Advice on possible flare caused by antibiotics

Hello kids,

I was diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis about 5 years ago and have treated it successfully since then with Salofalk 2g enemas and Salofalk 1g suppositories.

about a month ago I was having upper GI pain which appeared to be an ulcer so my GP prescribed a treatment course of Cipro/Flagyl/Nexium for 8 days (continued the Nexium for another 4 days afterwards). During and after the treatment I kept taking Udo's Choice Super 8 probiotics (24 billion cells per capsule * 3) as well as nightly Salofalk 2g enemas. about 2 days into the treatment course my upper GI pain went away and hasn't returned (Yay!). 5 days into the treatment I started to have loose/watery stools once a day (no blood/no cramping). The watery/loose stools once a day (no cramping) continued for about 5 days after the antibiotics stopped. On the 6th day (last Saturday) after the antibiotics were stopped I started to get the familiar cramping/loose reddish-mucuousy stools once or twice per day with the urgency of a colitis flare. In addition I got the chills and sore eyes I have had in the past with colitis flares (although this has now gone away). GP Added 4 400mg 5ASA tablets per day plus nightly Salofalk 2g enemas to try to deal with things. And here things sit, still having the cramping/loose reddish-mucuousy stools once or twice per day with cramping on and off throughout the day despite all the mesalamine being pumped into my colon. Blood tests indicate a high sedimentation rate (inflammation) plus slightly higher than normal white cell counts. GP is waiting on stool results to see if this is an infection (e.g. C. Diff) or colitis flare but what is scary is how unresponsive my normal meds have been in getting this under control if it is a colitis flare. Oh, and a trip to the GI when I can get in (I live in Canada so GI wait times can be long if you're not critical).

It always seems to go this way after I take antibiotics, although last (and only) time the Salofalk 2g enemas seemed to have dealt with it just fine. Moreover, my colitis doesn't seem to respond to Prednisone all that well.

Just wondering if anyone has advice/sympathy/experience like this before. I feel like crap most of the day, but it seems manageable relative to the hell I see other people going through.

j.

did it just "appear to be an ulcer in your stomach" because of symptoms or because of an actual test such as the breath test for H. Pylori? or did the GI just assume it was and what the heck, let's put you on antibiotics because it might help?
or was it your GP that put you on those meds??

Rectal inflammation itself can cause stomach discomfort....believe it or not.

It could have been anyway that you were headed for higher in the colon inflammation and didn't notice it.

Where in Canada are you?

I think you need to wait till all the test results come back. Take the oral 5ASA and ask the doc to put you on 4g Salofalk.

Take higher dosage probiotics.

You need to have another c-scope done with tons of biopsies to see whats happening.

you should also be on a proton pump inhibitor....I believe omeprazole is one they use for stomach ulcers...it'll help the acid level and your discomfort.

Keep us posted.
Yes, I sympathise for you....big-time
quincy

You should always be taking a good probiotic (flaring or not, on antibiotics or not) always take your probiotics at least 2 hours after you're done taking your antibiotics.

:)

p.s. jkingfrt I'm in Alberta too :) Sangesters Health food store sells a good probiotic that I'm now using it, it's Sangsters own brand and it's called ProBio TX-11 and they're pretty good, give them a try, daily and indefinitely (they keep them in the fridge at the back of the store, and must be kept in your fridge at home). I also use Prodiem stool bulking therapy which also helps with sweeping the bowels of bad bacteria....just make sure if you decide to add Prodiem fibre supplements, you don't buy their laxatives by mistake cuz they make those too (they are small round brown pills, the fibre supplements are long, tan colored pills).

My last flare was antibiotic induced. Took a short course of pred to get it under control.

I think that I OD on flaygl for treatment of h. pylori and that's how I ended up with UC (I didn't have c. diff). I had happened to me two times before when I was little and I think that was just too much for my immune system. H. pylori is no fun, neither are the ulcers associated with it...
Antibiotics are known to be hard on UCer colons. Any time I need to go on antibiotics for any reason, I hop on probiotics to replenish the good bacteria. Also, when I need to be on antitbiotics, I ask for z-pack. Z-pack won't kill h, pylori but if I have a sinus infection or anything like that I ask for z-pack. Just for reference :)