More info from The Johns Hopkins Health AlertsAntibiotics have been widely used since World War II, and they've saved countless lives since then. Bacterial illnesses such as strep throat and urinary tract infections can be easily treated, often in three to 10 days. But as with any medication, antibiotics carry the risk of digestive side effects. People taking antibiotics may develop mild diarrhea or a more serious bowel inflammation.
How Antibiotics Work. Many different species of bacteria live in your digestive tract. Most are helpful, others are harmful, but in healthy people the good bacteria far outnumber the bad. This balance is delicate, however, and it can be easily disrupted.
When you take an antibiotic for an infection, it doesn't just target the problem bacteria. The antibiotic can kill off both good and bad bacteria in your digestive tract. Often the strongest, most treatment-resistant harmful bacteria are the ones that remain, and as they're allowed to multiply unchecked they can wreak havoc on your digestive system.
Most people taking an antibiotic will be fine, but the accompanying diarrhea that affects the other 20 percent can range from a mild, short-lived bout of diarrhea to colitis, an inflammation of the colon. Some people may experience a more serious, perhaps even life-threatening, form of colitis caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).
People over age 65 are more prone to develop antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and colitis, as are those who have recently stayed in a hospital or nursing home, have had surgery on the intestinal tract or have another illness affecting the intestines, such as inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer.
While any antibiotic, oral or injected, has the potential to cause diarrhea, the most likely candidates are stronger, broad-spectrum antibiotics, which include:
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) involves occasional loose stools or mild diarrhea for several days. The problem typically begins five to 10 days after starting an antibiotic; however, in 25 to 40 percent of cases, symptoms don't appear until up to 10 weeks after treatment ends. Most cases of AAD do not require treatment and will resolve on their own within two weeks after finishing an antibiotic.
Posted in Healthy Living on June 8, 2011
Pancytopenia and colitis with Clostridium difficile in a rheumatoid arthritis patient taking methotrexate, antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.Methotrexate (MTX) is widely used despite its side-effects. We describe a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient taking low-dose MTX who developed severe pancytopenia and colitis with Clostridium difficile after the administration of antibiotics for acute pyelonephritis. Our case suggests that low-dose MTX may seriously interact with antibiotics and that these side-effects should always be considered when RA patients are treated with MTX and antibiotics.http://www.arthritisjointpaingone.com