Antibiotics GI side effects: how late can they start?

Posted by baguette @baguette, 6 days ago

I have had a stubborn case of cellulitis. During the first round of antibiotics, Bactrim, I suffered stabbing pain in the kidneys and nausea. Blood test revealed my eGFR had gone from reference range to chronic kidney disease stage 3. My NP said stop taking the antibiotic, tabbing the kidney issue as a result of the antibiotic.

The infection persisted, so she prescribed doxycycline and a combo of amoxicillin and clavulanate Potassium. On the ninth day of taking these antibiotics, I suffered from diarrhea and vomiting and a severe headache. The NP said it was too late in the course of the treatment for the antibiotics to have caused those symptoms, it must have been some other cause.

Does anyone know if antibiotics can cause side effects on the ninth day of a 10-day course? It seemed strange to me that symptoms arose on the ninth day in both cases, and that the NP seemed to be on board that the kidney issue was related to the meds, but not the GI distress.

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robal19 | @robal19 | 6 days ago

Could you have had sepsis?

baguette | @baguette | 5 days ago

In reply to @robal19 "Could you have had sepsis?" + (show)

The NP said I had cellulitis in my toe. I hope it's not sepsis. The GI issues are slowly resolving; after not eating for 24 hours am cautiously eating small snacks. My fatigue is also slowly lessening. I hope these are signs of no sepsis.

caryn13 | @caryn13 | 5 days ago

Prior to my recent Partial Colectomy, I had many courses of Cipro and Flagyl for chronic Diverticulitis. Strong antibiotics like these as well as Doxycycline can absolutely cause Diarrhea and Headache. While they kill the bad bacteria, they destroy our good gut bacteria at the same time. Stay hydrated, take electrolytes and ask your doc about a good probiotic after your course of antibiotics.

andreaworks | @andreaworks | 5 days ago

Antibiotics were the beginning of cdiff for me. If your diarrhea persists, stomach issue continue, go to your pcp for testing.

baguette | @baguette | 5 days ago

Thank you everyone for your comments. To clarify, the question was not whether antibiotics can cause GI symptoms and headaches.

The question is, if those symptoms occur on the 9th day of a 10-day course of treatment, could they be attributed to the antibiotics? The NP says no. BTW the vomiting and diarrhea were short-lived.