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How am I going to do this?


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My dd is going back to school in 3 weeks. She is on so many different medicines and supplements (which I'm sure is a common theme here) and I just cannot figure out how to properly give her all her medicines in the hours that are available in the day. I'm not even sure if I correctly understood all that I have read here on this forum in regards to dispensing medicine. Please keep in mind that I would prefer not to get the school involved in dispensing medication as I do not want to open a pandora's box with the school nurse as to why my daughter needs to be on long term antibiotics. Here are the questions I have:

 

1. Do you absolutely have to give antibiotics 2 hours apart from any other medications? (meaning if I give her Flagyl or azith at 6:00 I cannot give her any medicine after 4:00 and before 8:00)

 

2. Can you give 2 antibiotics together? (ex. Flagyl and Azith)

 

3. Can you give probiotics together with an antifungal for yeast? (ex. Custom probiotics and Enhansa)

 

4. How do you fit in activated charcoal??!! We just started Enhansa for yeast and from what I have been reading about it the die-off can be brutal (even if you were on an antifungal like diflucan previously). You have to increase the dosage slowly and by the time she goes back to school she will be on the highest dose possible. I'm terrified of her facing this without the benefit of activated charcoal.

 

How do you all do it? Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated. Some info you might need to know : my daughter wakes up at 6:00am, starts school at 7:45, gets out at 2:05, and goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:15pm. Thanks for giving me to opportunity to learn from all of you!!

 

Caring Mom

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Well... I can't answer with certainty, but I can tell you what I am doing with my son based on what I've read and/or been told.

 

1. I think it would depend on the particular medication whether you can give it at the same time as the antibiotics. I would recommend thoroughly reading the information sheets that come with each medication. They list what types of foods, supplements, and other medications might be contraindicated and would therefore need to be avoided, either for a certain period of time, e.g. 2 hours before/after, or possibly altogether. I do think many medications can be taken at the same time as abx. Do you give the Flagyl and Azith once per day or twice a day?

 

2. I have been told by my son's doctor that 2 antibiotics can be given together and we are doing this now (Omnicef and Azith.) This is done all the time with Lyme. Again, I'd advise reading the inserts though just to be sure that the 2 particular antibiotics you are using are not contraindicated. You should probably also check with your dd's doc just to be sure.

 

3. I believe it is OK to give (bacterial) probiotics at the same time as the anti-fungal, and I have done this. The bacteria should not be affected by the anti-fungal med. I have also given the anti-fungal at the same time as abx.

 

4. Unfortunately, I think the activated charcoal probably needs to be taken away from both the abx and the probitiocs, which makes it a tough one to fit in. I'm not positive about that though, so hopefully someone else can provide more info on that.

 

I do know how you feel. I have struggled myself to figure out how to fit everything in. I feel like I am shoving stuff at my son all day long.

 

Perhaps you could try giving the meds in the AM (together if possible), send her to school with probiotics for lunchtime, give the antifungal when she gets home from school, 2 hours later give the activated charcoal, meds again around 6:00p (if your abx is twice daily), then vitamins/supplements, and probiotics before bed.

Edited by JT's Mom
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Well... I can't answer with certainty, but I can tell you what I am doing with my son based on what I've read and/or been told.

 

1. I think it would depend on the particular medication whether you can give it at the same time as the antibiotics. I would recommend thoroughly reading the information sheets that come with each medication. They list what types of foods, supplements, and other medications might be contraindicated and would therefore need to be avoided, either for a certain period of time, e.g. 2 hours before/after, or possibly altogether. I do think many medications can be taken at the same time as abx. Do you give the Flagyl and Azith once per day or twice a day?

 

2. I have been told by my son's doctor that 2 antibiotics can be given together and we are doing this now (Omnicef and Azith.) This is done all the time with Lyme. Again, I'd advise reading the inserts though just to be sure that the 2 particular antibiotics you are using are not contraindicated. You should probably also check with your dd's doc just to be sure.

