Hi Robyn,

I'm concerned that this dentist doesn't know what he's doing... seriously!! If he is an oral surgeon then he has seen this situation countless times.... how come he cannot diagnose it?? You asked if an ENT could take care of this.... I don't think so because it's definitely dental related.

I guess the best thing to do right now is to keep your mouth very clean, keep rinsing with warm salt water several times a day. I know that the antibiotic can cause alot of havoc with the intestines.... make sure to take your probiotic one hour prior or 2 hours after your antibiotic so they dont' interfere with each other. If you are taking Culturelle probiotic or most other ones for that matter, you can double the dosage while you are on the antibiotic. If you should develop any signs of blood in your bowel movements, then you should call the dentist asap and stop the antibiotics.

Why do you take prenatal vitamins? They are not meant to be taken unless you are pregnant because the potency of those supplements is geared toward a pregnant woman's needs only. Have you tried any others??

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna, I would say the surgery is definitely on now, I had to quit taking the antibiotics yesterday evening. They were wreaking havoc on my stomache, probiotics or not. I slept an hour and a half last nite due to my stomache feeling so bloated that it woke me up. Ummm Yeah the man scares me alot with his ignorance. He has been an oral surgeon for 30 years and I agree with you that he should know what he's doing but well there you go. I have another question for you, when he mentioned surgery he never said if I would be put under or given a local which is it normally? I absolutely postively can NOT do a local on that side due to the Trigeminal Neuralgia and if I am to be sedated then I need to round up a driver, he won't put me under unless the driver is sitting in the waiting room. I was chastised and berated several times by one of his assistants when I had the extractions done two weeks by telling my daughter to come an hour later to pick me up so she wouldn't have to sit and wait. It was fine last June when he did extractions on the right side but this time they had a fit. I had to sit and wait that morning until my daughter got there before they took me back which was fine but then I argued with the assistant before I was put under. Lol I've never seen a practice so hellbent on making everything your fault and making sure you know it!!

Hi Robyn,

Did you call the dentist and tell him you stopped the antibiotic? IF he is going to do the surgery to explore that swollen area, it is important to be on an antibiotic before, during and afterwards. So he needs to be informed of your decision to stop it or it could delay things quite a bit. I understand the antibiotic is causing intestinal distress and I don't blame you for not taking it. But at this point, any oral antibiotic is going to cause the same reaction so the dentist might prescribe IV antibiotics at this point. Evidently, your intestinal flora was out of whack to begin with and then several rounds of antibiotics just exaggerated the problem. Are you still taking the probiotic? What brand is it and how often are you using it?

As far as the surgery... if you are going to have IV sedation, you would have to arrange that ahead of time with the office so they can give you the appropriate amount of time for your appointment. Also, it is common practice to not start a patients surgery unless their "ride" is present in the office.

I'm sorry you are having such problems ....... when do you see him next?

Bryanna

I do believe he scheduled me in a slot to allow time for surgery Wednesday. I overheard him talking to the assistant who did the scheduling. As for having a driver I have no problem with having someone there but I didn't need someone berating me about it. Being told once was plenty. I just remembered tonite something he said to me last Wednesday that ties into "it's my fault" program he and his staff adhere to. He was going over my medications and made the remark "Well it's no wonder you aren't healing with all thes pain meds you take." Ok, I take an anti-seizure med and a muscle relaxer for the TN. Not a really huge laundry list of meds I don't think. I used to be on a whole lot more but I culled that way down due to side effects.

As for the stomache issue, It didn't really get bad until yesterday evening and he won't be in the office until Monday. I will have to wait until then to tell him. I agree with you on that I think I was having stomache issues before the antibiotics but it is way worse now. I am very uncomfortable with the pain and bloating. I have been taking Zantac, eating antacids and swigging Pepto. Nothing is giving me any relief. The probiotic I am taking is called Sustenex I think, I've taken two today after reading your last post that I could double up. Tomorrow I am going to buy some yogurt to eat also even tho I'm not a fan I can manage it if it will help.
Almost forgot my appt. is at 3:00 on Wednesday.

Hey Robyn,

I'm sorry the dental office is treating you so badly. They sound very disrespectful :-((

I know you are very uncomfortable and desperately want to feel better. If it were me, I would change the probiotic to Culturelle because the Sustenex does not provide you with the "lactobacilli" bacteria which needs to be replenished anytime you are on an antibiotic. Here is the website: http://www.culturelle.com/about_culturelle/what_is_lgg

The other thing is... zantac, pepto, antacids are actually creating additional digestive issues because they are interfering with the natural production of digestive acids which you need to help balance your intestinal flora. Your stomache issues are not acid related.... they are bacteria related. So it is imperative to replenish the good bacteria called lactobacillus.

In case you didn't know... yogurt is an overly processed food that is very sensitive to varying temperatures. This means that with most brands, by the time you purchase the yogurt, there is little to no live bacteria remaining. It probably won't help you at this point so why suffer through eating it....yuk.

What will help is for you to alter your diet because the bad bacteria in your gut feeds off of various types of food. If you google candida or yeast free diet you will get a general idea of what foods to avoid and what foods to eat.

I know this is really hard..... I'm so sorry. So many factors involved and nothing seems to be going right. Please try to stay optimistic about the eventual outcome!

