Lizzie’s Journey

A lot of people have asked my opinion about prophylactic antibiotics. Are they safe? Are they effective? What kind of side effects do they cause? My first recommendation is always to do some research. Some kids do great with antibiotics, others don’t do well at all. You also need to weigh the risks versus benefits.

I’m not a fan of daily antibiotic therapy. I personally (and this is my personal opinion based on experience and research – not medical advice) feel like antibiotics are ineffective in preventing recurrent infections, and come with a lot of complications. Our Lizzie had 8, yep count them, 8 kidney infections before her first birthday. She was on prophylactic antibiotics for 7 of those infections.

After the first breakthrough infection (6 weeks after her first), we decided to change her antibiotic. We hoped that this time we had it right, and it would prevent further UTI’s. We did this after each infection. She had infections while on amoxicillin, bactrim, suprax, and furadantin. We even spent a few months alternating her antibiotics every week, in hopes that we could “confuse” the bacteria and keep them from colonizing. No such luck.

I suppose my biggest fear with daily antibiotics is the chance of resistant bacteria. On two separate occasions, Lizzie got a resistant strain of bacteria (psuedomonas). I will always believe that this was because of the daily low dose antibiotics along with monthly high doses from recurrent infection. Both times she had to be admitted to the hospital for 3/4 days, and both times she had to have a pic line. A pic line is basically a longer term IV, that allows you to give IV antibiotics from home instead of remaining in the hospital.

Antibiotics are very hard on the body. They disrupt the flora in the gut, and can cause major issues. This is a big concern for us, because of Lizzie’s constipation and yeast problems. Lizzie goes through cycles of being constipated and having a really loose stool. We can’t know if that is due to her condition or because of her daily antibiotic use. Because of that, it is very hard to diagnose and treat her bowel issues.

Yeast is also something that we deal with a lot due to antibiotics. The antibiotics don’t just attack the bad bacteria, they attack the good bacteria that you need to be healthy. Lizzie has had multiple yeast infections and we just got over a bad case of thrush.

Don’t get me wrong with all of this, I don’t think antibiotics are evil and I’m not against them in general. Antibiotics have literally saved our daughter’s life, so I know first hand how amazing they can be. I also understand that there are children who are more prone to UTI, and less responsive to antibiotics. But I do feel like antibiotics are over-prescribed, and can be dangerous for young children. There are studies showing that children on antibiotics at a young age are more prone to health problems such as asthma later in life.

So how do you balance it all and make the decision? Again, this is MY opinion, with no medical expertise. I would avoid antibiotics if I were able to do so. I might try heavy doses of probiotics along with more natural ways of avoiding UTI’s (cranberry juice, showers rather than baths, etc) before trying antibiotics. There has been some study on the effectiveness of treating VUR with probiotics, with positive results. This article has some good info. If there was a breakthrough infection, I might start prophylaxis, but I would consider going ahead with Deflux injection or reimplantation. There have been studies supporting Deflux injection before using prophylaxis.

All that being said… I’m a hypocrite, and Lizzie remains on antibiotics to this day. Because Lizzie’s case is so complicated, all of the specialists we have talked to have insisted that she stay on them. As much as we hate it, we don’t feel comfortable going against medical advice. It made the decision a lot easier when they threatened to quit treating her if we went against their advice.

So if your stuck with antibiotics, what do you do? My suggestion are:

• Probiotics – Florastor is one of the best to take while on antibiotics. It has a better chance of colonizing in spite of the antibiotics. It should be taken at least 2 hours before abx, but I try to give it half-way between doses.
• Watch your child’s sugar intake. This has really helped us in the yeast department.
• A healthy diet is imperative for helping to control the gut. Adding fiber to prevent constipation and making sure they are getting plenty of fruits and veggies.
• We also try to limit foods that have had exposure to antibiotics. This includes milk,cheese, beef, and chicken. Your best option is to buy foods that state on the label that they are antibiotic free (many companies are doing this now, Tysons, Kraft), or buy organic. If she is already taking daily antibiotics, I don’t want her to ingest extra doses, ya know?
• Lots of unsweetened Cranberry juice and water. Some studies show that cranberry juice can help reduce incidence of UTI and resistant bacteria. It can also be given capsules. Great to add to a smoothie, then your little one never knows it’s there!

Be sure and check out our links page under antibiotics, for some great info of prophylactic antibiotics.