Antibiotics or not?

[Misfit Toy]

I could really use some advice.

I have had what appears to be a cold/congestion, cough and phlegm for 2 months now. I feel like I have the flu. I don't have this really ever. With CFS, we always feel like we have the flu, but for me this is different. My eyes hurt...behind my eyes, I ache, I sweat or am freezing. I can't seem to kick it. I spend more time than normal in bed just trying to breathe. Due to the fatigue this thing is bringing.

A little over a week ago my doctor thought an antibiotic was in order. I went on clindamycin. I was on it for 3.5 days. I developed so much yeast, it was gross. I used a suppository (sorry if this is really detailed) to cut down on the yeast. What ended up happening was that my intestine became totally inflamed and I literally felt like it was on fire. The next day I was on the toilet all day and sicker than a dog. Sore throat, everything was worse.

My doctor advised going off of the antibiotic, which I happily did. He is wondering if it is a virus. I have no yellow mucus. It's clear. But my chest is tight and I am on mucinex. He now has me on olive leaf extract and oregano oil. These are not working either.

I just had an extensive amount of bloodwork ordered and done. I already know I have high EBV and HHV-6.

I am wondering if I should go back on the antibiotic again or just ride it out. I have not had anything like this since I first got sick. That was a long time ago. I have a frog in my voice and I know it is what is keeping my adrenals from working at all right now.

I have been taking hot baths to sweat it out. Nothing is working. I am waiting for Valtrex to arrive in the mail.

Should I go back on the antibiotic or I don't know??? All of these things to think about and I don't have the brain power, admittedly to make a decision.

Thanks everyone.

 

[xchocoholic]

Hi Spitfire,

Love the name ... :Retro smile:

I'm rarely on line any more so I don't know what all you've tried so forgive me if some of this is redundant ...

I have CFS and I haven't felt fluish in several years. Dairy and soy would do to me what you're describing within a few hours of eating either.

Mucinex is meant to thin phlegm so since yours is thin, you can stop taking it. Keep an eye on this though and restart if it thickens. IMHO, there's no need to take a med you don't need.

IMHO, since you developed a nasty yeast infection that quickly from taking antibiotics then you have a severe candida problem. I used candidase, Virastop, raw garlic, pau d'arco and the candida diet for that. Be sure to stay dry and avoid deoderant pads too. I just use Virastop and Candidastat by Dr. Tori Hudson to keep it under control now.

HTH ... Marcia

 

[Misfit Toy]

Yes, I am wondering if I should treat the yeast at this point, but I am treating so many things. How does my body manage with all of this assault. Climdamycin is known for yeast. in fact, it's a short term antiobiotic because it causes a certain strand of yeast that one has to be hospitalized for....great, huh?

 

[xchocoholic]

I'd definitely treat the yeast. That alone can make you feel horrible ... go easy though. No need to shock your body anymore. Are you taking probiotics ? I still take these 3 - 4 times a day ... BTW. If you do have a dairy allergy, taking probiotics with dairy won't help. I figured this out the hard way ... lol ...

Or are you eating yogurt ? Actually kefir is better than yogurt if you've got access to it. These will help ...

I know it's hard but sometimes it's best just to rest and let your body heal ... I've been trying to heal myself for over 4 years now, so I know how hard it is to be patient and keep hanging in there. : ) Not that I'm healed yet, but the difference from where I was 4 years ago and today is amazing.

I didn't realize that certain antibiotics are known to cause more yeast problems than others. That doesn't sound like a good one for us. I'm anti antibiotics unless it's critical and only you and your doctor will know if it is ... It sounds like your doc is up on holistic treatments so that's good ...

 

[Misfit Toy]

Hi X,

I am allergic to dairy and can't eat yogurt, not even goats milk. I can't have kefir for that reason unless I make it with another "thing." I am allergic to rice, soy, milk, wheat and tomatoes and pears. I have had yeast for a long time so I am no stranger to this. But I don't believe that is the main reason I am sick, although I know you are not saying that.

This cold/flu thing is more debilitating than anything right now. So much so, that I am going to go to bed after writing this, which I never go to bed before midnight.

I agree with you, I am going to cave in and give my body rest. I have nothing major coming up. I can just heal. Or try too! I took a small amt. of diflucan a little bit ago. That was always the most effective treatment for me. I put fresh cloves of garlic in my bok choy tonight.

I start and stop probiotics. I never feel like they do anything. I am always so constipated and I have yet to find a probiotic that has changed that for me. I do take digestive enzymes.

Ahhh.....the joy of being ill! Here's to better days of less illness ahead.

 

[xchocoholic]

I hope you feel better soon. It's been ages since I had that fluish feeling but I still remember how bad it felt ... hugs ... I was headed to bed too but grabbed a snack so here I am again ...

Good to hear that you're up on your food intolerances but with the list you gave it's entirely possible that you have others you haven't found yet. Sucks ... I know ... I'm in the same boat as you ... Are you up on leaky gut ? That explains your food intolerances ...

Have you heard of oxalates ? I belong to a low oxalate board that is run by Susan Owens, a DAN oxalate researcher. I bring this up because quite a few people get over their candida problems after they get the oxalates out of their diets. It's a pain in the ars to think about giving up more foods but it may not be as bad as you think ... :Retro wink:

The objective of the LOD is to give up all high oxalate foods at first, then slowly get down to a low oxalate diet and stay there until things calm down. Then if all goes well you can add back in a few high oxalate foods. It's a great group of people too ... mostly mothers of autistic kids.

Here's the link for that website ... http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Trying_Low_Oxalates/

I'm really not trying to sound pushy here. If you look at my journey you'll see that I fought this whole diet approach tooth and nail myself ... ...

