Will Amoxicillin Cure Gonorrhea or Other STDs?

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Will amoxicillin cure gonorrhea or other STDs? That’s a question we hear a lot from concerned customers. As a widely used antibiotic, amoxicillin is one of the first drugs people think of when they learn that they have contracted a sexually transmitted infection or disease. At myLAB Box™, we understand and appreciate our customers’ concerns. That’s all well and good, but will amoxicillin cure gonorrhea? Let’s explore this question a bit further.

What is Amoxicillin?

Chances are, if you’ve had an infection at some point in your life, you may have taken amoxicillin. You see, amoxicillin is a type of penicillin that is used for fighting specific bacterial infections. However, it does not work on infections caused by viruses, such as the flu. Here’s how the drug works:

• Amoxicillin is created from a form of fungi called Penicillium fungi.
• This drug fights infections by preventing bacteria from forming cell walls. As a result, the growth of bacteria stagnates, eventually killing it and putting a stop to the overall infection.

Of course, even though Amoxicillin is one of the most well-known drugs, that doesn’t mean that it is the primary drug of choice for treatment of gonorrhea. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that uncomplicated gonorrhea be treated only with the antibiotic ceftriaxone — given as an injection — in combination with either azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax) or doxycycline (Monodox, Vibramycin, others) — two antibiotics that are taken orally.

Understanding Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Often referred to as “the clap,” gonorrhea is a shockingly “popular” STI. In fact, it is diagnosed more than three million times each year in the United States. As we’ve detailed in the past, gonorrhea is usually spread through sexual contact. This means that any sexually active person can become infected. To make matters worse, gonorrhea may not show any visible symptoms. This leads to many people carrying the infection will unknowingly pass it on to their partners. For cases in which gonorrhea symptoms are present, these are the signs to watch out for:

• More frequent urination or the urge to urinate
• Painful sensation when urinating
• Red and swollen penis near the urinary meatus
• Abnormal discharge or (white, green, yellow) fluid from the penis or vaginal area
• Sore throat that won’t go away
• Fever
• Testicular pain and swelling in men
• Lower abdominal pain in women
• Heavier period or excessive spotting in women

Will Amoxicillin Cure Gonorrhea?

Now let’s tackle the big question: “will amoxicillin cure gonorrhea?” That answer is, unfortunately, a bit complicated. On the whole, gonorrhea tends to be treatable with common drugs such as penicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline and doxycycline. Antibiotics such as amoxicillin have been prescribed by doctors in the past. This antibiotic treatment also works for chlamydia, which is why both infections are often tested for and treated together. With several doses of amoxicillin or other similar drug, gonorrhea can be cured in a few days. Unfortunately, many of the standard cures for gonorrhea are not working quite as effectively anymore. The problem is that certain strains of gonorrhea are becoming resistant to treatment. As drug resistance builds, doctors are forced to find newer ways of combating this new strain of “Super Gonorrhea.” This is making treatment tricky these days. As always, the best protection of all is prevention and routine testing. For this reason, myLAB Box™ offers a variety of at-home STD testing kits, including one that screens for gonorrhea and chlamydia. In addition, a variety of combination kits test for gonorrhea and several other infections all at once. Learn more about how at-home testing works here.