duaghter /doctor/sntibiotic and other changes?

my daughter told her doc that the bleeding started again after a few weeks of none, and the movements are all loose again,also constant bloating is a major complaint. she told the doc she believed it was the canasa causing loose stools, or at least making her feel cruddy,
the dr swithced the suppository, i don't know to what -she is having it called into pharmacy at school, but she told her to take an antibiotic called rifaxamin-for the bloating and said if it doesn't work after a couple of days go off it. i am wary of antibiotics - does anyone have any input into this trial and error approach with an antibiotic?
also she told her to go off the culturelle and get dannon activea? i thought this is dairy, she has been off dairy since the dr told her 3 weeks ago to stay off all dairy daughter didn't think about it at the time.
Also she told her to quit the asacol and up the coloazol + added back the hydrocourt to every night. if she's not better in a short time then she wants her to come home for a colonoscopy, she just had one in november from the first dr. and we did give her the records, and then on december 14 this dr did a sigmoidoscopy on my daughter.
when my daughter asked about her bloods from over a week ago she said yeah your levels are a little low. no mention of fixing it or checking again.

Old Hat thank you again -i appreciate you are a wealth of information. she did add a cort suppository swithded up for the canasa. and i guess i'll have to relax about the bloods, it seems i'm the only one worried.

i think the asacol ws stopped because this dr didn't think it made much of an improvement after 3 weeks on it, she had added colazol with the asacol, but now that she has had a setback ti think the dr just wanted to up the colazol and try that. as far as the dairy goes, i don't know if she has a problem, she was never tested the dr originally said stay off dairy, and it sounded logical, but now she has told her to take activiate? i wonder if she can also stay on the culturelle?
thanks

Asacol isn't a fast acting drug and is more a maintenance drug. But from my experience (16 years) i have found that the best ways to handle a flare up would be to increase my Asacol. Increase the 5-asa rectal meds and my proctifoam.If nothing is working i need prednisolone.
I stay away from all foods like vegetables,fruit,fizzy drinks and meat whilst there is bleeding. I find these foods very troublesome.I stick to soups and pureed foods. Basically foods that can pass through my bowel with minimum discomfort.Some people have trouble with dairy products but if your daughter is experiencing a flare up whilst off dairy, maybe she can tolerate dairy products.I take probiotics and find that they do help.
This is only my experience and everyone varies, but i'm not sure if stopping the asacol at the start of a flare was a good idea.
Marty

Whats with the attitude oldhat!!Is that not what i stressed!!!That this is only my experience and we all vary.Surely you will recognise that sometimes we have to give meds a chance before stopping treatment. I'm sure that her doctor has good reason to start her on Colazal, but three weeks isn't a signifigant period i believe. I just hope whatever treatment she is on helps her.

Sara14-- from what I've read about Rifaximin, it was initially used to treat Montezuma's Revenge (travelers' diarrhea). Then gastros tried it on other ailments & found that it helped certain cases of IBD, mostly in Crohn's patients, I think. They likely used it for Crohn's because more recent med thinking is that Crohn's is bacteria-driven. (I read in the Crohn's Forum that the gastro Please consulted had prescribed Rifaximin to a Crohn's patient who went there for 2nd opinion.) That's what a patient can run into when consulting at a university medical center: exposure to the newest meds, which may or may not help. Of course this is also true of older meds, which do not always help every patient, but in their case, more is known about the med because it has been in use longer & by more people in different areas/situations. / Old Hat

about the probiotic or yogurt with active culture... these are important for women taking any antibiotic. Doctors invariably fail to mention that antibiotics cause yeast infections. I take Acidophillus (probiotic) every time I take an antibiotic.

I know as a mother, we worry about our children all the time. But you have to remember that bleeding is par for the course with this disease. Yes it's disconcerting to know that your daughter is bleeding, but it seems that she is in good hands - though it confuses me as to why your daughter is (was?) on so many 5-ASA's. Unless she is bleeding profusely, then there is no need to worry excessively. Sure we must always be leary of our bleeding because it can open the door to other problems, but as long as it's being addressed then it's more of a watchful waiting game.

As for yogurt - I am lactose intolerant but I do fine with yogurt. It seems to have different cultures in it then other dairy products like milk. Milk and ice cream just kills me! I also take a probiotic daily now and it seems to really help with some of the wayward symptoms like gut roiling (I call it the liquid gut feeling) and pain. I recently had a procedure in which I had to take antibiotics, those antibiotics caused me to have a yeast infection. But now that I'm on a probiotic, I am doing fine with the antibiotic I'm on now. Just remember to tell your daughter that if she is taking the antibiotic that she has to stagger her yogurt/probiotic intake.