Dicloxacillin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Dicloxacillin is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 3 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Capsule
- Sold as
- 3 products — Dycill, Dynapen and Pathocil
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $24 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every dicloxacillin product we track (3)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $24 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Suspension | Generic | $24 | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Capsule | Generic | $24 | View → |
What dicloxacillin pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
How long dicloxacillin keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some dicloxacillin labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 14 days.
The in-use limits dicloxacillin labels print, quotedDicloxacillin and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for dicloxacillin: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadLimited information indicates that dicloxacillin levels in milk are very low and are not expected to cause adverse effects in breastfed infants. It is frequently used to treat mastitis in nursing mothers. Occasionally disruption of the infant's gastrointestinal flora, resulting in diarrhea or thrush have been reported with penicillins, but these effects have not been adequately evaluated. Dicloxacillin is acceptable in nursing mothers.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised November 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about dicloxacillin
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 242 reports naming dicloxacillin, and the FDA flagged 74% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- arthralgia17 reports
- diarrhoea17 reports
- drug hypersensitivity17 reports
- abdominal discomfort16 reports
- headache16 reports
- malaise16 reports
- nausea15 reports
- rash15 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean dicloxacillin caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take dicloxacillin with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run dicloxacillin against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is dicloxacillin sold under?
We track 3 dicloxacillin-containing products in the U.S.: Dycill, Dynapen and Pathocil. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does dicloxacillin come in?
Across the brands we track, dicloxacillin is currently marketed as capsule, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic dicloxacillin?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic dicloxacillin product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Dicloxacillin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/dicloxacillin
- MLA
- “Dicloxacillin: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/dicloxacillin.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for dicloxacillin on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.