Has anyone ever had this reaction to antibiotics?

[dreamerofdreams27]

I've been on antibiotics for a chest infection this week. I've noticed I've had a bit of an upset stomach but last night I had quite severe pain, nausea and diarrhoea. I've finished the course now and I've read that antibiotics can upset the natural balance of bacteria in your gut. I've not been on antibiotics for years but I never remember having this issue before.

It was really painful! Has anyone else experienced this? I think I might try a probiotic to get things back to normal?

Yes, it's pretty standard. I believe the doctor joke re: antibiotics is
"Do you want the ones that give you the runs or the ones that give you an itchy fanny?"

Or you might have just eaten something dodgy.

Yep - pretty standard on certain antibiotics.

One of my DDs was on them repeatedly for about a year when she was little due to an recurring issue and they messed up her gut every single time. Eventually the consultant put her on a 3 month dose, along with some other treatments, to try and sort the problem once and for all. We had to stop after 3 weeks because she was losing weight and it was clear that her gut wasn’t adjusting to them.

She’s only been on them once since then (in the last 6 years) and they didn’t affect her so badly that time, so maybe it’s something she’s grown out of, or her gut has developed a resistance to them. I don’t know.

It’s horrific though.

Tbh there have been that many bugs circulating in my house this week that it could easily be that. But I've felt generally crap all week no pun intended. And then last night i was in serious pain with terrible Diarrhea for an hour or more. Hopefully now I've finished the course it will calm down

Bloody is horrific. You take antibiotics to clear up one problem then it gives you another one!

Totally normal side effect. Some take probiotics while on antibiotics to help. It might be worth a try even though you've completed the course.

I had a course of clindamycin for pneumonia, and had ongoing diarrhoea for nearly 6 weeks after, and my GP had to give me a course of doxycycline to repair the damage.

If it carries on, go back to your GP and get them to record your intolerance of the antibiotic. I get it with most of them

I think you need to be careful though not to class this as an 'allergy' if you mention it to your GP. GP systems can't differentiate between allergies and intolerances secondary to known side effects. I'm an ICU hospital pharmacist and I often see patients denied first choice antibiotics due to documented allergies which are not true allergies (simply known side effects)

This is really common. You need to take probiotics to replace the good bacteria in your gut.

Yes, I avoid antibiotics as much as possible for this reason. They all either ruin my digestive flora or give me thrush or both. I quite like Udo's Choice Super 8 to get my gut back to normal, you have to keep it in the fridge because it's live. Other people prefer live yoghurt, but I'm lactose intolerant so that would bring its own issues for me.

Yeah I get it without fail when I have them. Always have done. It's a common side effect.

Did it end in 'mycin? Always awful on the tummy, not found one in that family that wasn't!

Amoxicillin

Some antibiotics are known to cause c diff. I was on clindamycin for a while and was told that was the case. I had to send away stool samples after having stomach problems for a while after being prescribed them.