Diarrhea After Taking Antibiotics
Diarrhea after taking antibiotics? If this sounds familiar to you, today you are going to find some ways to prevent it from happening.
Usually diarrhea is a symptom that indicates you have an illness. For example gastroenteritis. But sometimes it is also a warning sign of possible food poisoning. Learn more about diarrhea after taking antibiotics today .
Diarrhea after taking antibiotics is not uncommon. In fact, many people see a doctor because an antibiotic is causing them to have this symptom.
This is one of the reasons why you should always get antibiotics from your doctor. As the article Basic Concepts for the Rational Use of Antibiotics in Otorhinolaryngology points out, diarrhea is a side effect of some antibiotics such as aminoglycosides, clindamycin, macrolides, or penicillin.
These drugs are extremely aggressive on the gastrointestinal system.
Why do antibiotics cause diarrhea?
Antibiotics can cause diarrhea because they are toxic to the intestines. This is evident from the article Diarrhea caused by antibiotics.
This is because these types of medicines change the intestinal flora, reducing the number of beneficial bacteria, while others, such as the bacterium Clostridium difficile , multiply and cause diarrhea.
However, you can analyze many of the ingredients in antibiotics to determine how likely it is to have diarrhea after taking antibiotics. These elements, some of which we have already mentioned above, are clindamycin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, and cephalosporins.
To get an accurate diagnosis that the diarrhea was due to antibiotic use, it is important to see your doctor so they can request the appropriate tests. These consist of a stool analysis and, in severe cases, a colonoscopy.
Diarrhea after antibiotics: symptoms and possible treatments
Although diarrhea can be a symptom of antibiotics that can affect both children and adults, it is much more common in the elderly.
In fact, diarrhea is common in those who have just had abdominal surgery or who do not have a very healthy diet. Discover the symptoms associated with taking antibiotics below:
- Fluid and frequent bowel movements
- In the most severe cases, the stool may contain blood
- Acute abdominal pain
- Fever and general malaise
- Dehydration
Elderly people who take antibiotics and have these symptoms should see a doctor. The reason for this is that in severe cases, dehydration may not occur, which can lead to death, but intestinal perforation, which requires immediate surgical intervention.
Diarrhea after antibiotics: treatment options
A person who has diarrhea after taking antibiotics should follow their doctor’s advice. If the situation is not considered serious, the doctor begins follow-up care, which at no point consists of stopping antibiotics.
In other cases, the doctor may recommend a substitute for the prescribed drug.
What if the diarrhea is severe? In this case, you can try switching antibiotics. However, in extreme cases, doctors recommend that the patient stop taking it and even take drugs for diarrhea.
In addition, you should also make sure to follow the dietary recommendations of your doctor and ensure that you are drinking enough fluids. Always have a bottle of water handy. In addition, taking probiotics can also prove helpful.
prevention
To avoid diarrhea after antibiotic treatment, it is important to avoid self-medication. In many countries it is even forbidden to sell these drugs to patients unless they have a doctor’s prescription.
Therefore, whenever you are not feeling well, you should always see your doctor instead of treating yourself.
If you are in contact with someone who has diarrhea, it is important to prevent it from spreading. The best way to proceed here is to wash your hands after contacting the affected person. If you work in a healthcare facility, it is important to make sure you wear gloves.
Have you suffered from diarrhea after taking antibiotics? And do you usually treat yourself? We hope that our article has made you aware that you should see a doctor instead of taking any action on your own that could endanger your gastrointestinal health.
