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Posted 11/27/2007 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
Hello again. I'm back looking for advice.

I got a really bad chest infection and my doctor prescribed antibiotics to clear it. I got a bad cough too so he doubled my course of antibiotics. I've been on them for 10 days (400 mg a day of klacid clarithromycin). He wants me to continue for another 4-5 days.

My colon seems to have taken a dislike to the antibioitcs. No IBD symptoms. Mainly IBS. A lot of growling, watery stools and even a bit of urgency. Is this normal? Should I just try and ride it out for the next couple of days?

I have doubled up my probiotic but the bowel still seems stressed cos of the antibiotics. Things have been so good for me for the last few months that I'm worried the antibiotics and indeed the flu virsus might trigger Jeremy (thats my name for my immune system!) to go on the prowl!

My doctor says even non UCers have this reaction to antibiotics and things will settle down once I come off them. But as they saw in Star Wars "I have a bad feeling about this...."

Thanks,

D

 

Posted 11/27/2007 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi...I don't think you have any choice in the matter...for a chest infection has to be cleared up...and if you're not having any other side effects, just stick it out.

Gut reactions can be had by most people...UCers and non-UCers alike...from antibiotics.

It's good you doubled up on your probiotics....is there a daily max that's suggested on the bottle? Stay on that dosage for at least a month after taking the antibiotics.

The urgency is normal with diarrhea...it's near impossible to hold it in with the "force behind it"..lol

This is what I'd do if I had the suppositories ...do them 3 times a day to help keep the rectum from inflaming (although I would suspect it is a bit anyway)...for that's the area that's getting the brunt of the activity..and the first area to go into hyper-gear when things are awry (for UCers).

If the anus is inflamed, you can use hydrocortisone cream or zinc (baby diaper rash cream)...actually, use it anyway to help prevent possible problems.

Hope you improve soon....there are horridly, nasty bugs out there...some hit with a vengance...but infection lingering will just make us more prone to other stuff...so, it's good things are being dealt with.

Let us know how it goes.

quincy
Posted 11/27/2007 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
Quincy,

Throughout my life, my immune system has been ruthless with most common flus and colds. This is the first time I've ever had a flu linger and turn into a chest infection? And its a pretty bad chest infection. Has the poor performance of my immune system this time anything to do with UC? Is it still feeling the effects of pred which I took 4 months ago. Is it still supressed even?

And a more general point from the above, if we UCers have over-active immune systems does that actually mean they are even more efficient than non UCers at getting rid of the bugs they should be getting rid of?

D
Posted 11/27/2007 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
damo - I have been wondering that same question re: if we have overactive immune systems are we better at getting rid of bugs? But, it definitely doesn't seem to be the case for me. Since getting UC in March many more infections (bacterial and viral) than I ever have previously. I think maybe our immune systems are only overactive in some areas of function, like in our colons...but I really don't get it. Hope someone else can chime in with more info.

Oh, and I hope your chest infection and antibiotic-related symptoms clear up soon! I think you need to stay on the antibiotic to clear up your infection.
Posted 11/28/2007 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
The human body is often described as being 'at war'. By this, it is meant that the body is constantly under attack from things that are trying to do it harm. These include toxins, bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. All of these can, under the right conditions, cause damage and destruction to parts of the body and if these were left unchecked, the human body would not be able to function. It is the purpose of the immune system to act as the body's own army, in defence against this constant stream of possible infections and toxins.

I would assume with having an overactive immune system that it means it's killing off good bacteria in the process which may be why we are prone to bacterial over-growth (bad bacteria that is).

Besides which it hasn't been confirmed one way or the other, the jury is still out on whether our immune system is over-active or underactive last I heard.

In regards to underactive immune system think of the body as being composed of millions of tiny little engines, all on call 24 hours a day. In order for these engines to work right, they require specific fuels. When the type of fuel given is the wrong blend, the engine will not perform to its maximum capacity. When the fuel is of poor grade, the engine may sputter and hesitate, creating a loss of power. When the engine is given no fuel, it will stop.  Fuel being a proper diet rich with nutrients.

