A while back I caught a nasty cold, complete with sore throat. I normally just wait them out, but as I'm prone to ear infections, when my inner ears started to hurt I went and visited my local drug dealer who for a small co-pay of $50 hooked me up with a 10 day, 20 pill run of Augmentin antibiotics.
2 days after, my ears felt substantially better and my sore throat was almost gone.
3 days, my ears and throat felt completely normal, but still had cold symptoms of cought and stuffy nose
4 days, cough symptoms began to subside, sore throat and ears still gone
Now, at 5 days, I feel fit as a fiddle. I just can't see taking antibiotics for 5 more days when I feel fine. Plus, the antibiotics give me the runs, which the doctor said was a possible side effect. This is rather unpleasant.
So, I know people always say "OMG you MUST finish your antibiotics even after you feel better or your brain will splode!!!!" but, why do they tell you to keep taking them for days after you feel better? Is it because they don't want you taking them later without coming in to the doctor and giving them more money for more antibiotics later? Or will my infection really come back if I stop taking them?