Antibiotic Diarrhea
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Antibiotic Diarrhea
First, I want to thank Tex for all your research, your books and having this great resource for all of us. I began the big D in 2013...finally, in 2015 a GI doc diagnosed and conformed Lymphocytic Colitis. He said to stop spicy, fried and fatty foods. That didn't help, then I found your forum. Thanks to you, I found out my main intolerances...gluten, casein and oats. Gluten score was 299, yikes! After going GF and DF my D went away and I've stayed mostly in remission except for occasional bouts due to other intolerance discoveries. My current issue is, after refusing antibiotics for a sinus problem, I relented and took Cefdinir. Huge mistake. I saw very scary looking BM's and it went on for a while, am now down to 1-2 very loose stools a day.. My GI doc couldn't get me in for over 2 months so I carefully ate and tried a weak probiotic. I didn't dare take Imodium as was worried about C Difficile...even took a stool sample to doc for testing. My pharmacist suggested Visbiome High Potency Probiotic, said she had many happy customers who used it for antibiotic D, IBS and colitis. It's medical grade so I waited to take it...needs Dr approval. Finally had GI appointment this week and he said Visbiome is wonderful and yes, I should take it. After a 2nd stool test showing no infection, he said it's the MC and wants me on Budesonide. I'm nervous about taking that as have really bad osteoporosis and have heard steroids are bad for bones. Plus there was only one day, early on, that I had 12 BM's in one day. Maybe he thinks that happened every day...I'll let him know I now only have 1-2 loose BM's and urgency. As long as I keep my electrolytes up (eating lots of salt as blood tests show low sodium for last year), I don't feel bad. More fatigue than usual but eating a salty pickle helps. Another factor is I was on a very high dose of Synthroid which they recently lowered to 100 mg (still kind of high since I weigh only 100...95 after all this D) Doc thinks the hyperthyroid caused by Synthroid overdose could have caused this too. I just wonder if anyone has tried Visbiome. I started it today, just half a capsule. Will increase after see side affects. If that doesn't work for me, I might try Pepto Bismol. I'm scared to take Budesonide though I know it helps many people. I'd rather have it be a last resort. My fear of C difficile didn't help (stress) plus other docs are testing my lungs for cancer and have been testing me for different auto immune diseases as had a positive ANA test. I think stress is a big factor. Another thank you to Tex for mentioning magnesium. I found a mag lotion with 200 mg per teaspoon and feel SO much more relaxed. Tex, you're a God send!! Sorry this is so long!
Re: Antibiotic Diarrhea
Hello Patty,
If your bowel movements are watery diarrhea (secretory diarrhea), then it's almost surely MC. If it's ordinary diarrhea (osmotic diarrhea), then it might be due to a hyperthyroid effect. Hypothyroidism is associated with constipation, and hyperthyroidism is associated with diarrhea. I note that my sodium level is usually low, also, and significant amounts of salt, such as with Fritos, for example can cause me to have diarrhea. I can eat lightly salted tortilla chips without a diarrhea problem, but if I eat a significant amount of Fritos, I usually have a session of diarrhea, afterward.
Note that pigs have a monogastric digestive system very similar to the human digestive system, and pig farmers have to be careful that the ration they feed to pigs does not contain too much salt, as it's very easy to kill a pig with an overdose of salt. This is more of a problem when feeding free choice minerals, but it's always a possibility if their daily ration contains well above normal amounts of salt. I doubt that humans are that sensitive to salt, but the point is, an overdose of salt can have a toxic effect, and the body tries to deal with it by promoting diarrhea in order to purge the excess salt from our body.
There is also a possibility that the combination (hyperthyroid effect, and salt) plus stress may be causing the chronic diarrhea.
Typically, most pharmacists know more about medications, their effectiveness, possible interactions with other drugs, and their side effects, than most doctors, making them a very good source of information regarding medications. Unfortunately, I've never used a commercial probiotic, so I know very little about them. But I do know that taking a good probiotic for a couple of weeks or so is definitely recommended immediately after an antibiotic treatment, in order to minimize the risk of C diff. C diff patients are normally quite sick, with a lot of pain, and often their stool contains blood, which is a dead giveaway, since MC does not cause bloody diarrhea.
I hope this helps.
Tex
If your bowel movements are watery diarrhea (secretory diarrhea), then it's almost surely MC. If it's ordinary diarrhea (osmotic diarrhea), then it might be due to a hyperthyroid effect. Hypothyroidism is associated with constipation, and hyperthyroidism is associated with diarrhea. I note that my sodium level is usually low, also, and significant amounts of salt, such as with Fritos, for example can cause me to have diarrhea. I can eat lightly salted tortilla chips without a diarrhea problem, but if I eat a significant amount of Fritos, I usually have a session of diarrhea, afterward.
