tips for an 18 m/o on augmentin

amother

Tue, Apr 24 2012, 4:40 pm

we are going to start DS on augmentin tom morning for an ear infection that just hasn't gone away (it's not the first antibiotic we've tried). I've heard that it can cause digestive issues and I was wondering what I can do to prevent them.

I'm not the type to give "probiotic" vitamin type stuff, but DS loves yogurt, so we shouldn't have a problem making him eat that a lot.

Anything else I should know in advance?
Tips from people who have done this already?

JustPlainMe

Tue, Apr 24 2012, 5:06 pm

My very medical minded doctor told me to give probiotics for my baby when she was on antibiotics.

Personally, I don't think a yogurt that's full of sugar has an adequate amount of probiotics to level out antibiotics.

sky

Tue, Apr 24 2012, 5:08 pm

Even if you aren't the type - taking Acidophilus really makes a big difference. for convenience I sometimes give my kids Yummie Oraldophilus - is a very yummy chewable acidophilus that my kids love, it tastes, smells, and looks like candy. It doesn't contain as much acidophilus as the powder but it definitely made a difference.
http://www.wildearthmarket.com......html
I don't think store bought flavored yogurt helps too much. My kids eat a lot of that too but still get weird stomachs on most antibiotics.

Chanala1

Tue, Apr 24 2012, 9:16 pm

I second the acidopholis. my baby got terrible diaper rashes every time she was on a medication, when she was 16 months I finally tried acidopholis and..... no rash!!!!! I bought in health food store. I got the powder one.

amother

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 2:12 am

OP here:
DS has been on antibiotics for the past 2 months or so and has yet to have problems. Now we are changing to augmentin and I just want to know if the difference is that big between narrow spectrum and broad spectrum antibiotics.

amother

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 2:14 am

OP again:
Also, I'm in israel so it may be more difficult to find all the different type of supplements.

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 2:53 am

They sell acidophilus and other probiotics for kids here in israel, too. (And if you ask your doctor for a prescription, some of it should be covered by insurance)

amother

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 3:47 am

Ok, so I bought probiotic yogurt (a perscription will be difficult to obtain in the next two days.
When should I give it to him? He gets antibiotics morning and night and is in Maon in between. So the only meals that we give him, he will be getting with antibiotics. Does it matter?

de_goldy

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 7:43 am

I was on augmentin recently and felt sicker from it than I have felt before in my life. I googled around and it seems very common. I would try anything and everything else before giving it to a small child. Have you tried anything natural? Some chiropracters are great with ear infections.

Tamiri

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 7:50 am

amother wrote:

OP again:
Also, I'm in israel so it may be more difficult to find all the different type of supplements.

They have children's acidophilus here, no problem. Try and find out why the child needs to be on meds. Why the ear infection isn't going away. BTDT. Took my kids off milk and *magic* no more ear problems. You may want to think about it...

5*Mom

Wed, Apr 25 2012, 8:16 am

Probiotics have made it to the medical mainstream, so I can't imagine why someone wouldn't be "the type." It really is necessary, particularly for Augmentin, which is notorious for causing digestive trouble.

If you want to go the yogurt route, you should give him only plain, unflavored, unsweetened yogurt (which, if he's never had it before he isn't likely to eat) either 2 hours before each dose or 1 hour after. But it really is so much simpler to just buy some probiotics at the pharm or health food store.

amother

Thu, Apr 26 2012, 11:16 am

well DS likes unflavored-unsweetened yogurt, and we give it to him regularly. Though for this I bought him some actimel, which he loves too, and so far, 2 days gone and no problems!

anonymrs

Thu, Apr 26 2012, 3:26 pm

Tamiri wrote:

amother wrote:

OP again:
Also, I'm in israel so it may be more difficult to find all the different type of supplements.

Chronic ear infections can be a sign of a food allergy/intolerance. Milk is often the culprit for causing excess fluid and mucus which becomes infected. Definitely worth a try.

amother

Thu, Apr 26 2012, 3:53 pm

anonymrs wrote:

Tamiri wrote:

amother wrote:

OP again:
Also, I'm in israel so it may be more difficult to find all the different type of supplements.

Chronic ear infections can be a sign of a food allergy/intolerance. Milk is often the culprit for causing excess fluid and mucus which becomes infected. Definitely worth a try.

OP here. Somehow I doubt that milk is the reason. The ear infections started when he started daycare and dairy was started well before that. He never had an ear problem before daycare.

The research does warn that big daycare classes (like the 20-odd kids in my DS's class) increase the risk for acute otits media. Statistics wise-that is most probably the reason that he keeps getting ear infections. Unfortunately we are not in a place financially that we can put him in a smaller setting.

Also- his ear infections have usually not been chronic (one's that don't go away)-rather they have been recurrent- with over 2 weeks infection free (after finishing antibiotics) between events. Being that 80% of his diet is dairy based (he will barely touch meat even though we offer it to him often) I would find it extremely difficult and frustrating to stop dairy without further proof that it is causing the ear infections. Also, he eats 3 meals a day out of the house- almost all are dairy (no meat kitchen in maon)- So again, it would be really difficult to get it done.

Right now we are on our 6th or 7th separate ear infection over the past 8 months (this last one was discovered at an ENT consultation (our 3rd) while DS was on prophylactic antibiotics.....-that's the reason for the augmentin). So hopefully the coming summer and the growing little boy will take care of the problem. If not, we will have to take it from there.