Erythromycin 500mg Tablets – 5-Day Course (20 Tablets)

Erythromycin is a prescription-only macrolide antibiotic. At Ways Pharmacy it is used mainly for people who are pregnant and allergic to penicillin and need an antibiotic for a bacterial sore throat (pharyngitis or tonsillitis) or acute sinusitis — situations where the usual antibiotics are not suitable. It is supplied only after a pharmacist has assessed your symptoms and confirmed that an antibiotic is appropriate. Most sore throats and sinus infections are caused by viruses and get better without antibiotics.

How to access this medicine

1. Start your free online assessment: sinusitis or sore throat. Complete a short questionnaire and confirm your identity by uploading photo ID or showing it on a video call.
2. Pharmacist reviews and speaks with you. A GPhC-registered pharmacist contacts you by phone or video. For a sore throat, the pharmacist will usually ask you to come into our Holborn pharmacy for a free throat examination.
3. If suitable, order and pay on this page. Once the pharmacist confirms the medicine is suitable, you select the course and check out on this page, or call 020 8106 7084. If it is not suitable — including when the pharmacist recommends self-care instead — you pay nothing and the pharmacist explains your other options. If you have already paid and the pharmacist finds the medicine is not suitable, you receive a full refund.
4. We post your medicine or you collect it. Once approved, orders placed by 3pm on a weekday are posted the same day (see our shipping policy), or you can collect from Holborn.

There is no separate consultation fee. If the medicine you chose is not suitable, the pharmacist may suggest another option.

About this medicine

How the pharmacist decides

For a sore throat, the pharmacist uses a recognised scoring system (FeverPAIN or Centor) together with a throat examination in store. For sinusitis, an antibiotic is considered only when symptoms have lasted more than 10 days without improving, or got worse after starting to improve, and a bacterial infection is likely. One course is supplied for the current episode. See our sore throat and sinusitis services for details.

Dosage

• Adults and children aged 12 and over: 500mg (1 tablet) four times a day for 5 days
• Swallow each tablet whole with water. Follow the patient information leaflet on whether to take it before or with food, as this depends on the brand
• Finish the whole course, even if you feel better sooner
• Under-18s can use the online service, but a parent or guardian must join the video call

The pharmacist will confirm the exact dose for you. If you are not getting better after the course, you need a new assessment rather than a repeat supply.

Warnings and who should not take this medicine

• Anyone allergic to erythromycin or other macrolide antibiotics
• People with a history of QT prolongation or ventricular heart rhythm problems, or low potassium or magnesium
• People with significant liver disease
• People taking medicines that must not be combined with erythromycin, such as simvastatin, ergotamine or dihydroergotamine, domperidone, pimozide, amisulpride, tolterodine, mizolastine or lomitapide. Extra care is needed with warfarin and other blood thinners, other statins, digoxin and heart rhythm medicines — always tell the pharmacist everything you take
• Children under 12 — this service does not cover them
• People with warning signs that need urgent care, such as difficulty breathing or swallowing saliva, swelling around the eye, changes in vision or a severe headache
• People whose symptoms have not improved after a course of antibiotics — please see a GP

Possible side effects

The most common side effects are feeling sick, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhoea. Stop taking it and get urgent medical help if you develop swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing, a severe rash, a fast or irregular heartbeat or fainting, or severe or persistent diarrhoea.

Regulatory information

• Legal status: Prescription-only medicine (POM), supplied under a Patient Group Direction after pharmacist assessment
• Pharmacy: Ways Pharmacy, 77 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4ET · GPhC-registered premises 9012227
• Patient information leaflet: electronic Medicines Compendium (emc)
• Report suspected side effects through the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme

This page gives factual information about a prescription-only medicine and is not an advertisement to the public. It is supplied only after a pharmacist has assessed that it is suitable for you.