NURSING MOTHERS: Safety in nursing mothers has not been established. It is not known if cefixime is excreted in breast milk.

SIDE EFFECTS: Cefixime is generally well tolerated, and side effects usually are transient. Reported side effects include diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, skin rash, fever, joint pain and arthritis, abnormal liver tests, vaginitis, itching, headaches, and dizziness.

Cefixime should be avoided by patients with a known allergy to cephalosporin type antibiotics. Since cefixime is chemically related to penicillin, an occasional patient can have an allergic reaction (sometimes even life-threatening anaphylaxis) to both medications.

Like most antibiotics cefixime may cause a condition called pseudomembranous colitis, a potentially serious bacterial infection of the colon caused by a bacterium called Clostridium difficile (C. difficile colitis). Patients who develop pseudomembranous colitis as a result of antibiotic treatment can experience diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, and sometimes even shock.

Reference: FDA Prescribing Information

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