Antibiotics

Help!  I need some advice, I need some dental work done, and the oral surgeon suggested I need about a weeks worth of antibiotics (prophylactically) I am deathly afraid of being on antibiotics.  Why?  Cuz I had a c-diff infection before without being on them!!!  Put me out of work for 6 months, lost 50 lbs, etc.  I havent been on antibiotics for more than 8 years, since I was first diagnosed with UC.   Its been about three years since the infection, and this is probably the healthiest I have been in 5 years.

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

Remicade q7weeks

Align qd

You're right to be anxious about antibiotics, I go back to the GI and ask him/her to get with your dentist and explain the ramifications. I was doing fine until a hip replacement and the anti-biotics wiped out the mucosa in my colon and i then spent 6 weeks in the hospital trying to get that flare-up under control. Be adamant about your body, don't let either one push you into something you have misgivings about.

I understand your wariness about antibiotics. Most of the people here on this forum swear that their UC symptoms began after taking antibiotics. They are probably right. But antibiotics are not all bad. In fact antibiotics were the catalyst that jump-started my remission almost 3 years ago.

Antibiotics are weapons of mass destruction that kill both good and bad bacteria. The secret is to take probiotics to replenish the good bacteria. I am sure that I would have had a relapse by now if I did not continue to take probiotics every day.

I recommend taking probiotics at least three hours after antibiotics. The antibiotics will kill some of the good and bad but you can control the balance of power by replenishing some of the good guys with probiotics. The most popular probiotics is VSL#3, but Culturelle, Benebiotic, and RenewLife Ultimate Flora are very popular choices.

Another good idea is to take Saccharomyces Boulardii WHILE taking a course of antibiotics. Because S Boulardii is not a bacteria but a probiotic yeast then it is completely immune from antibiotics. It will occupy space in your gut so that the bad guys cannot take control again when the course of abx is over.

And S. Boulardii has an impressive track record for targeting C Diff bacteria which can sometimes take hold when good bacteria are decimated along with the bad guys.

My oral surgeon had me on antibiotics twice last year. He knows the situation with my gut. I did fine. I was also on them for a UTI and was fine from that too. I took triple the amount of probiotic I normally take twice a day a few hours after the antibiotic. Toward the end of one round I had some looser stool but that resolved within a few days.