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Suggest Treatment For Persistent Diarrhea While On Antibiotics
Question: I have had diarrhea for nearly 3 weeks. I have just finished a strong antibiotic Ciprofloxacn because my internist thought it was maybe an infection. But it didn't fix the diarrhea. A PT says I have a mildly prolapsed bladder and inflamed lower intestine. I just want to stop the diarrhea.
Brief Answer:
need a stool sample to the lab
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Diarrhea is most often due to :1)infection (virus, bacteria or parasite) but this can usually be confirmed by a sample of stool to the lab.
The lab would be able to determine if an infection is present and the causative agent.
Antibiotics would not help if it is due to a virus or parasite, they would only treat if it is caused by a type of bacteria that responds to ciprofloxacin (not all bacteria responds to the all antibiotics)
There are a lot of possible agents (bacteria, viruses or parasites) that can cause diarrhea, the lab can help here.
(2)medications such as anti acids with magnesium, some blood pressure medications, pepcid/zantac or the other class of antiacid (nexium, prilosec, prevacid), some herbal products, over use of laxatives
(3)irritable bowel syndrome
(4)inflammatory bowel disease- crohns disease or ulcerative colitis
(5)bowel ischaemia- this means that there is reduced blood supply at some aspect of the bowel, it is not common.
The first step would be a stool sample to the lab to determine if it is definitely related to infection and if so, the type of infection present.
That way can find the best way to treat.
Review any medications or supplements that may be contributing to your symptoms, even if you have been using them for a while.
If the stool sample shows no evidence of infection and there are no causative medications then you may need to have a scope done of the colon if you have not had a recent colonscopy.
if you are not currently seeing a gastroenterologist then this may need to be done.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
need a stool sample to the lab
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Diarrhea is most often due to :1)infection (virus, bacteria or parasite) but this can usually be confirmed by a sample of stool to the lab.
The lab would be able to determine if an infection is present and the causative agent.
Antibiotics would not help if it is due to a virus or parasite, they would only treat if it is caused by a type of bacteria that responds to ciprofloxacin (not all bacteria responds to the all antibiotics)
There are a lot of possible agents (bacteria, viruses or parasites) that can cause diarrhea, the lab can help here.
(2)medications such as anti acids with magnesium, some blood pressure medications, pepcid/zantac or the other class of antiacid (nexium, prilosec, prevacid), some herbal products, over use of laxatives
(3)irritable bowel syndrome
(4)inflammatory bowel disease- crohns disease or ulcerative colitis
(5)bowel ischaemia- this means that there is reduced blood supply at some aspect of the bowel, it is not common.
The first step would be a stool sample to the lab to determine if it is definitely related to infection and if so, the type of infection present.
That way can find the best way to treat.
Review any medications or supplements that may be contributing to your symptoms, even if you have been using them for a while.
If the stool sample shows no evidence of infection and there are no causative medications then you may need to have a scope done of the colon if you have not had a recent colonscopy.
if you are not currently seeing a gastroenterologist then this may need to be done.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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