On the probiotics, I found that Megaflora by Megafood and CountryLife Dairy Free Power Dophilus both work for me. I have to take these several times a day though in order for them to work. Synergy Kombucha tea is good for me now too.

I was making coconut kefir but these work better than that ...

Oh and I see that you listed wheat but not gluten. I'd still be sick as a dog if I ate any gluten whatsoever ... just a thought ...
Gluten constipates me as well as causes nuero reactions. I still get constipated if I eat too much meat though ... Do you use suppositories ? Those work better for me than laxatives. Oh and Konsyl is gluten free and works great too. And flax meal is good for this too ... as are healthy fats. Can you tell I'm dealing with this too ?

I felt fluish all the time when I first got sick back in the early 90's. Feeling that way all the time stopped by the late 90's. So I'm not sure if this is a phase of CFS or not. Or if we just catch everything that goes around ... I'm not sure how leaky gut fits in here ... I didn't learn about eliminating food intolerances until 2005 when I got celiac disease. By then, I was too sick from celiac disease to know what was up for a couple of years ...

Time to try to get some sleep again ... hope you feel better soon ... Marcia

 

[Misfit Toy]

Marcia, were you ever on CFS experimental? I looked up the diet. This is yasko right? I know she is into lowering glutamates. I can't eat any gluten. NONE. I will have to look at this. I have to say I am sick of diets. I am already so restricted and I get tired of it. I am like in a bubble. I say that I would do anything to get better, but I do like going out for dinner here and there and eating out.

It says to not have ginger because that is a high oxalate, but that really helps my digestion. Kumbucha tea makes me itch all over and feel AWFUL. I love it. LOVE it and I can't drink it. Something in it is no good for me. I am so allergic to fungus and wonder if it's the mushrooms that I cannot have.

Gotta go to bed now. BEAT.

Thanks Marcia.

The suppository I had mentioned was for yeast; a suppository made of Boric acid and valium. I have interstital cystitis so it calms down spasms. But I had so much yeast that it killed off the yeast and almost killed me in the process. I know I must be loaded.

This is going to sound funny but...I need to become better so that I can become more disciplined because I am just so tired to eat and take care of myself. I try as best as possible. I cook a lot but sometimes I am just too tired to keep it all together. I wish I could hire someone to drive me around, clean, cook....etc. One can dream!!

 

[xchocoholic]

I was on CFS experimental once or twice but didn't stay. My regime is more like DAN than most people's and I haven't found many like me. Catseye and I are on the similar protocals though. She has a thread here. I just happen to disagree with her on needing a doctors help on all of this though. I prefer a combination of testing and listening to my body. I'm sure that both methods of healing leaky gut are good though ..

I started all this back in June 2005, when my GP put me on a wheat, dairy, soy, corn, etc elimination diet because I dropped 10 lbs in one month and there wasn't any stopping it. I was under 110 and 5'5" at the time. This lead me to finding out about gluten, DAN, etc. I have it all in my journey here if you're interested ... or I'm at glutenfreeandbeyond.org as GFCanary most of the time. I'm trying not to be on the computer as much though. I feel better if I'm up and active more now adays ... I think this is from those Solgar free from essential aminos ...


Was that Synergy Kombucha tea ? The homemade stuff bothers me too but I think it's because it's usually made from tea. Tea is high in oxalates but I'm not sure if that's all that bothers me abuot tea.

Ginger tea calms my digestive tract too. The oxalate diet is a total oxalate count so I figure the little bit I get from ginger won't hurt.

I think I know right where you're coming from. I was so sick in 2005 that I was surprised I made it. I did a lot of baking and freezing at that point. And I still will eat raw brocolli, pumpkin seeds, etc if I'm too tired to cook. Can you have sunbutter ? It's made from sunflower seeds and a good quick source of energy for me.

There are people on the lo board who say that the lo diet has helped with their IC ... gotta go ...my text editor is acting weird ... tc ... Marcia

PS. I forgot to say that it could be one of your supplements making you feel fluish too. I bought Metagenics vitamin D and can't take it for that reason. Chlorophyll gets me too ... I was wondering if Diflucan was a good idea too. My doctor refused to give me Diflucan or Nystatin because she said my liver wasn't good enough to handle it ... so I use the natural stuff.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Thank you! This forum and site is acting totally weird today. YES, synergy Kombucha. Can't take it. My urine becomes like fire from it. And yes, it could be one of the supplements that I am on is making me ill. Or more so. But this started before any supplement taking.

Diflucan is the best in my book! It got me 30% better in 2001. I was like a different person even at just 30%. My IC was so much better.

I will look into the oxalates. And you are right, oxolates are bad for IC!!

THANKS!!

 

[SaraM]

Spitfire,
I had the same problem with antibiotics. Just 5 days of it caused severe yeast overgrowth. Difulcan for a few days helped to some extent before. But now after this experience with ABX, and getting eczema from so many foods, I know that I have a severe case of yeast infection and leaky gut.When I am on Paleo diet, the flue like symptoms go away- another indication of yeast problem.

 

[Carrigon]

They should have told you the clindamycin causes serious stomach problems. There's a blackbox warning on it. You can't take it without massive amounts of yogurt and it has to be the natural kind like Stonyfield Farm. My doc had me on clindamycin recently and I had to have tons of the yogurt with it and I still got yeast. I know you said you can't take yogurt.

Can you take acidophilus tablets?

My guess, it's Swine Flu you're walking around with no matter what the tests say. They told me the tests are inaccurate. It takes along time to go away in those of us with compromised immune systems.

If it's viral, no antibiotic will help. If you get a secondary infection, then you will need antibiotics. I did.

If your lungs hurt, you need to go to the ER and let them check it out. You could be walking around with Swine Flu pneumonia.