Different antibiotics have different effects on your body. Some of them are operating in the gut, others in bones or some other parts of your body. There are many reasons why antibiotics are sold only with doctors prescription:
Antibiotics only kill bacteria so before taking them you should know the exact cause of your illness.
Antibiotics weaken the immune system, so if you take them irresponsibly, it can cause damage to your health.
Antibiotics destroy not only bad bacteria but also the good ones.
Antibiotics have negative impact on your kidneys, pancreas and so on.
Bacteria can adapt to antibiotics if you choose a wrong treatment or wrong antibiotics.
After taking antibiotics, your body can get very sensitive and you can easily get sick again.
Antibiotics are categorized into three main groups and only doctors can say which ones a appropriate for you:
Bactericidal (they kill bacteria, but keeps them in the body)
Bacteriostatic (they inhibit the growth of bacteria but do not kill them)
Bacteriolytic (they kill bacteria and destroy your cell walls)
Can you stop taking antibiotics when you get better?
Modern antibiotics have a very strong impact so the is no wonder if your doctor prescribed you just a single dose or small dose, for example, one pill per day for 2-3 days. Some antibiotics have to be taken for 5 days or longer. It is decided by doctor for each person individually, depending on the illness and medication itself. It is strictly forbidden to stop taking antibiotics ahead of time. If you do so, you will only stop the infection for a while but you will not kills it. Since antibiotics weaken your immune system, the bacteria that are left can attack your body with double force. So if your doctor told you to take antibiotics for 5 days, you have to do so.