Nutritional Supplements

[pusillanimous]

Has anyone else found that Ensure puts them in Afib. I have picked up a tummy bug and lost weight. I thought Ensure would help, but on the contrary has put me in low Afib.

[JaneFinn]

What a shame - bad enough to have a stomach bug, let alone now PAF 😕

If it were me I can’t take things like ensure because of the artificial sugars in them - often other chemicals too - that trigger arrhythmia in me. Not everyone is sensitive to them I know, but could it be that for you?

Also, the stomach bug itself may have caused an imbalance in electrolytes so there’s a chance it might have happened anyway. Can you sip something to rebalance your electrolytes? There will be other people who know more than me about this who hopefully will post - but I have tried sipping coconut water (not milk) or rehydration sachets that don’t contain any nasties. Jx

[pusillanimous in reply to JaneFinn]

Thanks Jane, I have been taking rehydration sachets with no problem. I thought I was doing well yesterday, having finished a course of fluroquinolone antibiotics which have left me with tendonitis (a well known side effect) - but I decided to get Ensure delivered to try and put on weight (I'm scrawny enough at the best of times). Anyhow, have sent in a stool sample,today so see what that reveals, but I can't help feeling Ensure was a mistake !

[JaneFinn in reply to pusillanimous]

Oh dear yes, maybe! But it’s bad luck if so - it sounds like you’re doing everything you can to get & stay well - it’s just a minefield sometimes knowing what will affect the heartbeat, isn’t it? Tbh sometimes I wonder if the antibiotics start me off. But obviously if they’re necessary then I’m glad of them!

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

I had my first afib attack after an FQ. They are very dangerous antibiotics that should never be used as a first off treatment . They can also cause QT prolongation and a host of other nasties. It has taken me 9 years to recover from my last exposure. You should never take an FQ again as your subsequent reaction might be worse. There are thousands of " floxies" throughout the world who have been put into wheechairs as a result of the musculo skeletal side effects of FQs. The susceptibility to tendon damage can go on for years. One of the common problems with FQs is the onset of allergies to meds and foods that were previously tolerated.

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

Thanks. Thanks for the warning - I had a five day course, so hopefully not too much lasting damage - the package insert does not mention this. 0nly the tendonitis in small letters. By going to the FDA site, I discovered that they have now put a black box warning on this drug, I was amazed too, that in the US, out of over 20,000 drugs it is the 132nd most prescribed - those are legal prescriptions, it does not include those prescribed via the Internet, or to Americans who pop over the Canadian border for consultations and prescriptions because they are cheaper !

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

The black box warnings for FQs have been in place for years and have steadily increased for various side effects. In 2018 the EMA had an inquiry into the use of FQs instigated by the German government. The upshot was in my opinion a bit of a whitewash and the recommendations for limiting use nowhere near as strict as they should have been. There is a report about it on the EMA 's website. I have been exposed to an FQ twice here in France and I am certain twice in England ( no other class of antibiotic gives you Achilles tendonitis ) . This exposure has seriously affected my health over 30+ years but it was only in 2015 ( after being hospitalised with afib ) that I found out about floxing. Do not be too sure you are out of the woods. FQs actually act like chemo drugs and can give delayed side effects. Tendon ruptures can occur months later as can peripheral neuropathy. Under no circumstance should you take a NSAID painkiller or an oral steroid treatment in the near future as this can precipitate a worse reaction. If you do get any odd symptoms feel free to PM me .

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

Thank you. I'm pretty sure this was my first exposure - I'm allergic to Penicillin - so that has been avoided for years. I'm sorry that you have suffered do much, and I'm rather shocked that my GP, whom I've been with for 16 years did not warn me. I had been on a previous anti-biotic, not for my stomach but for a cut on my leg and was on it at the time I reported this recurring diarrhoea, and it was then she prescribed the Ciplo. The day after I completed it. things seemed much better and I had the glass of Ensure - the following morning (yesterday) it was back and I sent in the stool sample - I have not got the result as it can take a couple of days to culture it! Fingers crossed for now and the future!

