Way TMI - bm's and antibiotics

[Erinz]

I had to take a course of antibiotics for an ear infection that just would.not.clear.up no matter what I did for it. I had myringitis and otis media and it had been a month of pain and I was OVER IT. First antibiotics in 20 years, not too shabby I say.

Anyway... so ever since the 5 day course of the Z-Pack ended I have had different bowel movements in that the quantity is perhaps twice as much at each bm. And I'm going an extra time per day (my usual is two and for the past 3 days it has been 3 with 2x as much each tiime). The color is lighter than usual as well, and the consistency is much uniformly smoother. I feel like a freak typing all this out but hey I've talked enough about baby poo in my lifetime so a little adult poo talk can't hurt right?

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this or heard of such a thing. I can't get my mind to stop wondering if I had some sort of parasite or something that the Z-Pack killed. If that's even possible?

Thanks --

[tanyalynn]

To me, it sounds like bacterial imbalance due to the antibiotics. My kids' poop seems to get bigger when their guts are yeasty, and DD's get lighter colored too, I read something odd about bad bacteria consuming bile--low bile will result in light colored poop (there are other reasons as well). Seems odd, really, but I started serving kimchee with all our meals for a while, and darn if her poop didn't get darker and more normal looking.

Consider a good probiotic supp? Or fermented foods, if you like those--and if you haven't tried any, consider it. Homemade sour pickles and kimchee are great!

[sbgrace]

It sounds like bacterial overgrowth to me too. I'd try a heavy duty probiotic that's good with stuff like c.diff like culturelle. If it doesn't improve you could do oregano oil (P73 form) for a couple of weeks w/ a heavy probiotic a few hours after every dose and see that that kicks whatever it is.

[Erinz]

Thank you for the replies. I looked into the oregano but decided against it because I thought I'd try some heavier probiotics in the meantime. But, interestingly, I bought some of the oregano to have on hand for future stuff so thank you for that!

I've been taking Udo's Super 8 Hi-Potency and the Jarrow brand and things have greatly improved. It's been so long since antibiotic have been on my radar I forgot how devastating they are to the system.

Thank you for the help, it was greatly appreciated! (and I can hear now! yahoo!)