Do you know the side effects of antibiotics and all the other safety precautions when taking antibiotics?
There are well over 100 antibiotics and they are the single most frequently prescribed medication of our time. Some people with viral and fungal infections are often prescribed antibiotics, which only target bacteria. Big mistake. Antibiotics don’t kill viruses, or fungus. It’s not possible.
But this part is true. Mold kills certain bacteria!
Some antibiotics are actually purified syntehtic agents that were derived from mold or fungus (think of penicillin) so that’s partly why it’s recommended that you avoid antibiotics if you have serious systemic fungal infections, mold exposure, viral or bacterial infections or bone marrow suppression.
The first patented antibiotic was penicillin. Scientistis noticed that mold killed bacteria. They grew penicillium mold by feeding it with sugar in a big fermentation tank. The penicillium mold grew and then they turned it into a drug that killed bacteria. But it’s a fact to say that mold kills bacteria.
We have hundreds of prescription antibiotics today, but prior to that, doctors prescribed colloidal silver, turmeric, Oregon grape root, oregano oil, garlic and olive leaf extract (OLE). By the way, olives are incredible! If you have just 5 more minutes, please read my other article, Olive Oil Reduces Cancer and Risk of Stroke.
These are all still available in health food stores. The garlic is particularly good for fungus, and the OLE is particularly useful for viruses.
Physicians often prescribe antibiotics based on the tissue that is infected. If your son has acne and he is taking doxycycline, you should know that this is a drug that penetrates the skin cells very well, whereas people with a kidney or bladder infection would need an antibiotic that penetrates those tissues well. Antibiotics have the sole task of annihilating foreign bacteria that have taken up residence somewhere. The antibiotic chosen is based upon tissue penetration. Kids with ear infections are often given cephalexin or amoxicillin because those two drugs get into the ear canal very well.
Some experts suggest taking your antibiotic on an empty stomach to achieve higher blood levels and this may be important to blood levels, however it can backfire by making you throw it all up. As a pharmacist for 25 years, I’ve noticed that people commonly regurgitate their meds when they take them on an empty stomach, so I think in some cases it’s better to take your antibiotic with food (and keep it down!) than to take it on an empty stomach and potentially lose it. I say this regardless of what your label says, but it’s only to make you more comfortable. The final word on this should come from your personal reaction, or your health care practitioner.
Antibiotics are stupid! They can’t distinguish bad bacteria from good ones which means your camp of friendly flora or “probiotics” is destroyed. So to answer your question about long-term side effects, they are tied to the potent drug mugging effect, meaning antibiotic drugs literally “mug” you of your probiotics. Low probiotics means low production of methylcobalamin (B12), vitamin K2, biotin or folate.
I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest a probiotic supplement which rejuvenates your gut integrity and replenishes your friendly camp of ‘good gut bugs.’
Remember you need probiotics to manufacture all those nutrients above.
Mito B complex would be excellent until your gut is
once again healthy and stable.
Poor probiotic status can lead to unspeakable misery, with problems that put you on a medication merry-go-round. It’s not so much due to the antibiotic, or the probiotic deficiency… it’s more about how deficient you become in the nutrients that are manufactured by your gut bacteria.
Short term effects of antibiotic use include indigestion, stomach pain, gas, nausea, constipation and irritable bowel symptoms and possibly Clostridia difficile, a dangerous infection that causes prolonged watery diarrhea, incredible muscle weakness and fatigue and massive nutrient depletions.
Long-term suppression of probiotics often leads to weight gain, yeast overgrowth, vaginal yeast infections, skin problems, chronic fatigue, body aches (fibromyalgia), joint pain, immune suppression and a terribly leaky gut (which then promotes sudden food sensitivities to wheat and dairy).
That last one is a life-changer beause you can no longer eat the foods you love, plus if you have a leaky gut, you have a leaky brain. By that I mean the tight junctions in between your cells are no longer “tight” and your gut and your brain become permeable to random junk floating by. That’s the subject of another article though. For now, my point has been made: Antibiotics are stupid (they will annihilate everything in their path) and it’s up to you to be smart (take probiotics and B complex) to mitigate the damage.
Probiotics are helpful at propagating YOUR bacterial flora, rather than dumping in a bunch of weird strains unfamiliar to you. You can take them without regard to meals, one per day. No matter the brand, the concept is to restore the healthy gut flora, unfortunately we walk around with a bellyful of bacteria, in fact we have more bacteira in our body than our own blood cells, so the goal is to make those “bacteria” friendly, as opposed to harmful.
I mean why tote around enemies all day?!
Suzy Cohen, has been a licensed pharmacist for over 30 years and believes the best approach to chronic illness is a combination of natural medicine and conventional. She founded her own dietary supplement company specializing in custom-formulas, some of which have patents. With a special focus on functional medicine, thyroid health and drug nutrient depletion, Suzy is the author of several related books including Thyroid Healthy, Drug Muggers, Diabetes Without Drugs, and a nationally syndicated column.