Keep in touch with us .....ok

Bryanna

Wow thanks for all that info! I had been wondering if all stomache meds may actually be causing problems and I'm glad you confirmed it could also be a culprit. The yogurt well YEEHAW! I can occasionally eat some but it's not something I enjoy eating on a regular basis. I will check out the diet as it is definitely worse after I eat and especially after dinner.

After reading your last post I called his office on a whim and he does have an answering service set up. I called around 9pm and he promptly called back I explained my issues and he wanted me to discontinue the Clindamycin and go back on Flagyl and see if I can tolerate it. He said if I continued with problems to give him a call. I was so rattled I completely forgot about asking him about the surgery. He did want me to call Monday morning and let him know how the Flagyl was doing, hopefully I remember to ask then.

I will try to get the probiotic you recommended tomorrow, we had a terrible snowstorm here and our roads are still horrible. If I can get into the pharmacy I will start it tomorrow.

Well that's it. I will keep you posted!

I just checked out the diet......Boy am I in trouble! Everything I eat is on the avoid list. I'm a vegetarian so I can't eat meat for protein. I buy meatless food and they are made of soy so they are out. Let's see I've been eating bread, pasta, tomato sauce, potatoes, drinking juice and well doing all the bad things. I guess starting tomorrow it's time for an overhaul....

Hey Robyn,

You are welcome... thanks for being so open to it =))

Yea, I'm not a big fan of yogurt for several reasons... but the smell and taste of it confirms my hesitancy to eat it!

I am glad that your dentist called you back... that is a sign that he is concerned about you so hopefully he will keep this attitude when he sees you. His reason for wanting you to call back is twofold.... one is to see if your intestinal problems have subsided any (I'll explain later) and two he needs to consider other antibiotics and how to administer them.

Intestinal problems caused by (or worsened by) antibiotics such as Clindamycin are a health concern because this medication can cause a serious physical condition called Colstridium Difficile or C-Diff for short. This is acutally an infection in the intestines that comes from killing off the good bacteria that lines the intestinal tract. It is a difficult infection to treat and it can occur and reoccur after the antibiotic is done. Since 75% of our immune system is in our digestive tract, it is imperative to keep it as healthy as possible on a daily basis so that when the time comes to take an antibiotic, we have enough stored up good bacteria to maintain some degree of balance in the intestinal flora to help stop or lessen the intestinal upset from the meds. That's why alternative doctors recommend a daily supplement of a probiotic ......it just makes sense to keep the immune system as healthy as possible. Not all probiotics are quality ingredients so we need to be careful of what we are taking..... also some of the bacterias in probiotics are not essential to our well being so we actually don't need those. What we do need is lactobacillus and plenty of it! Culturelle is an excellent source of that bacteria!

Yes... do ask him about the surgery so you are prepared ahead of time.

Bryanna

Oh boy.... I had a feeling you might be feeding your problem because most people don't realize how their diet affects their intestinal bacteria.

Soy can actually cause a sleu of intestinal problems on it's own if it is over consumed. Alot of people, especially those who were not brought up on soy products, can be sensitive or allergic to soy and find themselves with chronic digestive issues because of it. We also need to keep in mind that many of our foods are now genetically modified and no one knows the health affects that will cause ... soy is usually GM unless the product states that it's not.

Now is probably a good time to change your diet as you might find that your dental problems get better when you start to feel better. I would encourage you to research some of the yeast free diets on the internet and see if you can come up with a diet that is suitable and realistic for you.

Try not to feel like you are doing bad things to yourself ... instead think from a different perspective in that you are now becoming better informed about the good things that you can do!! How's that =)))

Let me know how you are doing on this new journey.........!

Bryanna

Okay just got home from my appt. at my dentist to replace my bottom retainer, I love love love my new one! I then seen the oral surgeon. He and I both felt the hard swelling had went down some from last Wednesday but he said the gum still looked inflamed. He asked me how much Flagyl I had left which I have about 2 more days since I took that little break last weekend. He said finish it and we will see how it goes for another week. Yaayy!! It is possible with it being a long standing infection and my immune system could be compromised (yes again I'm to blame) that is why it is taking me longer to heal. I do know I am tickled to get a break from antibiotics for awhile and so far have dodged the bullet on him cutting my gum open to go exploring! Bryanna I did go buy Citrucelle probiotic so I'm taking it twice a day to try and get back on track. As for the diet, well it might be hard to incorporate. I have had food issues my whole life in that I will only eat certain things. It's more psychological than physical. My mother always told me that as a baby I wouldn't eat meat even then and she would have to hide it in applesauce. I don't eat alot of soy but I do occasionally enjoy a "burger" like other people enjoy their BK or Mickey D's. I have been figuring out what has been harder on my stomache while I been on the antibiotics since I've had plenty of time to watch and the last few days I have made a point not to eat them until my stomache issues get straightened around again. I hate it cause I've always had an iron stomache and bragged I could drink drain cleaner and it wouldn't bother me! Now I know prolonged antibiotics and me do not get on well. I'm just very thankful I have never had the other "issue" antibiotics cause in some women but I hear it's no walk in the park either. Got my fingers crossed I'm on my way to being back to my normal real soon!