:)

Posted 11/29/2007 8:02 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think it's because of UC....I think it's because that's the nature of a cold or flu. There are sooooo many strains, some affect the functioning of the respiratory tract in different ways and can attack ruthlessly and quickly with infection over and above what the body can normally deal with. I think it depends on how fast the virus is able to reproduce and spread to parts of the respiratory tract and whether or not its programmed to cause infection or not. There are some that cause pneumonia...viral pneumonia, but it has to still be treated with meds.

You'll know if you have infection with the amount and colour of sputum.

Remember that strains mutate and change quickly....apparently, we never catch the same one twice..which is a fact that seems to be hard to believe.

I've had colds that my husband has gotten as well...sometimes we've got exactly the same symptoms, including sinus and chest infection...other times he's worse than I....other times I'm worse then he.

If the body's in an already compromised stressed state, I'd say that it'd be easier for another illness (whatever the origin) to take hold.

As you get feeling better overall...you'll find you'll be able to fight off invaders more quickly....but there will always be the potential for you to get something "out there" that will hit with a vengence...that's the nature of what we're exposed to via others in our environment, what we touch or where we go on a daily basis...no matter how healthy you are.

Keep us posted as to how you're feeling.
quincy
Posted 11/29/2007 12:16 PM (GMT 0)
I thought maybe my body too was more compromised due to my Uc but then I got thinking. I would constantly get sick even before I started having Uc symptoms. It's just that my illnesses seemed more pronounced after I got it maybe because of the weakened state of my body. But, then I'm on the fence with that theory too because since I've been on 6mp (an immune suppresor) - I rarely ever get sick now. Not even a cold! lol I guess I'm confused with this one too D!
Posted 11/29/2007 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for that. Did you ever notice that there is no ryhme nor reason to anything that happens with UC? For everybody who makes a valid point about their UC, there is someone else who has an equally valid point which is the direct opposite. Even the effects of meds seem to induce completly oppsoite symptoms in people.

I'm starting to believe that UC is a very unique illness. The way it presents itself is a function of how you are as an individual in terms of your genetic build up, what is going on in your own individual life, your own thoughts and your own fears.

Coping with UC is not about "doing what everyone else does" but "doing things that are right for the type of person you are". What is right for one person is wrong for another.

D
Posted 11/29/2007 7:04 PM (GMT 0)
I think that's a good way to look at it....acceptance of having it is primo, however.
Posted 11/29/2007 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
Acceptance of having a condition which sometimes make you sick! Not acceptance of being chronically ill. You feel the way you think. I chose to think I'm a healthy person. The minute I accepted that I began to feel healthy, despite having a dodgy immune system!

I quote from "Listen to your Gut" <i hope its ok to post a brief quote from a book on these pages. if its not i apologise and will immediately remove>

Please be aware that you also have a choice as to which label or diagnosis you accept for yourself and your condition. How do you define yourself and your health? Do you see your intestinal malfunction as you simply experiencing intestinal problems, or do you see your intestines as diseased, do you see or define yourself as a diseased person? Then think of the implications your mindset has on your healing process. Does your definition or label of yourself and your condition place you in a position of positivity, does it foster a healing environment for your mind/body? Or does it carry an inherent negativity and place you in a defeatist disease environment?

Most of us have accepted the label given to us by the medical community, that of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or Ulcerative Colitis, or Crohn's Disease or some other variation. If these labels were used simply as a classification system, as a symbol representing a collection of symptoms, that would be fine and it would be truthful. But there is an insidious aspect to these labels or diagnoses; each one of them also comes with the qualifier of "chronic" or "incurable". This enrages me, because it means that no matter how healthy I am, or how long I've been healthy for, doctors will still say to me, "Oh no, you still have Crohn's Disease, you're simply in remission."

