Medicinal diarrhea is an adverse reaction of the body that occurs as a result of taking certain groups of drugs. If you continue to take medication, then the patient develops loose, frequent stools, sometimes accompanied by unpleasant pain and vomiting. In most cases, antibiotics provoke this condition. In medicine, this type of diarrhea is called antibiotic-associated. In addition to antibiotics, laxatives with magnesium in their composition, antacids, medicines for arrhythmia and pressure, contraceptives, antifungals, and others can lead to diarrhea. In childhood, diarrhea occurs due to taking medications with bacteria, enzymes, intestinal antiseptics.
Causes of diarrhea
Can I have diarrhea after taking antibiotics? Unfortunately, diarrhea after antibiotics is a fairly common occurrence that many patients have experienced. In many instructions for the use of antibiotics, diarrhea is a mandatory item in possible adverse reactions.
Such a reactionof the body can be explained by the fact that when antibiotics are taken orally in the form of a capsule or tablet, not only pathogenic bacteria are suppressed, but also useful ones, on which the quality of the intestines directly depends. As a result of this negative impact, the intestinal microflora is rapidly changing, new strains of bacteria are emerging, leading to bouts of diarrhea.
In medical parlance, this side effect of medication is called antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
Can I have diarrhea after taking antibiotics? The risk of an adverse reaction in the form of diarrhea increases significantly with:
- antibiotic use by older people;
- taking antibiotics in the presence of diseases of the digestive system of an acute and chronic nature, as well as other somatic pathologies that affect the state of the immune system;
- with antibiotic abuse and exceeding the prescribed dose;
- if you do not meet the deadlines for taking an antibiotic or changing it without the permission of a doctor.
Diarrhea can occur on the first day of medication. If you find a stool with a changed consistency, you do not need to immediately worry, since there are many ways to restore the normal functioning of the digestive system and get rid of unpleasant symptoms.
How to help a patient?
What to do - diarrhea after taking an antibiotic? The human intestinal microflora eventually returns to normal on its own. But as many people know, during diarrhea, useful substances are washed out of the patient’s body along with the liquid.substances that are responsible for the accelerated restoration of intestinal flora. As a result of the described processes, the microflora cannot return to normal for a long time.
Treatment of diarrhea after taking antibiotics in an adult and a child should be comprehensive. This is the only way to achieve a quick recovery without consequences for the body.
Proper nutrition and special diet
It is possible to eliminate watery diarrhea after taking antibiotics in an adult and restore the functioning of the intestine in the first days of the progression of diarrhea using different liquid consistency cereals. For this, semolina, shabby buckwheat porridge, rice-based soups and a steam omelet are well suited. Benefits will bring sweet berries, fruits with astringent action.
Nutritionists recommend including bananas, baked apples and boiled eggs in your daily diet, which contain a huge amount of pectin that is useful at this moment. Bread is recommended to be replaced with unsweetened crackers cooked at home.
How to stop diarrhea after taking antibiotics? Experts advise to completely exclude from the diet products containing fiber, bakery products, milk and its analogues. They can severely irritate the intestines and increase diarrhea.
Over time, the diet can be expanded by adding steam cutlets from meat or fish, soups with vegetables, crumbly cereals, excluding barley and millet. The benefit of the intestinal microflora will bring yoghurts with a balanced composition, whichconsumed every day from the first days of diarrhea.
Bread products can only be returned 7 days after the condition has improved. Particular attention throughout the treatment should be paid to the drinking regimen. At this time, you should increase the amount of fluid you drink per day to three liters. For this, both drinking purified water and sweetened compote with natural juice are suitable.
Folk remedies for treatment
How to treat diarrhea after taking antibiotics? A good effect in the treatment of diarrhea can be achieved from traditional medicine. Infusions and products from medicinal herbs produce a sorbent and astringent effect, thereby restoring the balance of the intestines. The most effective recipes for decoctions and herbal infusions:
- Rice congee. To prepare a decoction, rice is placed in a saucepan, poured with four glasses of clean water and boiled until fully cooked. At the end, the product is filtered, and the finished liquid is consumed every three hours, 150 grams each.
- Oak bark, dry calamus leaves. To prepare the product, take 250 milliliters of boiling water and add an equal amount of oak bark and dry calamus leaves. Insist 45 minutes. Ready infusion is drunk three times a day, 100 ml per day before meals.
- Pomegranate peels. A teaspoon of crushed dry pomegranate peels is boiled in a glass of water over low heat. Boil five minutes. Consume 150 ml 15 minutes before meals.
- Infusion of herbs. Take 4 tablespoons of plantain, lingonberry leaf, rowan berries, mint, eucalyptus leaves. Mixtureboil in a liter of water for one minute, filter, insist 60 minutes. Take 30 ml seven times a day.
You can restore the body's immune system with infusions of yarrow, nettle, mint, St. John's wort, cinquefoil. To prepare a healing property, it is enough to pour a small amount of the selected herb into a glass of hot water, cool to room temperature and use the finished product throughout the day.
If diarrhea goes away without inflammation and does not provoke an increase in body temperature, then folk remedies will help to quickly restore bowel function, returning it to its previous state.
Medication treatment
If diarrhea started after taking antibiotics, then medicines will help restore the state of the body. Their reception must necessarily be accompanied by the supervision of a treating specialist. When contacting a clinic for help, it is important to inform the specialist about taking antibiotics. Only then will the doctor be able to understand how to further treat diarrhea and how to get rid of acute symptoms.
