As you may have figured out by now, I often need an inspiration for a post entry - sometimes that inspiration comes from a place completely out of left field and unrelated to Gastroparesis itself. In this case, my inspiration came from my niece's recent diagnosis of a strep throat.
There is only one way to really cure a strep throat - through the use of antibiotics, and that is what my niece is taking. Antibiotics are not necessarily "bad" drugs. They can treat many horrifying conditions, and have been a life saver for many people. When you have a bacterial infection, something designed to kill that infection is logically the way to go.
However, when you are dealing with a stomach condition, antibiotics can cause all kinds of havoc. To be exact, there is a theory that Colleen has that taking an antibiotic to cure a case of the shingles years ago may have contributed to where she is now.
Antibiotics do not discriminate when they go into action. In addition to killing off the bad bacteria that is causing your illness, they also kill off beneficial bacteria within your system. In some cases, an antibiotic is not necessarily designed to kill bacteria - some are designed to stop bacteria from growing. This is the case for a drug Gastroparesis sufferers all know a lot about: Erythomycin. This antibiotic is often prescribed to Gastroparesis sufferers, but not for its bacterial benefits. Rather, it is given because it is proven to have prokinetic properties. This drug doesn't necessarily have a tremendous track record in the treatment of Gastroparesis, and it does sometimes have me wondering if it is actually doing more harm than good in the overall landscape. Remember, nobody designed this antibiotic to cure or even treat Gastroparesis, and that in itself can lead one to hesitate before going on a consistent regimen.
Think about that for a second: You have a terrible stomach condition, so the doctor prescribes you a drug that attacks bacteria (both good in bad) in the region of your body that you are having trouble with. Unfortunately, drugs cannot be programmed. The doctor can't flip a switch in an Erythomycin pill that tells it to only help contract the stomach while leaving bacteria alone.
This is not to say that Erythomycin cannot work for you or anyone who has Gastroparesis. Sufferers of this condition are desperate to find anything that can give them relief, and if this drug can provide that for you, I would not tell you to stay away.
By the same token, you need to be somewhat careful when using anything that takes good stuff out of your body. Because of that, some doctors may recommend you take a probiotic - in theory, this is a great idea: All the bad bacteria is forced out of the body, now let us reload it with the good stuff. You can get over-the-counter probiotics, but another great source of probiotics comes in the form of Kefir, which is essentially liquid yogurt. Colleen takes this every day, and doesn't even need to take a large amount of it. (For the record, she is not on any antibiotics - she takes it because it is a part of a program she is on to try to get rid of the evil disease inside of her).
There has been debate on whether or not you should take a probiotic during antibiotic treatment or after. I was under the impression that you should take it afterwards - after all, the antibiotic will just kill the good bacteria you are putting back in your body, right? The answer in reality is that it actually doesn't seem to matter and it may be beneficial to take the probiotic during treatment.
Regardless, just remember that there is no cure for Gastroparesis - and that no antibiotic that has been formulated was designed to cure Gastroparesis. If your doctor wishes to put you on Erythomycin (if you have Gastroparesis, this is a given), follow instructions carefully. Typically, you will not want to take this like you would if you actually had a bacterial infection as your body will become immune to it.
In the end, it is my personal belief that antibiotics should only be used for what they are designed for: To cure bacterial infections. They shouldn't be used for viruses, and they probably should not be used for something like Gastroparesis. I am not an expert and nothing close to being a doctor, but I do like to say that fitting a square peg into a round hole typically doesn't work in the long run.
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