Some of us have been on chronic antibiotics due to what may be considered bacterial overgrowth. I have not experienced some of the issues you are talking about though. I am on cipro now (small dose) and it really helps with my symptoms.

What has your doctor recommended for herbals? I know green tea, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric and fish oil are all anti inflammatories. Garlic is very beneficial and acts as a natural antibiotic and onions are good if you can tolerate them. I do take probiotics every day as do many on the board and my surgeon has always recommended this.

Jeanne you are so helpful, thanks. I don't have the list yet he wants me to start with cipro and the other anti biotic but I will make a note to let you know when I get the list.

I get small bowel bacteria overgrowth not pouchitis. I take Omnicef it is the only antibiotic that does work for me. Flagyl is actually not used for bacteria overgrowth only pouchitis, according to Bo Shen at Cleveland Clinic. They use Cipro but Cipro does nothing for me and actually creates more gas and issues when I go on it so I stick to Omnicef, think the generic is called Cefidnar or something like that. Diet is the main thing. Sugar is the culprit to bacteria overgrowth, yeast, refined bread, grains, etc. I went on a Paleo diet and it made a world of difference. Also look into the SCD diet. It can take a year to make a difference with diet but if I eat sugar or bread it starts all over again and I have to go back on antibiotics.

Bo Shen put me on Lactulose Solution USP and it has helped me a lot and cut my antibiotic dependency down about 80%. I can not use probiotics they make me worse.

I don't know what type of bacteria you are being treated for so will talk about mine.

I use to get C-Diff infections when I had UC and have had a nasty one or chain of them since my take down. Unlike Vanessavy I can not take Cipro as there are many antibiotics which can cause it. I take Flagyl to get rid of C-diff. I also use VSL#3DS daily as my probiotic. I understand why your doctor is waiting to put you on a probiotic as they can work against your antibiotic. I had to time when I took Flagyl and my VSL#3.

I am glad your doctor discovered this as I know I went 3 months with mine untreated this year. My surgeon diagnosed cuffitis and I went to my GI who eventually did another pouch scope to confirm the cuffitis and also took a stool sample to test. I had cuffitis and C-Diff at the same time.

I recently had to go to an Urgent Care facility for stitches. Besides receiving a tetanus/whooping cough shot he prescribed a heavy duty antibiotic combo, one was amoxicillian and I forget the other was. I contacted my doctor and was told to quit taking it and increase my probiotics - I had just taken 2 doses. We do not want my C-diff to come back.

The reason is the prescription was preventative. She said if it got red and/or inflamed to take the antibiotic.

I'm not saying antibiotics cause C-diff infections but because I get it taking certain ones can cause it to come back.

I think what your doctor is doing makes sense plus if I were you I'd investigate that certain kind (s) of bacteria more.

Good luck

My son had that test and they found bacteria in his stools as well. If I remember correctly they wanted him on xifacan and some herbal cant remember the name for 2 weeks. He just did the herb. His UC was not that bad so I'm not sure if this or did not do anything. I hope u feel better soon.

`````Jeane, Ally Kat, TE Marie, Vanessavy,
Thanks so much for your input. I will do more investigating. The herbals they told me to take to fight it were lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium lactis probiotics arabinogalactins, soy lectin, green tea extract, berberine, concentrated oils of thyme and oregano, lglutamine (Can't take with cancer) Chinese licorice, and lactoferrin.