I ask you, does any part of this approach or mentality help you? Does any part of this labeling process, this insistence that you are permanently diseased, lead you to positivity? Does it encourage health and a healing environment? Or does it promote despair, negativity and an ongoing disease-environment for your mind and body? I have always felt that words are very powerful. By accepting the medical profession's label of you as being a permanently diseased person, you are also accepting all the negativity and limiting parameters inherent in a profession that has tended to focus on the disease-process as opposed to the healing process.
Posted 11/29/2007 9:01 PM (GMT 0)

damo123 said...
Acceptance of having a condition which sometimes make you sick! Not acceptance of being chronically ill. You feel the way you think. I chose to feel healthy. Therefore I think I'm a healthy person.

I quote from "Listen to your Gut" <i hope its ok to post a brief quote from a book on these pages. if its not i apologise and will immediately remove>

Please be aware that you also have a choice as to which label or diagnosis you accept for yourself and your condition. How do you define yourself and your health? Do you see your intestinal malfunction as you simply experiencing intestinal problems, or do you see your intestines as diseased, do you see or define yourself as a diseased person? Then think of the implications your mindset has on your healing process. Does your definition or label of yourself and your condition place you in a position of positivity, does it foster a healing environment for your mind/body? Or does it carry an inherent negativity and place you in a defeatist disease environment?

Most of us have accepted the label given to us by the medical community, that of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or Ulcerative Colitis, or Crohn's Disease or some other variation. If these labels were used simply as a classification system, as a symbol representing a collection of symptoms, that would be fine and it would be truthful. But there is an insidious aspect to these labels or diagnoses; each one of them also comes with the qualifier of "chronic" or "incurable". This enrages me, because it means that no matter how healthy I am, or how long I've been healthy for, doctors will still say to me, "Oh no, you still have Crohn's Disease, you're simply in remission."

I ask you, does any part of this approach or mentality help you? Does any part of this labeling process, this insistence that you are permanently diseased, lead you to positivity? Does it encourage health and a healing environment? Or does it promote despair, negativity and an ongoing disease-environment for your mind and body? I have always felt that words are very powerful. By accepting the medical profession's label of you as being a permanently diseased person, you are also accepting all the negativity and limiting parameters inherent in a profession that has tended to focus on the disease-process as opposed to the healing process.

Sounds like what I've preached all along...
Posted 11/29/2007 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Please. I don't know why you two can't accept -- there's that concept again! -- that folks can have different methods of coping with things. It's like I'm (and others) are telling you to accept this illness and curl up into a ball and die! That's not it at all. It's merely the concept that denial and pretending aren't helpful. They really aren't. If you lose your vision and can't see, all the denial in the world will not allow you to stare at the pages and read the book -- unless you've taught yourself Braille and now read in a different manner! That's what I believe Quincy and I are advocating when we say to accept your UC and move on! Once you accept you have this illness, the full resources at your disposal can be put towards managing it and living the fullest, most productive, most disease-free life possible!

If you deny you have a chronic condition, how do you take meds each day? I believe Harpo went back on Lilida (or however you spell it) and Damo is on Asacol and suppositories. How -- or "why" is perhaps the more correct term -- in the world do you accept taking medications if you do not have a life-long chronic condition?

I would submit that people suffer much more with nonacceptance and lack of med compliance than those of us who have accepted this condition and deal with it. It does NOT rule my life, and most of the time I forget I even have it. Since I have I accepted it and have developed a plan to treat it, it stays under control and I can compartmentalize it, and, except for taking my meds in the morning or visiting here, I can forget I even have UC.

Maybe it's a semantics thing. Maybe it's a male/female thing. I don't war with this, I deal with it. For me, that's been the approach that has worked the best for a relatively symptom-free life so I can concentrate on living!!!

Mitz, who believes in acceptance, too.
Posted 11/29/2007 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
Mitz,

What is right for you might not be right for someone else. I really think we all need to find our own way of dealing with this. So Mitz let me quite clearly deal with your points, one by one:

1) What others tell me is very helpful. I listen to all comments. The ones I disagree with and are not for me I simply let rest.

2) I neither am in denial nor am I pretending.

3) I believe that losing your sight is a chronic illness. I do not believe that my UC is a chronic illness for me.

