About Flucloxacillin

Flucloxacillin is a type of penicillin antibiotic.

It's used to treat a variety of infections including:

skin and wound infections
bone infections (osteomyelitis)
ear infections

Flucloxacillin is only available on prescription.

It comes as capsules, or as a liquid for children and people who find it difficult to swallow capsules.

It can also be given by injection, but this is usually done in hospital.

Key facts

You'll usually take flucloxacillin 4 times a day to treat an infection.
For most infections, you should start to feel better within a few days.
Take flucloxacillin on an empty stomach. This means at least 60 minutes before a meal or snack, or at least 2 hours after.
The most common side effects are feeling sick and diarrhoea.
You can drink alcohol while taking flucloxacillin.
You can take flucloxacillin during pregnancy or while you're breastfeeding.

Sexual Health Advice

Throughout this series we have help and advice on staying healthy, dealing with Sexually Transmitted Infections, the risks of each type of the most popular gay sex and what to do if the sex you have is not consentual. The topics covered in this series include:

	This item was in brought to you association with NHS website. Follow the links above for more information and don't forget to check out OutUK's A to Z of Gay Health which features items on everything from relationships, sexual health, mental and physical conditions and how to stay fit. This week our topic is: L - Lung Cancer.
Photos: OutUK and LightFieldStudios.