antibiotic in my ear

[Sheila]

I am putting ofloxacin otic solution in my ear and wonder if this is something to be concerned about. I explained my issues to the ear doctor and he said, no problem. Right!! When I got sick after taking an antibiotic for an ear infection the D was so bad and I lost so much weight and fluid, my eustachian tube got stuck open. That caused me to lose hearing in my right ear. The ear doc put a tube in my ear hoping that would improve my hearing but all it did was get stuck and start pressing on my ear drum. Hence, the antibiotic ear drops. When you have an ear ache you will do most anything to make it feel better and I'm hoping this stuff will work.

Thanks for any input about whether to be concerned about this antibiotic.

Sheila W

[tex]

Hi Sheila,

That antibiotic is a fluoroquinolone (the same family of antibiotics to which ciprofloxacin belongs), and as a general rule, the floroquinolones seem to be the safest antibiotics that someone who has MC can use. My experience with oral ciprofloxacin was that it actually stopped the D for as long as I was taking it (2 weeks).

You should be OK with it.

I hope you're able to get that ear issue resolved ASAP.

Tex

[Sheila]

Thanks, Tex. Like most of us, I'm paranoid about using an antibiotic for anything.

Sheila W

[Polly]

Hi Sheila,

You should be fine! Topical antibiotics are generally absorbed far less than oral ones. And as Tex indciated, even if a little is absorbed, most MCers do very well with that category of drugs.

Have you been hearing about how the medical profession is really beginning to cut down on antibiotics, primarily because of how they alter the body's normal bacterial flora? We can help to educate our docs about this by not requesting antibiotics for colds or sinus infections less than 2-3 weeks old, by requesting "simpler" antibiotics (like penicillin or sulfa) instead of broad-spectrum ones, and by not taking the fully prescribed course once we feel better. Yep, those old instructions to take the full 5 or 10 days' course are not based on any science.........in fact, we were taught in medical school the "importance" of finishing the prescribed course. It's all hocus-pocus. Many infections are cleared up in a few days at most. My periodontist is really up on all of this. When I have had gum surgery, he prescribes only 2 doses of antibiotics on the day of surgery and nothing after.

I hope you can clear up this problem.

Love,

Polly

[Sheila]

Wow, thanks for clarifying that old rule about finishing antibiotics to the last pill. Everyone on the Board should know this information. Is the damage done to intestinal flora the same regardless of the number of doses taken? IOW, is the damage done compounded by increased dosage?

Thanks so much,
Sheila W

[Polly]

Sheila,

Yep, more damage is done by increased doses. More and more good bacteria is wiped out. Not to mention the fact that prolonged exposure to antibiotics allows bacteria to develop resistance, which has become a major problem, as you know. It is getting to be such a problem that some are predicting a return to the pre-antibiotic days. Horrors! So many of our medical procedures depend upon infection control - surgeries, organ transplantation, etc. Scary.

Polly

[jgivens]

Polly-- I have a bunch of questions. This is so exciting that it has all been a bunch of bunk about taking your medicine until gone. Must have been another way for pharmaceuticals to make money!

Does this mean that it is probably better for children with repeated ear infections to go the tube route rather than so many antibiotics? My son who is 30 now, had repeated ear infections before he was a year old and his ENT held off on doing tubes until his ears had matured and he wouldn't get them any more. That happened, but not without repeatedly having ear infections followed by antibiotic therapy. When he turned four, he got strep throat and could NOT get rid of it. Every time we stopped the antibiotic, back it came. After four months of this and finally bullying our pediatrician to refer him to an ENT, he had his tonsils out.

He had no problems after that until he was 15 and got mono. The NP who saw him diagnosed him with tonsillitis. We shut our mouths (about the fact that he had no tonsils, so how did he have tonsillitis) and he took the antibiotic she prescribed because we were going away and I thought at the time, whatever infection he had would be cleared up with the antibiotic. Of course, he continued to be very sick and got well on his own.

