Hello,
Sorry to be that person who disappears into the sunset for months at a time to only then jump back on randomly when they have a question. I need to pickle your brains for advice if that would't be too much trouble for you all. Also it is highly possible I have misremembered some facts here, so don't be afraid to gently remind me that facts I have in my brain are very wrong.
Anyway, on with the whole purpose of this post!
To cut the initial story short, so to speak, since the middle of January I have had the really severe cold that is going around the UK at the moment (The one that the queen had apparently). And it all sort of culminated in a chest infection last week.
Now, by this point of the cold, I had reached the point I would have done anything to make the cold go away, it was impacting my job, my life, my mood, everything. And I popped along to my GP, who wasn't actually 100% sure I had a chest infection yet, but that my impressive cough sounded like it was well on the way to being a chest infection within the next day or so. She offered me a short 5 day course of antibiotics and I accepted.
These antibiotics seem to have done the trick, for now. I don't trust my body at all with this cold. But in the past few days it has crossed my mind that I am sure I read somewhere that Antibiotics may cause issues for people with MC.
Basically my question to you all is this. Firstly, am I remembering correctly? And what can I do to help myself incase it does trigger a flare? I only have one more tablet to take.
Thanks all, and sorry for the radio silence that has happened. Hope you are all as well as you can be.
Antibiotics and MC?
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natythingycolbery
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Antibiotics and MC?
'The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.' Horace Bushnell
Diagnosed with MC (LC) Aug 2010
Diagnosed with MC (LC) Aug 2010
Hello Katy,
Yes, antibiotics are a common trigger for MC. But there are a couple of types of antibiotics that most of us seem to be able to tolerate. One is the family of fluoroquinilones (including the popular cirofloxacin (aka cipro). Cipro not only does not cause a flare, but it typically will stop a flare if one is in progress. But the fluoroquinolones (and especially cipro) have a problem — they are loaded with black box warnings due to serious side effect risks. Cipro is notorious for causing tendonitis, torn ligaments, and associated problems. It can also cause neurological problems such as peripheral neuropathy and tinnitus. There may be other risks that I can't think of at the moment.
Zithromax (azithromycin), commonly referred to as Z-Pak here in the States, is another antibiotic that has a good reputation for not triggering a flare for most MC patients. And as far as I'm aware, it doesn't have any black box warnings. It's commonly prescribed for a 5-day treatment regimen, so it's possible that may be the one that you are using.
One of the risks of taking an oral antibiotic is a significantly increased risk of a C. diff infection after the antibiotic kills many/most of the so-called commensal gut bacteria. I'm not sure how effectively azithyromycin targets gut bacteria — some antibiotics have a much more pronounced effect on gut bacteria, such as all the antibiotics related to penicillin (ampicillin, amoxicillin, etc.). You can reduce the risk of developing a C. diff infection by taking a good probiotic for a couple of weeks as soon as the antibiotic treatment regimen is ended, if you think that you may be vulnerable to a C. diff infection. I've never taken a probiotic following a treatment with oral antibiotics (nor have I taken a probiotic for any other reason), and I've never had a C. diff infection, but it would probably be prudent for individuals who are prone to such infections to take a probiotic to reduce that risk.
I hope that some of this is helpful, and good luck with your recovery.
Tex
Yes, antibiotics are a common trigger for MC. But there are a couple of types of antibiotics that most of us seem to be able to tolerate. One is the family of fluoroquinilones (including the popular cirofloxacin (aka cipro). Cipro not only does not cause a flare, but it typically will stop a flare if one is in progress. But the fluoroquinolones (and especially cipro) have a problem — they are loaded with black box warnings due to serious side effect risks. Cipro is notorious for causing tendonitis, torn ligaments, and associated problems. It can also cause neurological problems such as peripheral neuropathy and tinnitus. There may be other risks that I can't think of at the moment.
Zithromax (azithromycin), commonly referred to as Z-Pak here in the States, is another antibiotic that has a good reputation for not triggering a flare for most MC patients. And as far as I'm aware, it doesn't have any black box warnings. It's commonly prescribed for a 5-day treatment regimen, so it's possible that may be the one that you are using.
One of the risks of taking an oral antibiotic is a significantly increased risk of a C. diff infection after the antibiotic kills many/most of the so-called commensal gut bacteria. I'm not sure how effectively azithyromycin targets gut bacteria — some antibiotics have a much more pronounced effect on gut bacteria, such as all the antibiotics related to penicillin (ampicillin, amoxicillin, etc.). You can reduce the risk of developing a C. diff infection by taking a good probiotic for a couple of weeks as soon as the antibiotic treatment regimen is ended, if you think that you may be vulnerable to a C. diff infection. I've never taken a probiotic following a treatment with oral antibiotics (nor have I taken a probiotic for any other reason), and I've never had a C. diff infection, but it would probably be prudent for individuals who are prone to such infections to take a probiotic to reduce that risk.
I hope that some of this is helpful, and good luck with your recovery.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
