Antibiotics made me flare

First I will tell you a bit about my disease.... I was diagnosed with UC in October 2008 and have been in near remission now for the past 3 months. I take 1200mg asacol (3 pills 3 times daily) and Pentasa enemas every 3 nights. that leaves me with 1-2 bm's a day and no blood.

I had an infected piercing for over a month and decided that I had better see a doctor. She prescribed Keflex 2000 mg per day (500mg 4 times daily). 5 days into treatment I had increased urgency to go to the bathroom. On the sixth day I was having 10-12 loose- watery bm's a day and small amounts of blood. I increased my enemas to once a night from once every 3 nights. But how long do I wait to see if it clears up on its own before I see my GI.

Any suggestions????

Thank you!

It could just be the antibiotic. Are you done with it yet? Also, you might see if you can get tested of c.diff which can be triggered by antibiotics.

Probiotics can possibly help. Primapohilus Reuteri is supposed to be a good one for preventing c.diff. You can get it at iherb.com and they will ship it on ice. Some health food stores might carry it. I think I've also heard Align is a good one and I think you can get that at like Walgreen's, Wal-mart, etc.

I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with your GI and try to figure out what is going on and get it under control quickly if possible.

Hope you are feeling better soon!!

I stopped the antibiotics after the 5 days. I figured if I feel this bad afte 5 days, what will i feel like after I finish the 10 days. i know you are not supposed to stop antibiotics mid-way, but I just did not want my flare to get worse then it needed to.

I will give it a day or two I think, then I will see the doctor and get tested for c. diff

As far as I'm concerned the antibiotics wasn't worth it... no one told me this would happen :(

Thanks kops2da!! That helps alot!

Yep, the Keflex 500 script was likely a big mistake. That drug wreaks havoc on the gut! It was RXed for me in my younger adulthood for recurrent tonsilitis & probably started my colon on a downward path to UC. Makes me pretty mad when I think about it. Hope you'll get back in control soon. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])

I don't think it was only the antibiotics...considering you had an infection in your mouth for over a month.

You do, however, need to make sure that infection is gone...go back to the doc, get checked for c.diff and get your tongue swabbed...that part is a must.

Start taking high % probiotics. really...you should have been on them when you started the infection.

Taking the antibiotics wasn't a mistake...it's sometimes hit and miss with what agrees and what doesn't.

Go back to the doctor, tell him you stopped the antibiotics and get it dealt with asap. An infection in your tongue can be very bad. I'd risk a flare to get that dealt with...truly.

quincy

Yah. I somehow assumed you were talking about the ears. I guess that's because the moment you said infected piercing, I thought of my ear piercings, which were always getting infected. It's interesting how we will read something based on our own experiences.

I'm glad your piercing is not infected anymore. Try rubbing alcohol. It really has helped keep my ear piercings from getting infected.

I saw my Doctor and he sent me for blood tests to see what my ESR is (the antibody that detects UC and its severity) as well as several stool samples including c-diff. If my ESR is above 30 he will put me on prednisone, I will find out tomorrow hopefully. For now I am taking flagyl in case of bowel infection (I find it makes my colon feel better regardless lol) and he recomended VSL #3 probiotic. It is a very high dose of probiotic (450 billion live cells with 8 differents kinds). It is kind of pricy, but I would recomend you check it out! www.vsl3.ca

So far my bm's have gone to to 4-5 per day as apposed to 8-10 that it was on the weekend :) Hopefully i can get out of this flare relatively quickly (I was kind of getting used to feeling normal)...

I know - I do not want to go on pred at all!!!

I have been keeping up with the enemas nightly, and have increased the asacol back up to 3 tablets 4 times daily. I guess it has only been a few days now that I have been down to 4-5 bm's a day - but the enemas only helped with the blood before all of this - I was already down to 1-2 bm's a day.... I hope the enemas and asacol alone are enough to get me back to the way I was before all this....

Please be patient with the enemas...you just started back to nightly.

My flares are very mild and limited to low in the rectum now....and it still takes me a month of nightly enemas before I go to every second night.

If you've been on pred in the past...you know that it's best to stay off it.

What's the longest you were on the enemas nightly in the past?

Hang tough...your situation is specific....patience with the 5ASA can serve you better in the long-run..trust me on that if you can use them. Takes time to figure it out...

Looking back on the 20 years, I even did ask my GI once about 15 years ago if he thought pred would work for me. He looked horrified and said...no....be patient. I was, and relieved I have him as my doc.

quincy

Definitely anything else over and above dealing with a flare makes it all worse. Colds...I hate them!

In the past...one month may not have been enough before you tapered...

I was on the Salfoalk enemas nightly for 4 months once.....you can't hurry them. You have yet to see what they can do.

I would again say stay off pred as long as forever if you can...lol!

quincy

Christine1946,

Do you find that by taking the flagyl along with your antibiotic that you do not have any flaring symtoms at all then???

I am so glad you said that! It makes alot of sense.... I will ask for a script of that next time I need antibiotics... Thank you!

Yep, regarding the flagyl...my friend ended up with peripheral neuropathy of her feet...I haven't asked if it's fully recovered...she also now has raynaud's syndrome..so who knows.

Zithromax is one antibiotic as well as amoxicillin that I take with no problems..but don't kow if they're prescribed for piercing infections. The other option, however, could have been a topical such as Fucidin...

Patience is a good thing overall dealing with flares plus c.diff, plus a cold...just wait, I'm sure your period is around the corner...at least that's what used to happen to me. All at once!

Hang tough...


LOL OH...regarding "sheeesh"...it's a good expression methinks.

quincy