# Can Antibiotics cause a bad IBS flare? Or is this something else?



## gingerbrown12872 (Oct 15, 2010)

Hi,I'm Ginger, 38, from the Chicago area. I joined the forum a year ago when I was told I had IBS, but a couple of tests later, we discovered the issue was actually c-diff, contracted from Clindamycin I was given after some dental work. So I've never really posted much here before.Fast forward to 3 weeks ago ... I had what felt like the flu, so I went to the CVS clinic & was told I had a sinus infection. I was given Omnicef & sent home. After 3 days, I started having massive amounts of watery diarrhea 5-6 times/day & immodium was having no impact. Omnicef is an antibiotic that has a risk of causing c-diff, so I stopped taking it immediately & saw the GI who treated me before. He prescribed Flagyl to treat what we assumed was c-diff.After 3 days, the Flagyl was doing nothing for me, and the sinus infection I stopped treating morphed (or maybe never really was a sinus infection at all) into full-blown pneumonia. At that point, I had no choice but to take Levaquin (another known c-diff offender). Since the Flagyl wasn't helping, the GI switched me to Vancomycin, saying that at least ought to keep me stable while on the Levaquin.The Levaquin did clear up the pneumonia, but the diarrhea has only gotten worse. The GI had me stop the Vancomycin, as he's not sure this really is diff. Meanwhile, I'm having massive amounts of water diarrhea 6-10 times/day. Immodium has no effect. Pepto Bismol maybe slows things slightly, but certainly doesn't "stem the tide", LOL. I gave a sample for cultures on Tuesday -- results will hopefully be back tomorrow, but the GI is leaning toward saying this is abx-induced IBS. (If we don't learn anything from the tests, he'll probably do a colonoscopy early next week to see if he tell anything from that, though.) Is that possible? And if so, should the flare have lasted for 3 weeks? I'm really concerned about how long this is going on. I dehydrate easily & I'm having trouble staying hydrated. I'm also exhausted -- I can't keep up with work, and the house & all my kids' activities. And, I'm very worried I'm not absorbing my thyroid meds (I have hashimoto's disease, which makes me hypothyroid) properly, which can cause all kinds of problems ... I'm trying calcium today to see if that helps. I've been trying to stick to basic foods (toast, baked/grilled chicken, turkey, plain pasta, eggs etc.), but I'm not sure diet is really making a difference. What else should I be doing? Are there prescription meds that might work better than immodium/pepto that my doctor could give me? I really need some relief ...TIA!Ginger


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

You may have C-Diff again... And you may need to stick with either the Flagyl or the Vancomycin for a bit.. like awhile. I know when I had C-Diff it took a good 9 days for the Diarrhea to even slow down. So it can be stubborn. I don't know how long you were on the Vancomycin.. but I know it took way more than 3 days for the Flagyl to help me! So it may be a case of you needing to be on it for quite awhile.When we have massive amounts of watery D like this.. from C-Diff or severe IBS or a wicked GI virus even... we can wipe out some of the bacteria in our guts. (So it's not really antibiotic induced IBS (not sure there IS such a classification for IBS)... it's just the bacterial balance is off.) At the very least we can get the fine bacterial balance out of whack. A probiotic can help restore that balance. So I would urge you to take a good probiotic... (Like Align, Florastor, Culturelle..etc) now and see if that helps things at all.Now for the rest of your life... ASK for help. Get some friends or neighbors to help you get the kids to their activities and back home too! Don't be shy! You need help now... so ask for it. And if worst comes to worst.. it won't kill the kids to miss a day of some activity. Keep things in perspective. The dust will be there.. don't worry. Or if your kids are older... ASK them for help! You need to self care ALOT right now... so take it easy and ask for help when you need it!Keep us posted!


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## gingerbrown12872 (Oct 15, 2010)

Thanks for the reply!I was on Vanco for 10 days with absolutely no improvement in symptoms, and a decline in symptoms the last couple of days. My GI seemed to think I would have seen at least minimal improvement in that time, and I definitely felt a TON better after just a few days on it last time. I do question whether we gave the Flagyl time enough to work -- since it works on a broader spectrum of GI issues, I wonder if we'd given it a couple more days, if it might not have worked ...I am taking Florastor & Align both. Again, no noticeable improvement in symptoms from these, but I know that it could take awhile to see improvement with probiotics.Right now I'm hoping that the tests show something helpful -- not that I want to have c-diff or parasites, but at least then we'd know what we were treating & if we just needed to give the course of treament more time to work, KWIM?My kids are being awesome about helping -- making their own lunches, etc. My 10 year old has made dinner several nights, even. I am very paranoid about the bathrooms with all the diarrhea -- I do worry about cleanliness there, so I think I'm going to see about getting someone to come in & clean. Now if only I could figure out how to get the laundry done & put away







.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Well just get the laundry clean... let the kids put it away! LOL And Kudos to your 10 yr old!!! He gets a round of applause from me!Yeah I hear ya... But hopefully... once you know what you are dealing with it will be a bit easier. And yes it DOES take the probiotics some time to work too. I wish there was a quick fix.. but unfortunately.. it's just not how these things seem to work. But I have been in your shoes and my kids were that age then too... so I get it.. trust me. I had to ask people to help with the driving and ya know what? They were more than happy to help. So like I said.. reach out...As for the cleaning.. yes it is good to keep in mind if it IS C-Diff... that is contagious.. so.. yeah Keep some antibacterial wipes handy in the bathroom(s) at the least. When I was going through this myself.. I remember thinking "Well... my bathrooms are clean at least." LOL That was probably THE only room that was.. Keep in mind... this too shall pass.. eventually!Hydration is key... so water down some Gatorade (maybe half & half?? Some folks find it makes things worse if they drink it straight... too much sugar..) So try cutting it.((((Hugs))))Keep us posted!


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

And by the way.. It may not be Antibiotic induced IBS.. The classification would probably be Post Infectious IBS or PI/IBS.


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## gingerbrown12872 (Oct 15, 2010)

Thanks again for the responses!The calcium helped considerably yesterday -- I'm definitely going to keep that up. Hopefully we'll get test results back today & we'll know more ...


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## gingerbrown12872 (Oct 15, 2010)

Test results are back -- negative for everything. GI says continue with calcium for a few more days & then stop -- if symptoms come back at that point, he wants to do a colonoscopy ...


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Ok. Have you had a colonoscopy before?


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## gingerbrown12872 (Oct 15, 2010)

BQ said:


> Ok. Have you had a colonoscopy before?


Yes, I had one a couple of years ago. It was clean -- just a couple of small hemorrhoids (the fun of having had kids, LOL!). So at least we have a comparison point ...


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Ok Great! So you know the drill..... Well let's hope you continue to feel btter!


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

Im currently suffering from D caused by clarithromycin for a uti. I cannot tolerate anything ending in mycin,macrolides,but floxacins i can tolerate very well.Maybe its the type of ABs that are the problem?


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

For me it no longer matters... ANY antibiotic will set my gut off.... So I try real hard to NOT need them... lol But unfortunately we all do need them once in awhile!


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