IBS, Bacterial infection, antibiotics

[Bloat2000]

Hi, I have a bacterial infection causing blocked nose and cough, it’s been going on for about 4 weeks now. I am worried about taking antibiotics as am scared it may make my IBS worse. But the cold just isn’t going away. Any advice, will taking antibiotics to get rid of the cold make IBS worse?

[Sinthia]

Hi you could try vitamin c and zinc to boost your immune system, garlic helps to fight infection and ginger is anti_inflamitry.

[xjrs]

Unless you have a bacterial infection in your chest, antibiotics aren't going to help anyway. Colds are viral infections and antibiotics can't treat viral infections. Most GPs won't prescribe antibiotics unless you really need them. I agree with Sinthia about trying to boost your immune system. Generally it's best to get nutrients from food, but sometimes supplementing for a short while can give your system the boost it needs.

[Superzob]

Agree with the others. Unless your GP has checked for a possible chest infection, then antibiotics will probably be of little use; my wife has had a cold/cough for 3 months, despite taking antibiotics.

If you're really worried about the effect of antibiotics on your IBS, you could try taking probiotics at least 2 hours before or afterwards; that will replenish your gut to a certain extent, and may reduce diarrhoea. Also, whilst I agree with Sinthia on the issue of zinc, Vit D is a better vitamin for your immune system because the body needs it to produce white blood cells, and Vit D deficiency is very common in the UK (lack of sunlight) - Vit C is an antioxidant, so its effect is more indirect.

[oldfog]

I believe my IBS started after taking two courses of back-to-back antibiotics within a short space of time. But if you have an infection that won't go away, you have to take antibiotics. Trouble is that antibiotics kill ALL bacteria - including the good bacteria which normally lives in your gut! However, nobody advised me to take a course of prebiotics, after taking the antibiotics, to promote regrowth of the good bacteria. In fact, I only read about that when I first joined this forum and I immediately ordered some Bimuno prebiotic powders and have been taking it every day since. There is a difference between prebiotics and probiotics - I can't remember what that is only that the chemist who wrote the post said that prebiotics are better at promoting the regrowth of good bacteria in the gut than probiotics......

[Bloat2000 in reply to oldfog]

Thanks very much. Have you found that the prebiotics have been working successfully to improve your IBS?

[oldfog in reply to Bloat2000]

Well, it's probably too soon to tell - but I definitely feel better at the moment with no bloating, no pain, no diarrhoea I figured that for £9.99 per month, it was worth a punt at least.