It is forbidden to start taking medications on your own without visiting a doctor and making an accurate diagnosis. Only a specialist will be able to choose effective medicines to treat ailments and prevent various complications.
Enterosorbents and probiotics
In pharmacies you can find a huge amount of medicines that effectively fight diarrhea. According to the composition and principle of action, all drugs can be classified into:
- enterosorbents - means that distinguishsorbent action;
- probiotics - they contain beneficial bacteria that are so important for the normal functioning of the intestine.
Medications from the group of enterosorbents detain and remove waste products of bacteria and toxins from the human body. These include activated carbon, Polysorb, Smecta, Enterosgel suspension. All the described preparations absorb decay products, toxins, quickly cleanse the intestinal microflora and prevent the spread of the infectious process throughout the body.
From the group of antibiotics one can single out "Linex", well-known to many patients and often taken medication. It helps in a short time to restore the body and eliminate the infection. Particular attention should be paid to the new generation medicine "Rioflora Balance Neo". Unlike Linex, it contains 9 strains of live beneficial bacteria. In addition, it has a healing effect, helps to eliminate wounds and ulcers from the intestinal walls that occur during diarrhea.
Without a prescription, each patient can purchase at the pharmacy the following medicines to combat diarrhea: "Hilak forte", probiotics "Bifiform", "Bifidumbacterin".
Loperamide is often prescribed to patients with diarrhea. But a good effect from it can be achieved only with diseases of mild and moderate severity. The drug will not be able to cope with serious violations. The effect of the drug will be muchstronger when taken with probiotics.
With severe diarrhea in an adult as a result of taking the antibiotic Loperamide, the pathology can only worsen, since the drug leads to a reduction in intestinal motility and slows down the process of removing toxins from the body, which is dangerous for serious intoxication.
Probiotic treatment continues 14 days after antibiotics have ended.
How to prevent diarrhea?
Is it possible to prevent diarrhea when taking antibiotics, so as not to deal with its treatment in the future? You can take care of the normal functioning of the intestines and stable emptying even at the beginning of taking antibacterial agents.
It is important to remember that diarrhea in most cases begins after taking antibiotics such as aminoglycosides and tetracyclines. The wider the spectrum of antibiotics, the higher the risk of developing diarrhea.
To significantly reduce the risk of diarrhea, it is important to start using probiotics from the group of synbiotics (for example, Laminolact) together with antibiotics. The bacteria found in such products help microorganisms to normally transfer the negative effects of antibiotics on the intestinal microflora. At this time, it is recommended to add natural yogurt, low-fat kefir to the daily menu, but get rid of all fried, spicy, s alty, smoked foods.
Only complex treatment of diarrhea after taking antibiotics in a child and an adultwill help maintain the state of the intestinal microflora and prevent the appearance of problems with the stool. It is equally important to strictly observe the dose of the antibiotic used. If you follow the regimen of taking the drug, you can easily prevent an overdose and reduce the risk of negative consequences.
Is it important to treat diarrhea?
Any diarrhea, regardless of the cause of its occurrence, is dangerous mainly because it leads to dehydration and leaching of useful minerals from the body. If you do not start his treatment in a modern way, the consequences will be irreversible.
Pseudomembranous colitis
Pseudomembranous colitis is a severe form of bowel disorder that has been linked to long-term antibiotic use. This type of disease is fatal for humans and occurs as a result of the multiplication of microbes of the Clostridium difficile species.
During the normal functioning of the intestines, microorganisms of this type cannot multiply, as they are blocked by the beneficial bacteria that move. When there are problems with the microflora of the body when exposed to antibiotics, beneficial bacteria quickly die, which leads to the growth of a pathogenic environment.
As a result, Clostridium bacteria reach a critical level in the body, and their waste products begin to poison the intestines.
You can identify pseudomembranous type colitis if you notice the following symptoms of malaise in a patient:
- liquid in consistency and frequent diarrhea (sometimes urge to defecate 20 times a day);
- over time calbecomes watery with inclusions of thick mucus, sometimes blood, changes its color, begins to emit an unpleasant odor;
- body temperature rises for no reason;
- cutting pains appear in the abdomen;
- there are bouts of vomiting, nausea;
- characteristic weakness of the body.
Diagnosis of the described disease is carried out through biochemical analysis. If the presence of the disease is confirmed, the doctor prescribes antibiotics that are aimed at eliminating pathogenic bacteria.
Who is at risk?
Negative consequences are typical for the following groups of people:
- old age;
- chronic and acute diseases leading to reduced immune defenses;
- if laxatives were additionally taken while taking antibiotics;
- a person cannot eat food on their own, feeds through a tube;
- when using antibiotics while carrying a child, breastfeeding;
- taking antibiotics with anticancer drugs;
- if the patient has HIV infection.
When does medical attention become mandatory?
And although diarrhea often resolves on its own and does not lead to special complications, in some cases its appearance requires mandatory medical attention. If diarrhea appears as a result of taking antibiotics, then every patient needs to consult a doctor, especially pregnant women with diseased kidneys, heart, cancer patients and HIV-infected.
Comeyou need to see a doctor if:
- intestinal upset only gets worse over time;
- cramps and cramps appear in the stomach;
- increase in body temperature, general weakness of the body;
- green impurities in feces with traces of blood and mucus.
Self-treatment of diarrhea after taking antibiotics in all cases described above is considered dangerous. If you do not provide the patient with qualified assistance, the result may be irreversible. When the first symptoms of malaise appear, it is important to immediately consult a doctor and undergo an examination.