4) The way I feel about myself is that I am a healthy person who does not suffer from a chronic illness. Its not a matter of acceptance nor denial for me. Maybe it was for you.

5) I take Asacol to remain healthy not to avoid being sick. Yep for me they are 2 different things. When I cross a street I always look right left and then right again. Another cunning strategy to remain healthy!

6) I do not believe that gender plays a major part in how we view diseases. I have seen my mother beat cancer and my uncle beat cancer. I've also seen a male and female friend die from cancer. But this is simply my opinion framed by my own experience.

7) Your approach is not for me Mitz. I applaud you for the progress you've made. But I will not be accepting your advice.

8) Finally Mitz I didn't really like your opening line that you can't accept why myself and Harpo have this attitude. We are different people. I don't think its very fair to impose your view on us.

This is my approach. For me, it's been the approach that has worked the best for a relatively symptom-free life so I can concentrate on living!!!


D

Posted 11/29/2007 10:31 PM (GMT 0)
They say the more intelligent a person is, the more intelligent the intellectualising is.

I think it's sometimes a male thing Mitz, however, I  have a female friend who changed her name because of how the numbers ended up. It was to give her more focus, organisation, better health and a better life. She's dying of inflammatory cancer. She ignored all the warning signs and even the biopsies....and is now wanting to change her name back.

GO FIGURE??? It's all a state of mind.

I need the honesty in order to function.  I'd rather deal with the honesty than fooling myself.   And I agree that labeling oneself with negativity is a road to believing....or just habit for seeking a result that it's gotten them to satisfy a need.


quincy

Posted 11/29/2007 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
Reminds me of how my mother didn't accept her diagnosis and beat cancer. One for the females too...but in the opposite context

D
Posted 11/29/2007 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
Breast cancer can be beaten..depends on the kind you have and the extent...she still had it, didn't she? Did she go through chemo and treatments? I'm happy to hear she's a survivor....but with that...come cancers that are metastisising do pop up elsewhere. I hope she checks for that just to make sure.

I hope you feel better soon, however. Thanks for stopping in again and reminding us that you don't really need the feedback...but it's still nice to haggle over the same stuff.

quincy
Posted 11/29/2007 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your concern Quincy. Yes some cancers do pop up elsewhere and others simply never re-appear again. My mother is very careful with her checks.

I'm feeling much better thanks to modern meds! Chest all cleared up. Oh and I welcome the feedback. If you think I don't need it then you misinterpret - easy mistake to make no doubt. But alas I'm not here to haggle. If we help each other then I think we help ourselves. We have polarised opinions. Think of me as not so much as not needing yours but simply balancing it! As I'm sure you try to do with mine.

Hope Floats,

D

Posted 11/30/2007 12:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all-Damo's post seems to ask the question I've been wondering, especially for those who are on prednisone. Forgive me if I should have started a different post. Three months ago, I was put on azythromycin (sounds like the same 'family' as your antibiotic, Damo) and it seemed as if my colitis flared back up while on the antibiotic to the point of having blood up to 18 times a day and then being placed on prednisone (which I finished this past Tuesday!) I guess this is the c. diff.??

However, and this is how my post ties in with Damo's: upon tapering from 5 mg daily to every other day to every three days.....BRONCHITIS reared it's ugly head and alas, I'm back on another antibiotic as well as a 6 day pred pack. I am hoping the pred will not only help the inflammation in my bronchial tubes, but also work towards preventing a flare. I had the same symptoms the first two days of the antibiotic---urgency, diahrea, etc. However, that has stopped as of yesterday. The antibiotic is generic for biaxin (?).

My question is the same about our immune systems AND I'm wondering how many on pred who taper do end up with an illness. Even the pred medication pack says that pred will 'mask' illnesses and will hinder the body from effectively warding off infections.

Is this a never ending cycle? Is it because of our faulty immune systems? I am trying to think positive, but also want the truth. I don't want to have another flare during the time I stop the pred pack and finish the antibiotic. Then, to get back on pred and have an illness masked, blah, blah, blah.
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