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I took an antibiotic without reading the literature that came with it. It is Clindamycin and it says it can cause pseudomembranous colitis with persistent D, cramping or blood/mucous in the stool.
How would I know I had it?
Tex, do you know of a safer antibiotic? I have an abscess in a tooth that already had a root canal several (or more) years ago. Lucky me.
I also took Hydrocodone with acetaminophen! ACK, won't do that again.
Going to an endodontist tomorrow morning.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
You might try looking up Polly's posts last year. I recall that she took an antibiotic for a sinus infection related to dental problems. I think she took Cipro, which is a pretty safe antibiotic for us MCers.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Yep, Clindamycin is what they like to prescribe for that job, but as Gloria pointed out, Ciprofloxacin is a much safer choice. In fact Cipro will actually bring remission, almost 100 % of the time.
Pseudomembranous colitis is, of course, another name for C. diff. Any antibiotic can facilitate a C. diff infection, but, of course, some are worse than others, and Clindamycin is indeed, the worst. If you should acquire C. diff., you'll probably recognize the difference. It's like MC on steroids - only usually more painful, and often accompanied by blood in the stool, (though not always, of course). Here's the thread where Polly told us what she was taking for her infection:
There's nothing wrong with taking acetaminophen, (except that some of us don't get very effective results from it). It's not an NSAID.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Cipro was no go according to the endodontist so I got Clarithromycin.
Pharm suggested yogurt.....I said no dairy. She gave me some pills named Lactinex. I looked at them when I got home (stupid me) and they contain soy, whey and milk! I could just scream.
What can I get that's safe?
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
I'm not aware of any "effective" probiotic that does not contain at least small amounts of lactose. Probably the two with the least amount of lactose are VSL#3 and Florastor.
It would probably be a good idea to take a good probiotic, because Clarithromycin will probably kill just about all the gut fauna, except for antibiotic-resistant strains of C. diff.
With any luck at all, you won't end up with a C. diff infection, but if it should happen, Vancomycin is the only antibiotic which will control it. In that event, please don't let your doctor talk you into trying Flagyl first, because Flagyl will just make them mad, and give them another two weeks or more to multiply.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
MO, Tex, for the suggestions. Should I take Lactaid? (I know it's casein but I used to take Lactaid when I thought my intolerance was lactose and it seemed to work.)
BTW, the endodontist can't start on my tooth until March 17th because he's taking care of patients of another endo on medical leave!
I'm on the waiting list but I forgot to ask how many are in front of me.
If the pain is really bad, I suppose I'll just get the darn thing pulled. It's a very back tooth. It could be the outcome even after having retreatment anyhow. However, I am a devout coward and have a low threshold of pain........
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
You shouldn't need any lactaid to digest the tiny amount of lactose that might be in a probiotic, because lactose intolerance is not a true intolerance, it's merely a failure to completely digest lactose, when significant amounts of lactose are present in the diet, and lactase production is inadequate. If any casein is included, the lactaid will not have any effect on it.
Yes, freeze-dried should work OK. However, I believe I would take a lot more than one capsule per day, if FloraQ is used. If you look at VSL#3, for example, it contains roughly 50 to 100 times as much bacteria per packet, and they recommend multiple packets for certain uses. See the dosage recommendations here:
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi joan...use some clove oil for that tooth at the moment at least until you can get it treated or pulled...I get severe pain in my bottom left molar. Its one of those teeth that has the mercury filling Anyway i use clove oil on that when it gets very bad and it works a treat...