overdose of clindamycin

[Darceeb]

My daughter had a sore on the outside of her ear, was looked at for 2 min. in urgent care and prescribed clindamycin e150 mg pills....3 pills 3x per day (12 pills) she is 15 and 119 lbs.  Was not diagnosed with ANYTHING.  Now we have had a utility, yeast infection, her iron level is at 30, she has passed out over 5 times, cannot sleep has lost weight, major stomach pain etc.  urgent care has said it was right meds and right dose. NO WAY!  I say she was overdosed

[AnnieBrooke]

Clyndamycin is often prescribed for skin infections. Here are its dosing instructions:

_______
Clyndamycin dosing instructions:

For bacterial infections, oral dosage forms (capsules and solution):
        Adults—150 to 300 milligrams (mg) every 6 hours. For more severe infections, 300 to 450 mg every 6 hours.
_______

So, dosing her as an adult, the recommended amount is from 900 mg  to 1800 mg per day. It seems a reasonable dose at 1350 mg per day (45o mg per dose x 3 times a day). But also the dosing instructions say,
_______
        Children weighing 10 kilograms (kg) or more—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The dose is usually 8 to 16 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight per day, divided into 3 or 4 equal doses. For more severe infections, the dose is usually 16 to 25 mg per kg of body weight per day, divided into 3 or 4 equal doses.
_______      

Your daughter weighs 115 lbs., or 52.16 kilograms. The recommended dose for children is 8 - 16 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. The math (your daughter's 52.16 kg. weight x 8 or 16 milligrams per day) is:

52.16 kg body weight x 8 - 16 mg dose per day = 420 - 840 mgs per day.
If you divide that into three doses, it would be more like 140 - 280 mg per dose.

The 450 mg per dose (x 3 per day) is in the mid-range of an adult dose. She's probably pretty close to the size of an adult, but could still be dosed using the instructions for a child. It doesn't sound like a cut-and-dried case for an "overdose," but she might be sensitive to the medication.

My suggestion is, talk to your regular doctor, not Urgent Care, about what is going on with your daughter. There are bacterial infections that clyndamycin doesn't affect, though it is usually effective if somewhat slow to take effect. One possibility is that whatever caused the sore outside her ear is not being touched by the clyndamycin, and she still has the original problem, and it (not the medication) might be causing the passing out, anemia, trouble sleeping and stomach pain. Another possibility is that she is just very sensitive to clyndamycin and should be prescribed based on the children's dose and not the adult's dose. Or, she should be prescribed something else.

I've been prescribed for cellulitis with clyndamycin, once at my regular doctor and once at Urgent Care, and it worked for me. It doesn't seem unreasonable that they prescribed it, and it doesn't seem that unreasonable that they had her take a mid-range adult dose. But it doesn't work for everyone, and either it is affecting her poorly (has she ever taken it before?) or whatever is wrong is not being affected by the medication and should be addressed differently.

Please call in to your regular doctor and explain what has been happening. In the meantime, give your daughter some iron for the anemia, with vitamin C to help her get the value of the iron.

Good luck!