Guest guest Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi everyone, My son has gone in to another flare after a course of antibiotics. (He shut his finger in his car door whilst on a trip to the Outer Banks with his girlfriend and ended up in the emergency room!!) Stupidly we had not properly researched the links between antibiotics and the gut and he just took what they gave him. Not sure what it was - broad spectrum I think. Anyway, he didn't know to eat extra yogurt and we never thought anything about it until he started this flare shortly afterwards. Very stupid mistake! My question is - what can he do now? I've read back through the posts but can only find information about taking antibiotics and probiotics 2 hours apart (bet he didn't even do that!), nothing about what to do after the event. He has gone back to intro and cut back on bananas - but he was only on stage one of the pecan bread list because he restarted the SCD in June and was going very slowly this time. It would seem logical to eat more yogurt but should he take acidophilus capsules as well? Should he try S. Boulardii? What do you all think? He has Crohn's Disease - has anyone else with CD made this mistake and if so, what worked for you? It's so frustrating for him because he was doing so well this time! We would be so grateful if anyone could share their experiences. Lesley Son w/CD (aged 25, diagnosed at age 15) SCD started Feb 08, restarted June 08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Lesley Antibiotics are necessary at times, but most of them cause some longer-lasting side-effects, like digestive symptom flares. I don't have CD, but do have lots of experience with symptom flares, and a few were caused by antibiotics. I have been in SCD groups for several years, and have seen a lot of emails on the topic of symptom flares. I think we all handle these about the same way. The important thing is to accept that your son's gut ecology has been disturbed again, so he'll have to work a bit to regain lost ground. Normally we take extra probiotics during a course of antibiotics to help fend off the worst of the digestive side-effects. So your son should start taking either yogurt or a legal probiotic supplement daily, or as often as his body will tolerate it. This will help replenish the beneficial bacteria. S. Boulardii is an alternative (or an addition) to L. acidophilus. Some people find they do better with S. Boulardii, and some do not. I usually take a probiotic daily for at least a month after my antibiotics course has finished, then I taper back to my regular maintenance dose. Your son might find it helpful to go back to the intro. diet for a few days, then stick to the easiest-to-digest foods for several weeks until his digestive symptoms diminish. As his symptom flare begins to disappear, then he can add more foods back into his menu. I'm also very susceptible to yeast/candida surges during and after antibiotics. If your son has this issue as well, then he will find it helpful to cut back or avoid those foods that the candida like best. I generally do this during my antibiotics, and for about a month afterwards. It's also quite typical to have a symptom flare at 3 to 4 months, again at around 9 months. Part of the healing process. So your son may go through symptom flares again, even if he hasn't had antibiotics. The good thing is that the longer we're on SCD, the faster we recover from symptom flares. Kim M. SCD 5 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.