<p>As many of you may know, I was attacked a week ago. I have now gone back for suture removal, and ther was some complications. I had been on antibiotics for the last week, and they now prescibed me another, which they say is very strong. The nurse advised me to drink buttermilk or eat yogurt to prevent a yeast infection. Is one or the other better for the "live culture’ that they say I need to prevent this? I have not been to a doctor in 20 years, and don’t know about these things so I would appreciate input. Thanks.</p>
<p>GA2012MOM, what a terrible experience! I hope you will heal quickly. </p>
<p>As to your question, I vote yogurt. My doctor has recommended it, and it’s much more palatable than buttermilk. </p>
<p>[Yogurt</a> and Its Many Health Benefits on MedicineNet.com](<a href=“http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=79753]Yogurt”>http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=79753)</p>
<p>GA2012MOM - I hadn’t heard about your attack. How scary!</p>
<p>Regarding antibiotics… you can do yogurt (I’ve never been a fan of yogurt, so it was never much of an option for me) or go to your local health food store and explain your situation to them. They will have OTC acidophillus pills you can take, which for me, was easier.</p>
<p>I hope you are doing ok - how scary for you.</p>
<p>I believe a lot of yogurt is pasteurised and does not have live culture nowadays. Some greek yogurt is very good and I think has the live culture. If you have a store that sells organic or natural foods, greek yogurt with honey is very rich and creamy. I am not an enormous yogurt fan but find greek yogurt with honey pretty yummy. Very rich.</p>
<p>I like buttermilk-
but I like yogurt too
our groceries here have almost as many choices for yogurt as coffee.</p>
<p>while eating extra acidophulus should help from getting yeast infections- I would also suggest drastically limit sugar and yeast ( bread)</p>
<p>get one of the yogurts that says probiotics or live cultures on it-- a lot of the yogurt sold at places like whole foods has live cultures in it. it will help repopulate your natural bacterial population and help mitigate a range of problems due to antibiotics.</p>
<p>GA2012MOM: I can’t add to the good advice you’ve been given here, except to say: Once you’re all healed, it’s time for a routine physical exam!! Find yourself a good doctor whom you trust and go see him/her once a year just for a look-see. </p>
<p>Can we assume you have been getting routine gynocological checkups? Please say yes. :)</p>
<p>Just in case the yogurt doesn’t succeed, you can get over the counter medicines now to treat yeast infections, I believe.
There was a bit of controversy a few years back about whether or not to allow this as (not suggesting this is you at all) very often the first symptoms of HIV infection in women is a persistent yeast infection and there was concern that repeatedly using OTC products could delay correct diagnosis of the underlying problem and delay treatment.</p>
<p>GA2012MOM–be careful w/that antibiotic! A mom on CC told me about her son’s v. bad experience w/clyndomycin. Some strong antibiotics can cause long-term intestinal distress. My elderly mom was put on that while healing from a severe skin abrasion (I think it’s good for skin injuries). But, the pharmacist told her to get acidophilus supplements (they are a non-prescription supplement). They have the same type of ingrediants as active yogurt cultures, but stronger. My mom already had intestinal issues, and it prevented an aggravation of that. Good luck!</p>
<p>GA2012MOM-
Just discovering news of your assault. I am so sorry to hear this! I don’t know which antibiotic you are on, but like the experience reported by Jolynne, my s ended up in the hospital with colitis from c difficile after one dose (yes, one dose) of clindamycin. Now, whenever he takes antibiotics, he takes the over-the-counter probiotics (acidophilus, culturelle or the like) to keep the “flora and fauna” in his gut in balance. He was really sick, and it can be fatal in some (fortunately a minority of) cases, so be careful!!</p>
<p>Interesting… I can say that of all the antibiotics I’ve ever taken (and there’s been a number of them) clindamycin is the only one I had an allergic reaction to… horrible rash, so we know it was an allergic reaction. </p>
<p>jym - how does clindamycin cause C dif? Or did he end up in the hospital from colitis, then pick up C dif in the hospital?</p>
<p>Hi teriwtt-
I had a thread about his experience when it happened several years ago, but apparently ceocin (clindamycin) is notorious for causing c-diff. He didn’t get it in the hospital-- its what sent him to the hospital. They thought at first he had e-coli. It was scary and no fun. [Clostridium</a> difficile–Induced Colitis: Digestive Disorders: Merck Manual Home Edition](<a href=“http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec09/ch127/ch127a.html]Clostridium”>http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec09/ch127/ch127a.html)</p>
<p>GAMOM . I stand by the otc acidoplilius. I had meningitis last summer and was on IV antibiotics for 4 weeks and it threw my whole system into chaos. I even ended back up in the hosp. with diverticulitis because all my good germs were killed off. Then I started w/ the acidophilus. Might have avoided the diverticulitis had I taken it earlier.</p>
<p>Good luck and take care of yourself!</p>
<p>wow jym - I’d never heard of an antibiotic causing c-diff. We encounter c-diff in some of our patients some times, and we always take universal precautions, so I assumed the only way you could get it is transmittal via the bug itself. Thanks for the link.</p>
<p>When my then three year old D had recurrent ear infections her doctor recommended I go to the pharmacy and buy refrigerated packets of Lactobacillus to put over her cereal, etc.</p>
<p>Today Lactobacillus can be found in Probiotics. You can buy these at a good health food store.</p>
<p>For many individuals diary products that come from cows - like yogurt and buttermilk - can upset their digestive system even more.</p>
<p>I would recommend you find a good Probiotic to take instead.</p>
<p>Actually, most grocery stores sell probiotics these days. You want one with more than one culture, four or five is better. A probiotic capsule will give you the equivalent for many containers of yogurt in one capsule. They really do make a huge difference when taking antibiotics.</p>
<p>Teriwtt-
You are welcome–
My terrible typing skills letd to my mistyping of “Cleocin” , the the brand name for clindamycin.</p>
<p>Apparently there are several antibiotics that can cause pseudomembranous colitis-- cleocin is just one of the bigger culprits. There are lots of articles on the web about antibiotics causing c diff and colitis. I just pulled one up for you.
And yes, as others said above, fortunately there are lots of over the counter probiotics. Even some regular milk is fortified with vitamins and lactobacillis or acidophilus. You arent limited to yogurt and buttermik these days-- lots of other choices!</p>
<p>jym–I’m so glad you first shared that info re: clindamycin. My mom’s pharma rec’d her taking a supplement & I insisted (after hearing you mention the poss. problems). I’ve told a number of friends whose older parents are on high-intensity antibiotics to take a supplement, also.</p>
<p>Thanks, Jolynne.
I’ve heard some scary stories of ongoing GI problems and recurrence of c-diff in the elderly after treatment with clindamycin. </p>
<p>Interestingly, both my s’s were given topical cream Rx from a dermatologist with clindamycin in it. My older one (the one who had gotten so sick and told the dermatologist he was allergic to clindamycin) wisely refused the meds entirely. Younger s tried it, but took a probiotic with it for the first few weeks, as he was about to head off to college and we didnt need a recurrence of the previous experience (older s was in the hospital with his bout of c-diff until 2-3 days before we left to take him to college)</p>
<p>Wow, that’s scary, jym–but avoidable, fortunately, if you know what to do (probiotics, etc.). Glad your sons were okay. Good info to share!</p>