IBS and antibiotics

[MountainHare1]

Hi,

I am about to go on a course of antibiotics for a week and wanted to ask if anyone has had any adverse reaction to the medication as I understand it can wipe out the healthy bacteria in your stomach and possibly cause diarrhoea.

Thank you for comments.

[Blue_Grey]

Hi MountainHare,

Hope everything is alright!

I've had HPylori for a few years now and recently had to take the treatment for a second time. My symptoms were under control before (I was recommended Buscopan and Omeprazole, and had just started to feel slightly better after so many years). Unfortunately, after the 1 week treatment now, the antibiotics - super strong ones I'm told - seem to have flushed out all gut bacteria and my symptoms are worse than ever. I assume it'd take a few weeks to get the good gut bacteria level to a decent level.

Sorry to share that my experience was negative. I really hope that it isn't the same for you. Nevertheless, if it's extremely important to take the antibiotics course (like I had to, for HPylori), you should do so. Hope you feel better soon. Cheers!

[Linley]

Alas, this does happen with anti bacs, I only take them when absolutely needed as after 3 days boom tummy upset so I try to finish the course but take probiotics to address the gut flora balance. Good Luck🤞

[Trinity7 in reply to Linley]

I am same can last 3 days max 4 then tum reacts!

[Ceasersalad]

Hi, I didn't have a good experience with antibiotics. It made me have loose motions .

[Kazzacrazy]

Unfortunately antibiotics give me diarrhoea and vaginal thrush to add to the mix but they don't effect everyone like this. Just drink lots of fluids and anti diarrhoea tablets if needed and a probiotic if you can, good luck.

[Misspomfrey]

Yes, they can be tricky. I personally would only take antibiotics if it's absolutely necessary. They can mess up the good and bad bacterias in your guts. If you really have to take them then a good probiotic would help get things back on track.

[Prance]

Have you tried taking prebiotics and probiotics. They help me.

[Edgar77]

I took pro biotic on antibiotics all I can say is in the past antibiotics have given me diarrhoea, but not this time. I have taken yakult and alflorex.

[Pedrof1976]

The risks of diarrhoea depend on the antibiotic. Some might cause it and some wont

[linedance]

I recently had to take 3 different antibiotics one after the other as the GP couldn't seem to work out what was wrong. In the end the antibiotics didn't work but steroids did. I worry what all those antibiotics have done to my gut bacteria. However, things seem to be OK so far.

[BabblingBrooks]

Yes.

Around a fortnight ago.

As others have said if you’re not already taking probiotics do so.

There’s a specific one that’s apparently very good , someone might be able to give the name .

[xjrs]

Here's some research I did into this subject:

Antibiotics can significantly deplete both good and bad bacteria in your body. After a course of antibiotics bacteria slowly rebuild, all being well, they eventually return to balance. However, this can take time and rebalance may not be achieved, meaning that bad bacteria dominate.

Whilst taking antibiotics, if you take probiotics at the right time (at least two hours away from both previous and next antibiotic doses), they can pass through your system helping to protect the good bacteria and defend against any bad bacteria starting to dominate. The next antibiotic dose will still affect the microbiome, but some of the good bugs will survive helping the rebalancing effect when the course of antibiotics ends.

Some people may be more sensitive to histamine-producing probiotic strains such as Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. If this is the case, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifdocaterium lactis, and Bifidobacterium longum would be better since they lower histamine levels, improve digestion and lower inflammation.

However, a comparison of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus found that all helped restore the microbiome after a course of antibiotics. Lactobacillus casei was especially effective including building those strains that produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), particularly acetate and butyrate, which have health promoting properties. Additionally, it reduced inflammation promoting compounds, either through the SCFAs or the restoration of the microbiome. (2) In a study, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was also considered helpful (3) (7).

Saccharomyces Boulardii (revital.co.uk/products/alle... - may be cheaper elsewhere), which is a beneficial yeast that has been proven to prevent antibiotic associated diarrhoea, is the best thing to take whilst on antibiotics. The reason it is so effective is that since it is a yeast and doesn’t consist of bacteria, antibiotics won’t affect it, so it can do its job. Take 2 Saccharomyces Boulardii capsules after a couple of mouthfuls of food at breakfast and at dinner whilst taking antibiotics and for 2 weeks to a month afterwards. If you start to become constipated on Saccharomyces Boulardii, this suggests that it has or is doing its job and it might be possible to come off of them. Probiotics can be taken in addition, bearing in mind the timing mentioned above.

Another preventative measure that can be taken is to cut sugar intake whilst on antibiotics. Good bacteria not only keep bad bacteria under control, but also fungi such as candida albicans, a form of yeast, an overgrowth of which can lead to gut symptoms such as diarrhoea. Candida loves sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta that can be easily turned to sugar. Cutting out or reducing refined carbohydrates is generally recommended. This is especially true when on antibiotics, in particular whilst the good bacteria are being compromised, may be unable to keep candida under control and the only other way to do this is to reduce their food sources.

If you are symptom free, that is, not experienced antibiotic associated diarrhoea since the Saccharomyces Boulardii and probiotics have been doing their job, it is important to start feeding your good gut bacteria to help them repopulate. Whole grains and eating a wide colour spectrum of vegetables can assist in promoting bacterial diversity. It is this diversity that helps to keep the baddies at bay. (1)

[LFHell]

ProVen and BioKult do an antibiotic for after antibiotics. Zoe said you shouldn't introduce new probiotics straight away tho as it can stop your natural bacteria recovering. Im not sure tho, i've always taken them through the course and after and its helped, i dont think they are strong enough to affect your natural bacteria in a negative way. Vivomixx is a good strong one with plenty of research behind it also and they do drops which means you can take small doses and build up as they make me bloated if eating wrong foods/normal diet and is good to take with soya yhogurt or Cocos kefir maybe!