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Pregnant = need antibiotics more often?

682 views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  moondiapers 
#1 ·
Any of you anti-abx moms out there find yourself taking/more prone to getting abx-type illness while pregnant?

I think I have an ear infection. Right now the whole house is battling colds with pinkeye. I am the only one so far to have symptoms of ear infection.My normal routine with kids and self wrt infections of any kind is to fortify the immune system and wait for the body to take care of it. None of us hav had any abx in years except for ds had a staph infection on his thigh in the diaper area and we thought it best o go that route.

But years back, when I used to get bronchitis regularly, I had to get abx in order to make any dent in it at all when I was pregnant.

I am wondering if, because pregnancy supresses your immune system, are you more likely to suffer long (weeks-long) with infections? And if so, how many of you think the abx are worth it?
 
#2 ·
About a month and a half ago (sheesh! time flies!), I had my first and hopefully last ever kidney infection. I've NEVER had any sort of kidney problems before and have only ever had one UTI (about a decade ago) before. So, it was a bit of a surprise.

Honestly, the kidney infection made me SO sick that I thought it safer to expose my baby to antibiotics than to just wait to get better. Antibiotics might be bad for an unborn baby, but a fever of 104 that makes my little guy's heartbeat jump to almost 200 bpm seems just as dangerous or more dangerous.

ETA: I'm not anti-antibiotics in general, though.
 
#4 ·
I've had a UTI for a few weeks off and on, and I rarely get anythign that requires abx. However i've managed to control/get rid of it with cranberry, and have avoided the abx.

Another fun thing is that I've had some pretty chronic yeast issues, which acidophilus will barely touch but garlic helps. One big reason I've avoided the abx is because I don't want to get my yeast any worse.

My UTI has been pretty mild though, almost entirely asymptomatic (it was only caught by my midwife in the urine test thingy). I'd probably be more concerned if, say, I was feverish or peeing blood clots.
 
#5 ·
Most of the time I am very healthy and rarely get sick, even my first pregnancy was unevenful in that regard. However, this time around I've had 3 rough illnesses in as many months of pregnancy
: Tomorrow will be day 7 of the current sickness, which includes a painful sinus infection. I've done everything I can to boost my immune system, but I don't feel any better
I'm so exhausted from lack of sleep that I just can't ride this one out and will go to a clinic tomorrow to request antibx.

This ongoing battle with illness is motivating me to take even better care of myself - especially improving my diet. I'm sure hoping the worst is behind me soon.
 
#6 ·
I am prone to UTI's in pregnancy and they go from nothing to hectic within a day or two. I have been taking cranberry throughout my pregnancy and even so I've had 2 UTI's that required ABx. I'm okay with it... it is one of those things I am aware of and I have always had to deal with during pregnancy.

I feel dreadfully sick from the UTI and I get super moody!
 
#7 ·
Well I am not anti-abx though I do think they should be used carefully and only when natural cures have failed.

I do find that I tend to get sicker and take longer to get well when I catch something while pregnant. I always assumed that it was my slightly suppressed immune system and just the general stress of pregnancy on my body (I probably get it a little worse than some people because I spend most of my pregnancies vomiting).

I only needed abx once in this pregnancy, for a case of bacterial bronchitis that lasted about a month. After a month I decided enough was enough. I took the abx and was better within 48 hours.
 
#8 ·
I had to take antibiotics around 7wks during this pregnancy. I got some sort of terrible food posioning or stomach bug and waited 9 long days for it to clear itself out before I started to worry I was getting so dehydrated. I finally called my doctor and I took the antibiotics and was better in 24 hours.

From my experience, since my DH got the same bug as I and was able to kick it with just probiotics.. I do think pregnancy puts a major damper on your immune system and things you can normally fight off either take longer or you end up needing some sort of help to do it.
 
#9 ·
Weird, I've felt like my immune system has been even stronger since I've been pregnant. Last year, I got asthmatic bronchitis and the most disgusting stomach flu of my life. (I didn't take abx for either; I normally don't visit the doctor at all, though I did for the bronchitis, because a friend of mine had turned out to have walking pneumonia, and I was worried I had it too. But they told me it was just bronchitis and gave me a prescription for Cipro and steroids. After reading about Cipro, I decided to see if I could get better my usual way: by sleeping alot and eating kimchi. I did, although I had a terrible wheeze for about a month after.)

But this winter, I didn't really get sick at all. I had a mild sniffle and sore throat for a few days, and I had something that might have been a 6-hour stomach bug, but was likely my body just saying, "I don't like that you ate that."

But this spate of good health could also be because my boyfriend started washing his hands at random intervals at work (because he works with children) in addition to the normal amount of handwashing he used to do. I think this was a big contributor, since before I started dating him, I didn't get sick too often in the winters. And this winter, he didn't get really sick either.

Also, I've been eating yogurt like crazy for the last few months - about 1 or 2 big cartons a week. And I've been drinking more water. So that could be it too.

I think, in general though, if you have a bad infection, and are pregnant, it's probably much better to take the abx than to get really really sick. I think that if I'd gotten as sick as I did the previous year, I'd have been more likely to take the abx. But fortunately, I didn't get sick.
 
#10 ·
ive had some very long illnesses during pregnancy and yes, our immune system is lower. however, you dont need abx for an ear infection and most docs wont even presribe them for that. and ear ifections are a secondry infection and not contagious so dont worry about passing it around the family.
 
#11 ·
I am horrible getting problems like that when pregnant. I catch everyones colds very easily, etc...

My first pregnancy I was sooooo sick and dizzy the whole time I really didn't think the 2nd one could be any worse, and then I got preggo with my 2nd dd and was happy I was so less nauseus rarely throwing up, thought I was on a good track.. then at 10 weeks I was exhausted, broke out in hives had a horrible throat, etc... and was diagnosed with mono. It lasted a long time. And then during that time I was hospitalized for kidney stones, which I think the dehydration of the mono brought out. All up until this they kept putting me on abx for urinary tract infections because it was testing in my urine and I was in pain, turned out it was the kidney stones starting up.So every time I was put on abx that didn't work (no wonder, I didn't need them) the abx would cause a yeast infection (sorry tmi). ugh it was a pain.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all of your stories.

After 72 hours I woke up feeling significantly better. My doc did return a call that I put in and almost immediately prescribed amox. I haven't picked up the prescription yet, but I am not sure about taking it. My pain, etc are gone but the sense that there is some fluid in there, and the ringing, persist slightly. I have NO experience with ear infections, believe it or not; I never got one before!

I am still debating about the antibiotics. The only reason I think I should take them is the idea that I could get hearing damage from my "wait and see" method.
 
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