Antibiotics, strep and pandas

[mar]

Okay here I go. With the strep throat my kids are put on on antibiotics and with sinus infections or ear infections. They are not on antibiotics in between. This is what I am still fighting inside is that ds was put on them so many times between an infant and 7 years old at the time that it really messed up his gut and took several years of healing. Yes with the recent

strep and only step bc they have been fine otherwise I put them on antibiotic. I guess what confuses me is that a lot of children are put on antibiotic over long courses of time. How do you deal with gut issues? I feel like my kids get worse being on them. I feel like it could be due to messing up there gut. Like with dd all of a sudden she got congested after two days of being on them, she is sneezing a lot which she never does. I always wonder what is in there. She also gets hyperactive when she is on them. Me and DH have noticed this for over 7 yrs that when they are on it they tend to act differently or are more hyper. But the wired part is I remember ds being worst with them when he was younger and I couldn't wait for him to finish the dose as i feel now with dd. I truely wonder if it's the growing of yeast aspect. I can't imagine them being on them for longer periods.

here case I feel the yeast takes over.

se in the back of my mind is antibiotic resilience over time. Like I mentioned before I think I am going crazy but always wonder!!!

Mar

[MomWithOCDSon]

My DS was on antibiotics for two years and while I'm sure it takes a toll on certain parts of his body, we decided then -- and feel validated now -- that the results were worth the costs.

 

We were very diligent and heavy-handed with probiotics during his antibiotic years, dosing around 180 to 200 billion units daily of mixed organisms including lactobillus, sach b. and bifo. We also used bentonite clay a couple of times each month to help "sweep" any organism die-off from his gut. The start-up was a little rocky because the abx caused some diarrhea and it took a bit (maybe a month?) for the probiotics to really populate the gut sufficiently to where DS's system got back into balance. But once we were there, his gut issues were pretty much resolved.

 

Your DD's response . . . in particular the sneezing and congestion . . . makes me wonder about a histamine response on her part and whether or not the antibiotics might inspire some sort of additional histamine response in her gut? I'm just speculating here, but it might be worth looking into. Besides the sneezing and congestion, does she have any other typical histamenergic symptoms? Mold, dust and/or pollen allergies? Eczema or hives? Reflux? Brief but dramatic "fight or flight" reactions to anxiety triggers?

 

Our DS has a naturally high histamine level, which we knew about with respect to seasonal allergies, but had not connected with his gut or even necessarily his eczema, let alone his behavior, for years. But once we used Pepcid for some reflux he developed, the other issues quieted down significantly, too. Still, though, when he's at all "edgy," he will literally act as though he's allergic to a trigger, usually homework. Kid you not, the boy sits down at his desk to start some homework, and he begins to sneeze over and over and over again! I'm not sure if the anxiety triggers the histamine, or the other way around, or if it just takes on a life of its own and begins its vicious cycle. At any rate, when he hits one of those periods, we've been increasing his once-a-day Pepcid from the regular 10 mg. dose to the "maximum strength" 20 mg. dose, and the sneezing . . . along with the eczema outbreak and "fight or flight," pretty much stops in its tracks.

 

I think all of this is enormously complex and, as you've mentioned, taking one step to help (abx) might inadvertently cause a problem elsewhere (gut), so it's all a balancing act: what "costs" are you able to pay for the best outcome you can manage? It sucks that's what some of this comes down to, but it's hard for me to see it any other way most of the time. In the end, my prayer is that if we do everything we possibly can during their childhoods to help our kids, their maturing minds and bodies will pick up where our interventions leave off, and they'll live healthy, happy, productive lives. Knock on wood, thus far, that seems to be bearing up for my DS, and I know it's happened for some others, too. Hang in there!