed.
Rodney, I am just glad he is enjoying the sport, training and planning to win in his teenage years. He is a better student now than three years ago as he frequently asks for school permission to go race around the country. The school director told him that he cared less about his athletic achievements and that only if he keeps a very good GPA he will give him that permission. He has better grades now than before he started racing and now he is a good friend of the director. Some unexpected bonus and something I did not think would happen when he started to train for triahtlons. Can you please check your PMs?
Yes Danielle, and it is VERY hot and VERY humid down here. Good point you mention. I am thinking in sending all the family to Aguascalientes next week. His best cycling friend is already training there as he will race at the UCI Junior World Track Championship next August. That place is very dry compared to our hometown and maybe a little less hot. It is also a little higher than Boulder and about 1000 m higher than the place where the Nationals will take place. Maybe he can spend the next days there doing some appropiate work under the circumstances.
Thanks again to all,
Sergio
Sergio,
Keflex is commonly prescribed in US to treat bacterial infections and to prevent (prophilaxis) the onset of skin infections for skin wounds (road rash).
The operative words here are Sergio Jr is healing fine and feels fine. That is good/great. Training/racing while on Keflex should not be a problem unless Sergio Jr’s wounds (road rash) become infected. Then the body will begin to shift its energies to fight the infection and training/racing could, and most likely would, compromise (make it more difficult for the body) the body’s effort to fight the infection. Keep an eye on his wounds for the onset of infection. Puss (yellowish, not clear) drainage from wounds. Inflammation at wound site and significant tenderness to touch. This can be harder to monitor as the wounds are usually reddish in color simply from the trauma of the original injury.
Dressings should be changed at least daily. Wash the wounds gently with an antibacterial soap like Hibiclens (hydrogen peroxide as a last resort) and applying a topical anti-bacterial ointment like Bacitricin or Neosporin (some people are sensitive to prolonged use of Neosporin type triple antibacterial ointments) to the wound/dressing can promote healing, reduce scarring as well as help prevent infection. Using gauze pads with non-stick surfaces will greatly improve healing as the dressings will not imbed themselves in the wounds and will not tear away the healing as they are removed. If the dressings do not want to fall off when removed, soaking them off with lukewarm water is recommended as in a cool shower.
I have had personal experience with a recent crash and significant road rash and was prescribed Keflex as a prophilaxis to prevent infection of my wounds. I, however, was in no condition to begin riding immediately as a result of the severity of my injuries. I was off the bike for 19 days. My first ride was Friday for 38 miles. Everything went okay but I did notice my heart rate was significantly higher for my effort, lost fitness.
I hope this helps to address your questions and concerns.
Best wishes to Sergio Jr for a speedy recovery and good luck training and racing.
Take note: I am not a medical professional. I have relayed the instructions I was given by medical professionals for similar injuries. I did grow up in a family where my mother was a practicing Registered Nurse (RN).
Thanks Ben.
Sergio’s leg is looking better and he feels OK under the Keflex treatment.
I am still not sure what happened but just in case, Sergio will not use Tegaderm again on a wound when training in very hot and humid weather. Tegaderm will not let the sweat out -of this I am sure- and it may increase the temperature of the affected area. Heat and humidity a great combination is for bacterial growth. Sergio was riding hard in close to 90°F heat and 90% humidity the day the rash (the other type) around the original road rash appeared.
Thanks again to all for your comments.
Sergio
Keflex will not hurt him with his training. Also, this is a common Rx given in the states for mild to moderate topical infections. Sometimes it is given with another to broaden the spectrum of coverage especially if a culture was not done, which I bet in this case was probably not done. From what I gather, your son has a small run of the mill infection from the road rash?
Sergio
FWIW: I had skin cancer last year. After surgery to remove it the dermatologist put me on Keflex. I asked him why Keflex? he stated “It works well for skin infections.” He said I could train but no swimming.
I hope Sergio jr. gets better soon. And tell him good luck in his race.
Just for the record and considering some (specially those that road race) could be prescribed Keflex in the future.
Sergio Jr. finished his 7 days on Keflex as prescribed, 500 mg tablets 3x per day. It seems that the infection is gone for good. I will still keep that area under close check but things look good.
There were no evident side effects, but I am not sure if the infection and/or altered training and/or AB therapy was the cause of him getting a little frustrated when he tried to do PowerIntervals today. It could have been several things and not necessarily the effect of the AB. He spent the night at a friends house, so I can imagine that he did not go to bed early as promised. He probably also woke up early to watch the TdF.
I am just very happy to see that the infection is gone.
Thanks again to all and best wishes,
Sergio
LOL - I think we should start the “Holiday Inn Express Mafia”…
Not to belittle the training and experience of medical doctors (you guys & gals deserve a ton of credit), keep in mind when they spend “10-years” in medical school, residency, interning, etc - it’s about hundreds/thousands of drugs, diseases, and treatment, not all about one product or disease state. The drug reps who sell Keflex (or any other drug for that matter) spend about 1-2 weeks in home study and 1-2 weeks in the classroom and most of the time will know more about their drug than any physician other than specialists.
I don’t think the OP was questioning the treatment, I think he was simply trying to know what the effects would be of training or competing under the “influence” of that antibiotic. This brings up a good question - if anyone has a race coming up but is put on an antibiotic, what are the effects?