Note that pigs have a monogastric digestive system very similar to the human digestive system, and pig farmers have to be careful that the ration they feed to pigs does not contain too much salt, as it's very easy to kill a pig with an overdose of salt. This is more of a problem when feeding free choice minerals, but it's always a possibility if their daily ration contains well above normal amounts of salt. I doubt that humans are that sensitive to salt, but the point is, an overdose of salt can have a toxic effect, and the body tries to deal with it by promoting diarrhea in order to purge the excess salt from our body.
There is also a possibility that the combination (hyperthyroid effect, and salt) plus stress may be causing the chronic diarrhea.
Typically, most pharmacists know more about medications, their effectiveness, possible interactions with other drugs, and their side effects, than most doctors, making them a very good source of information regarding medications. Unfortunately, I've never used a commercial probiotic, so I know very little about them. But I do know that taking a good probiotic for a couple of weeks or so is definitely recommended immediately after an antibiotic treatment, in order to minimize the risk of C diff. C diff patients are normally quite sick, with a lot of pain, and often their stool contains blood, which is a dead giveaway, since MC does not cause bloody diarrhea.
I hope this helps.
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.
Re: Antibiotic Diarrhea
Thanks for your response…I’ll go ahead and see what happens with this probiotic. Interesting what you said about types of diarrhea. Yes, I must have secretory as lose so much sodium, chloride and probably magnesium. My energy has been so low this last year and I didn’t equate the sodium or magnesium loss to fatigue until last week. I saw a video by Dr Ken Berry…said body builders often pour salt into their palm and lick it for quick energy, ha. I started eating green olives or dill pickles for salt and my energy came back almost instantly. He mentioned that many people are low sodium as now eliminating processed food, which is good, but reduces our salt intake without us realizing it. Before “clean eating” I think my salt intake was much higher. So I’ll now just use more salt on food. Since upping my magnesium dose (cream) I feel much calmer and happier. Am so glad you mentioned magnesium as it’s something I never thought about or even took, other than small amount in multi vitamin.
Re: Antibiotic Diarrhea
I just was put on cefdnir for sinus infection and have had c/ 7 months ago . I’m living in fear. I’m on vsl3 probiotic. Please let us know how you’re doing and if diarrhea got worse. How much antibiotic did you take.
Re: Antibiotic Diarrhea
I only took Cefdinir 2 1/2 days and stopped as diarrhea so bad. I then went on a very weak probiotic which did nothing. Am glad to say the Visbiome worked! I know VSl3 is almost the same probiotic so hopefully you’ll have luck too. I feel better than have in a long time. My energy is back and am gaining the weight back. Have had issues with sinuses, during the winter, almost every year for a long time. So another thing I’ve been doing is a nasal rinse (Neilmed) at least once a day. Am now a firm believer in a good, medical grade probiotic. Tex, if you see this, I wonder if you’ve read the book 10% Human. It’s very interesting, about our body’s microbes.
Re: Antibiotic Diarrhea
Hi Patty,
No, I haven't read that book. I assume it discusses the many benefits of the microbiome. Some people love gut bacteria, others don't. I happen to be one who doesn't appreciate the little parasites. They've learned how to be self endearing, because they've learned how to communicate with our brain to establish a repertoire — they inspire an elevated appreciation of their presence. Consequently even though they're basically just parasites, we not only tolerate them, but we continue to look for reasons why they're beneficial to our existence. They've evolved with us, so they've learned how to interact with all of the complex workings of our digestive system so that they can moderate certain functions and enhance others to give the appearance that they're beneficial.
We could survive, and thrive, just as well without them, but we'll never know, because they have become so well established, and they're ubiquitous in nature, so that we're unlikely to ever be able to eradicate them. The best we can do is to try to control them temporarily. So we've learned to live with them, and appreciate them (at least some of us appreciate them). Obviously, this is just my opinion.
Tex
No, I haven't read that book. I assume it discusses the many benefits of the microbiome. Some people love gut bacteria, others don't. I happen to be one who doesn't appreciate the little parasites. They've learned how to be self endearing, because they've learned how to communicate with our brain to establish a repertoire — they inspire an elevated appreciation of their presence. Consequently even though they're basically just parasites, we not only tolerate them, but we continue to look for reasons why they're beneficial to our existence. They've evolved with us, so they've learned how to interact with all of the complex workings of our digestive system so that they can moderate certain functions and enhance others to give the appearance that they're beneficial.
We could survive, and thrive, just as well without them, but we'll never know, because they have become so well established, and they're ubiquitous in nature, so that we're unlikely to ever be able to eradicate them. The best we can do is to try to control them temporarily. So we've learned to live with them, and appreciate them (at least some of us appreciate them). Obviously, this is just my opinion.
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.