I am getting the gene panel of the Enterolab done because my son seems to have many of the same MC symptoms that I had at his age. If I can save him from going into a full MC attack, I will! He is already very much aware of gluten and has at least reduced it a great deal in his diet. No junk food for him! He is the one who introduced me to the idea of going gluten free before I ever had any symptoms.

Are parents now being told to not have their child take the full dose of the antibiotic?

[Polly]

Hi Jane,

I'd guess the majority of docs are still telling folks to take the full dose. This is fairly recent thinking, so it will take a while to change minds. I know that pediatricians are prescribing antibiotics far less for ear infections now (which makes sense, since the huge majority of them are caused by viruses, not bacteria) and are using simpler antibiotics when possible. Yes, in many cases, tubes are a good solution. There was a recent study that showed that kiddies who were treated for numerous ear infections were much more likely to get an inflammatory bowel disease (MC is one of these, of course) than those who had none or fewer treated ear infections. Presumably because of the alteration of the intestinal flora caused by the antibiotics. I can't remember whether I posted about this recently?????
Good questions, BTW!


Polly

[Sheila]

I wonder how many of us had ear infections and lots of antibiotics as a child. I had my tonsils out as a very young child and ended up with a mastoid infection. This was in the late 1940s, I think. I had to get a penecillin shot every other day and remember being in agony for many, many weeks. It was summer vacation and I wasn't allowed to go into the ocean or swimming pool. To this day if I am outside in a cold wind, I get ear aches. It was an ear infection and antibiotics that triggered the MC and celiac.

Sheila W

[tex]

Polly,

I'm guessing this is the study you mentioned:

Association between Early Childhood Otitis Media and Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An Exploratory Population-Based Analysis

Love,
Tex

[Polly]

That's it, Tex. Thanks!

Love,

Polly

[ant]

Dear Polly,

Just want to add my own experience here.....

When I was 12 years old I got osteomalitis (at school in London). Thankfully the school GP (suspecting osteomalitis from the clinical symptoms) quickly prescribed antibiotics via injection (not oral). I ended up in Guy's Hospital, London.

After about three weeks I went into (temporary) remission (and did not require amputation of my arm). The top bone specialists from Guy's Hospital took me off antibiotics and after about another 2 weeks DXed glandular fever.

I went home to recuperate after being discharged from hospital. BUT, about a week later the osteomalitis symptoms returned. This time another GP (my family doc) quickly put me back on antibiotics via injection. I was xrayed at Canterbury Hospital and this time very clearly the DX was osteomalitis (the pitting in my bone had by this stage become visible). The bone specialist at Canterbury Hospital said to me that I would need to be on antibiotics for about 2 months. He recommended injections......but I was 12 years old (and my bum was already a dart board ) so at my pleading he relented and prescribed about two months of oral antibiotics.

What I draw from my own experience is:

(1) sometimes (for certain life threatening diseases) coming off antibiotics too early is dangerous.

(2) I should have suffered the injections rather then taken the easier path of oral antibiotics........my two months of oral antibiotics finally cured the osteomalitis, but may have set the stage for my MC later in life.

Best wishes, Anthony

[Polly]

Very interesting, Ant.

That was a rough time. You are absolutely correct. Bone infections are one type that require prolonged treatment with antibiotics. And often require parental (injected) antibiotics instead of oral ones. You were lucky that it cleared up with oral antibiotics - that is not always the case. Now, they probably would put in an indwelling catheter and you'd get IV doses around the clock for some weeks.

Most of the more common infections, however, like bronchitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, etc., probably only need a few days of antibiotics. And then, of course, there are viral infections that require none but people still want antibiotics to treat them.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Love,

Polly

[jgivens]

I imagine that parents of children with illnesses (other than really bad stuff like bone infections) are some of the worst about wanting a "quick fix" . They do not want their kids to suffer, but I suspect that they also don't want to be up at night etc, like a lot of us just got used to with sick kids in order to get them over a virus, etc. It is no fun, but if I thought that the antibiotics were doing more harm than good, I am sure that I would opt for working through the discomfort with my child.