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

The fact that you got tendonitis shows that you are sensitive to FQs and that a subsequent exposure could be far worse. My last exposure was one capsule. I recognised a side effect that I had had with my previous exposure 9 months earlier. I had been hospitalised for acute diverticulitis and given iv Cipro and Flagyll. After 24 hours I had pain in my right Achilles tendon but never associated it with the antibiotic. After 48 hrs I started to feel really ill with tachy and pins and needles in my arms. The panicked nurses sent for the cardiologist and they did an ECG which was not normal apparently but did not show afib. They stopped the Cipro but never said I had had a reaction and even worse the b***h gastroenterologist never told my GP about it in her letter so he prescribed it the following year. When after the first capsule I got a strange visual effect that I remembered from the hospital I looked it up on the web and realised I had been floxed before in the UK . Even though it was only one capsule I was taken in an ambulance a few days later with the full blown fighting frogs in the chest afib attack.Many doctors are still not aware of the dangers of FQs. Bayer still trot out the old "safe and effective "rubbish for Cipro. There is a site called Floxiehope about FQ damage. It used to be brilliant but the founder eventually recovered fully from her floxing and moved on and the new guy who took it over is no good. It's gone downhill a lot.

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

Thank you so much, I will never touch the things again - I took the last one last Saturday, the tendonitis is slowly improving. Three weeks ago I went to see my GP for my routine chronic prescription, as I was leaving, my house, I sat at my dressing table to put a hair grip in place, as I stood up, I caught my leg on a sharp piece projecting from the wicker waste paper basket and although it was covered with a bin liner and I was wearing trousers, it managed to cause a flap tear on my geriatric skin which hardly bled, so I pushed it back and put an Island dressing on it. At the doctors, I told her and she prescribed a non FQ anti biotic for it. I took it for a day. The following morning while still in bed, I went to take my first Eliquis (I do not trust our tap water here in South Africa, so only drink boiled water) and realised I had not taken my glass of water to bed the previous night, and being too lazy to walk to the kitchen, I took some water from my bathroom. Five hours later the diarrhoea started. I took some loperamide, and I thought that was it, but it kept returning over the next 2 weeks. I did complete the anti biotic as I did not think it was resposible for my problem, as I had had that one several times before. I phoned my GP and she said she would send a prescription through to my Pharmacy. It was delivered to me, without a word of caution from either the doctor or Pharmacist ! I am currently waiting for the results of the stool sample culture !

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

That's very bad. Cipro is one of the worst antibiotics for wrecking the microbiome . It can take months to recover. You need to eat lots of live yoghurt . I find probiotic capsules give me bloating and windiness but I always take a beneficial yeast called Saccaromyces boulardii when I have an antibiotic. It helps the microbiome.

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

I normally take a daily probiotic and the doctor prescribed probiotics with the anti biotic - I'm amazed that it lists Typhoid amongst it's treatment targets ! My Garden Service came today and the Polish gentleman who runs it told me his wife and several of his clients have the same symptoms as me (she hasn't been on an anti biotic so no tendonitis) and the rumour is that it's a new variant of Covid that circulating (the government has forgotten about that virus !), even if that is the case, it does not exonerate the CIpla !

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

FQs were originally developed to treat very serious infections - anthrax ,plague typhoid etc. But there isn't enough money in that so Pharma marketed them for all sorts of minor infections even as a prophylaxis for traveller's diarrhoea They were massively overused in the 90s ,noughties and 2010s and there is considerable resistance to them especially in the Far East where they have been used in livestock rearing and fish farms as well . Do be careful and don't do anything for a while that might strain tendons anywhere in your body .

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

Thanks, worried about driving - my car is automatic and I use the right foot - is that a strain?

[Auriculaire in reply to pusillanimous]

I don't think so unless you are like me with legs so short reaching the pedals means having the seat as far forward as it will go! Maybe a just the seat so you are not stretching at all.

[pusillanimous in reply to Auriculaire]

Good, my legs are not too short, but I like to be close to the steering wheel, so I can be in full control!!!!

[TracyAdmin Partner]

Hello, it is important to check with a pharmacist in advance before taking any over the counter medications or supplements in advance to ensure they do not interact with any other prescribed medication.

[pusillanimous in reply to TracyAdmin]

Thank you, I never take over the counter medicine - other than Q10 , pro-biotics and some vitamins for my eyes prescribed by the eye surgeon , and the occasional paracetamol. I did not consider Ensure to fall into the drug category, but a feeding supplement.I am always careful.

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

After my thyroidectomy the nurse found that someone had eaten my dinner. I was given 2 boxes of ensure. Nothing happened.

For a tummy bug eat white rice boiled in salty water then have a tbsp of glucose on top.

Feeling better within 3-5 days have Maltexo with orange juice and Up and Go (2 weetbix / Oates with lots of vitamins.

cheriJOY

[pusillanimous in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

Thanks for the tip, Joy.