antibiotics

[Mispiernas]

Every time I start taking antibiotic course of some of them I feel better and sometimes it feels as if I am normal. Anyone has any views! Knitting helps me and I've just finished a poncho so I'm loving it.

[Hidden]

Hi Mispiernas. Glad to hear you are feeling better. There is a theory out there for why you might be feeling better on antibiotics, especially if you're on rifaximin, neomycin, or to a lesser extent tetracycline and amoxicillin. Research studies have shown a link between "small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)" and fibromyalgia, IBS and RLS. One study showed that 100% of patients with "doctor diagnosed" fibro had SIBO. Antibiotics are prescribed and for about two months patients feel great. The SIBO ALWAYS returns along with the fibro and RLS. So it would seem that antibiotics are not the answer, but so interesting and seemingly another piece to the puzzle, no? It is speculated, that in terms of RLS and antibiotics, that once the iron-loving bacteria are killed or greatly reduced, there's more iron available for our brains, rather than those little iron suckers. There is a test for SIBO called the "hydrogen/methane breath test." I underwent that simple, completely noninvasive test because I have IBS. No SIBO for me. But my allergist has done tests over the years that show I have an overgrowth of intestinal candida albican (a yeast).

So the last little bit of information that is kind of important to know is that your stomach should be practically free of bacteria, your small intestine should have some but not a whole lot and your large intestine is just basically a zoo. So whenever doctors find bacteria in your stomach (called helicobacter) they treat with antibiotics and can actually permanently eradicate that strain. And they will also treat with antibiotics if there is an overgrowth in the small intestine, but with very poor results. It seems that very often people with SIBO also suffer from slow motility/slow transit time/constipation that then allows the bacteria to once again flourish. And right now there just aren't very good drugs for slow transit time.

Well a very long answer to a simple question. Be well. Sharon

[Zappa in reply to Hidden]

Hello i also appeared to have some relief from rls after starting a course of anti biotics i dont know the name of the antibiotic it was for sinusitus so maybe antibiotics have some benefit but iam sure this would have been picked upon before

regards zappa

[Mispiernas in reply to Hidden]

Very many thanks for your advise. I am now on Amoxicilin to cover the long term bladder infection and possible SiBO of other infection. I have started a new diet of no grains, no sugar and no dairy and trying low carbohydrates. I am feeling better already and taking much less medication!

[Hidden in reply to Mispiernas]

Yay!!! Sugar, grains and dairy - some think those things are the root of all evil. Keep me posted. It sounds like your goal is no medication. You'll get there, I am sure of it.

[Mispiernas]

Thank you soooooooo much for this. I was having very pale stools before the antibiotics and not now. I am on a six month course of antibiotics for UTI now. I had helicobacter a few years ago. What is the best antibiotic? Or maybe the one I have now will do the job for the next Six months?

[Hidden in reply to Mispiernas]

Yes, certain antibiotics (though not FDA approved for that purpose) are great for motility. Once again, maybe because it gets rid of intestinal bacteria that give off chemicals that slow your motility down? Don't get me wrong. Bacteria are the best thing that could happen to humans. We could live, ohhh, maybe five minutes without them. So antibiotics are not my personal favorite for treating an overgrowth of the "bad" bacteria. Whatever bad means. Plus I have nothing to offer you in place of antibiotics. I have tried every herb and vitamin out there and nothing ever seems to work like antibiotics.

Even my overgrowth of candida that I'm treating with an anti-fungal is actually a must have micro-organism. But give it an inch and it takes a whole city block. I just want to tamp it down a bit and nothing works better than prescription nystatin. As far as your helicobacter goes, now that's really an amazing micro-organism. Any organism that can survive the acidity of our stomachs has my respect. It survives by giving off a chemical that neutralizes the acid (raises the Ph of our stomach) that surrounds it. So I'm just guessing that the reason antibiotics help motility is because the bacteria that want to live every bit as much as we do, don't want to be swept away by peristaltic waves so they've figured out a way to slow them down.

Bacteria also LOVE iron. That's a fact. So maybe they especially love it at night and get a little greedy and then we and our brains don't have enough to produce dopamine and we get RLS? I guess this is as good a time as any to again mention the fact that if you're having a horrible RLS attack and are really desperate out of your mind, take some bio-available iron, on an empty stomach (I use a product called "Easy Iron."). It has never failed me - only if my stomach wasn't empty. Supposedly our brains also need enough zinc, as well as iron, to make dopamine but I just need iron. I'm not anemic or low on iron stores. And iron is not a cure, at least not for me, because the very next night I will need it again.

Can I go on and on or what.

[Hidden]

I am a strong believer that every person who takes an antibiotic should be

on live .Acidophilus kept in the refrigerator at the chemist..When we

take antibiotics, it kills all of the bad bacteria and we get rid of the infection

so that's a good thing, but then it also kills the good bacteria..that's bad because

that good bacteria keeps harmful things out..it has a purpose..so far no antibiotics

will just remove the bad bacteria..that's why people get yeast infections, sometimes

tummy problems..Whenever someone in the family gets antibiotics, they get

acidophilus automatically..they take it 3 hours before or after the antibiotic once

or twice a day.. Some of the shelf brands will work as well, I prefer the cold stuff.

[Hidden]

I cant say i have ever heard of any antibiotic giving relief for RLS, until now. Maybe its the brain fighting the infection along side the antibiotic that is keeping the RLS at bay. Some find if they are ill the RLS goes quiet. Just saying.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I hear ya Elisse..Sickness, strong pain elsewhere can relieve it..

Someone was telling me that they injured their head on some barn

door? and because the pain was so severe on the head, RLS didn't

bother him a bit..I have never felt the urge to knock my head against

anything just to test the theory..we did have a woman some time ago

that used to do horrible, unthinkable things to her body like pound it

very hard, cut it and so on...she said that she did it to stop the RLS..

We did talk for some time..eventually she did get on some good

medication and since RLS was no longer a problem, we never heard

from her again..I think that she hit me up in a PM probably within

3-7 days of me finding you...it scared me to think that I might be

facing the same situation as she was..I did accidently slam my

finger on something..cut it in the process and instantly thought of

what she told me..I wasn't lucky enough to have RLS going on at

that hour so I will never know...Please don't...if you are thinking of it..

oh, back to the girl...one of her cuts did get infected, she did go

on antibiotics about the same time that she started with pramipexole.

[Hidden]

Yikes is right. Antibiotics are not the answer, nor is the eradication of the bacteria exactly the answer either. Picture a path in front of you with 10 stepping stones, the final stone is the "RLS" stone. The stone before that is the "low dopamine" stone. Before that stone is the "low iron" stone. Before that is the "unbalanced intestinal bacteria" stone. Before that stone could be just about anything...an auto-immune disease that allows the overgrowth of certain micro-organisms, or the lack of a key enzyme, or a genetic predisposition and our horrible American diet. I would always choose to treat the closest stone to me. But it seems that if you pull out any one of the stones, the bridge between us and the RLS is broken, albeit temporarily and we get relief. Plus, like any good path their are split offs along the way. I was taking melatonin, remeron and sometimes antihistamines and my RLS went from an extremely mild case to restless body that made it impossible sleep until I took some iron. Once I stopped the melatonin, remeron, etc, I am now back to very mild RLS.