antibiotics

[solobiker]

Hi there, as some you may remember, back in the first part of September I went on a bike ride with DH and got stung by something on my leg and 4 days later I was in the ER getting IV antibiotics because of a severe infection from the bite and was sent home with some heavy duty antibiotics. They were actually thinking of adimitting me due to the infection. Well long story short about a week after I was done with the anitbiotics I was having a lot of intestinal isuues ( I will spare you all the details :o ) and my tongue had turned white. Went to Dr and they said I had 2 other infections now because the antibiotics that I was on affected the good bacteria in my body. So I was sent home with 2 different antibiotics. Well it has been about 2 weeks since I have been off the antibiotics and my tongue is still white ( thrush) but my stomach feels better, not 100% yet. Still achey. I really don't want to go on any more antibiotics so I was wondering if any of you have gone through a similar experience. I have tried to cut back on sugars as the thrush tends to "feed" off it. Sorry for my complaints, I am just ready to get back to normal since I have not been feeling great since September.

Thanks S

[makbike]

No need to apologize for you are miserable. Visit your local pharmacy and purchase a bottle of Acidophilus tablets or Lactobactius (sp). You simply need a probiotic to reculture your GI tract. I take acidophilus on a daily basis but when I have to take antibiotics I increase my daily dose for I know what can happen. I hope this helps and you start to feel better ASAP.

[Zen]

Yogurt.

[light_sabe_r]

zen and makbike are 100% right! Yoghurt! Anything with Acidophillis or Bifidus or Lactobacillus is going to help restore the balance. Ease off the fat intake while you're rebuilding your natural flora. Yakult (http://www.yakult.com.au/product01.htm) is a pretty damn good product if you have that over there.

Or get down to a homeopath or health food/alternate store (don't know what you call them in the USA, We can get it from the chemist here) and get some probiotic supplements. I'm a fan of Inner Health Plus (http://www.ethicalnutrients.com.au/probiotics.html) and use it when I feel I need a good kick in the pants.

[short cut sally]

There is a medicated mouth rinse that is made for thrush..can't think of the name..i just remember "swish and swallow" for pts. with thrush.

[solobiker]

Thanks for your input. I actually have been taking acidophilus and also eating yougurt. From my other research I found out taking the supplement goldenseal could help. I have been trying this out for about 2 weeks without any success. I was on the medication Nystatin for a little while which didn't do much. Thanks again and wish me luck to get rid of this, it really isn't very much fun and it all started with going on a simple bike ride and getting stung by something, ugh:o

[Mr. Bloom]

It still ceases to amaze me how physicians don't advise patients about the need for yogurt, acidophilus, kefir, etc when on antibiotics.

I hope you feel better soon! I hate the effect that antibiotics have on me!

[makbike]

When I'm on antibiotics I double my dose of acidophilus. I take a normal dose in the morning and another dose with dinner. I figure the antibiotics are killing off a lot of my good flora so extra doses can't hurt me.

When this first happened to me years ago and my doctor finally figured out what was going on she told me yogurt did not have enough good bacteria in to reculture my gut. Thus she suggested I visit the local health food store for acidophilus and suggested I increase the normal dose until things calmed down in my gut (it took just a few days). I hope you have similar speedy results.

[crazybikinchic]

Mycelex Troche, Clotrimazole (generic), is another antibiotic for thrush. It is an orally dissintigrating tablet.

[OakLeaf]

Nystatin. That's what shelly was thinking of. It's very safe.

+1 on the probiotics. If you're going to the expense of supplements, get the kind that are kept in the store's fridge, and have an enteric capsule. Otherwise you may as well just eat yogurt.

[KnottedYet]

A friend's baby had thrush, and the pediatrician told them to put a dab of plain yogurt in her mouth (the kind with no pectin or other fillers, just milk and bacteria) every hour or so. I got the impression they were trying to keep her mouth yogurt-y so the bacters could jump on the thrush on-site.

[Bruno28]

I've had oral thrush a few times thanks to steriod treatment for Crohn's. In my experience it's a persistent little bugger of an infection that makes you really miserable so I sympathise.

I found nystatin the most effective treatment. It comes in pastile form which taste of aniseed and made me want to hurl. My preference was for liquid drops which, if I recall taste, of marzipan. Obviously not so good if you don't like marzipan:o A short course of those seemed to do the trick for me.

Good luck.

[solobiker]

Thanks for the good advice. I was on Nystatin for about a week a few weeks ago and it really didn't do too much. Right now I am cutting back on sugars, eating yogurt and taking acidophilus. Once again thanks for all of your advice.

[Drtgirl]

Weird. My mom has been going through the exact same thing for months. She was told to eat yogurt, which she hates, so she is now trying a probiotic. She also has thrush and doesn't know what do about it.

Let me know if anything works for you- she is just miserable.

[Bruno28]

Honestly solobiker - try the oral drops if you can get them. They cured me of a recurring problem. I think I used them for about two weeks.