 

3. I believe it is OK to give (bacterial) probiotics at the same time as the anti-fungal, and I have done this. The bacteria should not be affected by the anti-fungal med. I have also given the anti-fungal at the same time as abx.

 

4. Unfortunately, I think the activated charcoal probably needs to be taken away from both the abx and the probitiocs, which makes it a tough one to fit in. I'm not positive about that though, so hopefully someone else can provide more info on that.

 

I do know how you feel. I have struggled myself to figure out how to fit everything in. I feel like I am shoving stuff at my son all day long.

 

Perhaps you could try giving the meds in the AM (together if possible), send her to school with probiotics for lunchtime, give the antifungal when she gets home from school, 2 hours later give the activated charcoal, meds again around 6:00p (if your abx is twice daily), then vitamins/supplements, and probiotics before bed.

 

 

JT's Mom,

 

Thank you so much for responding! My daughter is on both antibiotics twice a day and it would be a big help to give her both at the same time. I keep remembering a post I read quite a while back that was talking about the importance of not giving antibiotics 2 hours before or 2 hours after any other medicine. Waiting that amount of time is what's killing me. Giving her the Flagyl and Azith together will allow me to fit in the charcoal in the afternoon 2 1/2 hours after the antibiotics and 2 1/2 hours before her probiotics and anti-yeast med. I will check with her DAN to make sure I can combine both antibiotics together. I wasn't aware this was done for Lyme treatment. I feel much better now. Thank you again for helping me to sort this out!!

 

Caring Mom

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Hi - you can give the antifungal with bacterial probiotics but you should space it apart from the florastor. And, I believe, the florastor should be ok given with the abx if you need to...

How long would you space it apart from the florastor- 2hours? 3hours? Also, I'm too paranoid to give any probiotics with my daughter's abx.

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Philamom - Florastor (Saccharomyces boulardii) is sometimes referred to as a probiotic, but you are correct... it is yeast, not bacteria.

 

So, dut is right on. You want to keep the antibiotics away from the probiotics and the antifungal away from the yeast. The former kills the latter in both cases. But, the antibiotics won't affect the yeast and the antifungal won't affect the probiotics, so you can give those things together, i.e. abx w/Florastor and antifungal w/probiotics.

 

I also read that on the Florastor pamphlet (not to give it while on antifungals), but it doesn't seem much different to me than giving probiotics while on antibiotics. The point is that you are tyring to replace the "bad" types of bacteria and yeast with good types. That being said though, I did slack off on the Florastor while I was giving my son Diflucan, but I am absolutely religious about giving him probiotics while on abx. It is critical to helping avoid gut issues from the meds.

 

I try to give probiotics at least 2 hours after antibiotics.

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Philamom - Florastor (Saccharomyces boulardii) is sometimes referred to as a probiotic, but you are correct... it is yeast, not bacteria.

 

So, dut is right on. You want to keep the antibiotics away from the probiotics and the antifungal away from the yeast. The former kills the latter in both cases. But, the antibiotics won't affect the yeast and the antifungal won't affect the probiotics, so you can give those things together, i.e. abx w/Florastor and antifungal w/probiotics.

 

I also read that on the Florastor pamphlet (not to give it while on antifungals), but it doesn't seem much different to me than giving probiotics while on antibiotics. The point is that you are tyring to replace the "bad" types of bacteria and yeast with good types. That being said though, I did slack off on the Florastor while I was giving my son Diflucan, but I am absolutely religious about giving him probiotics while on abx. It is critical to helping avoid gut issues from the meds.

 

I try to give probiotics at least 2 hours after antibiotics.

 

JT's Mom & Dut- Thank you for helping me sort this out. I agree with the importance of probiotics while on abx...my daughter has a history of c-diff infections. But, I'm still hesitant of giving the Florastor at the same time as the abx. I think I'll try Culturelle/antifungal am, antibiotic at lunch, bentonite clay at dinner, and Custom Probiotics/antifungal pm.

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