Your experiences on anti-biotics

Hey Guys,

I want to know if any of you Vegans out there have had any problems while on antibiotics. I have been on them for about a week now and drawing to a close for an infection I had. But I have been noticing these strange things happening, and I'm worried they have to do with my diet. When I worry about my diet, I worry that I'm not healthy enough or not eating well enough. When I worry that I'm unhealthy, I get really disheartened about my Veganism, and horrible thoughts fill my head. So I just wanted to know if any of you have had strange experiences while on antibiotics.

Most specifically I have noticed this horrible feeling of an empty stomach at night. I take one pill in the morning and then one at night. After I eat dinner at night I have been feeling ill, followed by a feeling of an empty stomach. Dinner last night and night before that was pasta with broccoli and mushrooms with a sauce made out of silk, earth balance, salt, garlic and nutritional yeast, and arrowroot. Tonight's dinner was a curry with sauteed onion, garlic and apple, cooked with tomatoes and green peppers, curry powder, chick peas, and green peas with slices of banana on top, all over basmati rice. The meal was good, but a little over 2 hours I feel this hungry feeling/ill feeling. I haven't taken my antibiotic yet, I do just before I sleep.

I have also had this twitch in my left hand and more specifically my thumb, I'm worried this might be a calcium thing (hypocalcemia) or something nasty like that....

anyway, any imput would appreciated.

I've been on antibiotics for weeks due to a chronic sinus infection. I find that if I take them on an empty stomach and eat right after, I'm ok. But if I take them after I eat or on a full stomach, the make my stomach feel awful. They also leave a really bad metallic taste in my mouth.
I take a probiotic after every meal. Since antibiotics kill all intestinal bacteria, including the healthy ones, probiotics can help replacing the 'good bacteria'. Probiotics help regulate the intestinal system. Hope this helps!

i believe that being on hardcore antibiotics for a long time crashed my b12 level, so make sure you are getting plenty of b12. the symptoms i had from low b12 was pain/soreness in the muscles of my legs mostly and sometimes arms. felt like i had run a marathon when i had walked only around the block.

i read basically that because antibiotics mess with the good bacteria in the gut, and some? of our b12 is produced in the gut, that antibiotics can cause b12 deficiency. that is a very vague synopsis of the research i did about a year ago. you may want to google it.

hope you feel better :)

:eek:

Not to deter anyone from taking antibiotics when needed...

I was on some of them, and then high dose NSAID for inflammation. Now, I'm on a different NSAID for just over two weeks, and developed bad symptoms of stomach distress that usually occur with long-term use. I think my system got worn down from the medications in the fall - I took all the anti-biotics prescribed, but only a third of the NSAID. Pain, uck. I get an empty feeling in the stomach and nausea. I've always been quite sensitive to these things; I could always take 100 mg ibuprofen to make a headache go away within about 1 or 2 hours (unless it was a severe migraine headache, that would last me a couple days and I wouldn't be able to do much even with 400 mg ibuprofen and more; fortunately that is controlled with different medication now).

I hate taking antibiotics. They make me feel awful, especially if I take one on an empty stomach. I don't really think it has anything to do with our diets as most of us on this forum are very careful to make sure we're getting all of our nutrients. I think it's as purdy bird said- they destroy all bacteria in your stomach. I take antibiotics only as a last resort now. Ugh.