Small Intestine Dysfunction: Bacterial Overgrowth/Diarrhea

Symptoms and Treatments

Broad Spectrum Antibiotic use is the mainstay of treatment for this complication. There are many potential approaches to this therapy. For example: Antibiotics are given in 2–3 week courses followed by a 1–2 week drug holiday. Generally a few cycles of this treatment can allow for quiet periods of a few months to a few years. However, some persons may require almost continuous antibiotics.

Alternating antibiotics and increasing the antibiotic-free period will decrease the development of resistant strains of bacteria.

Note: Prolonged use of Broad Spectrum Antibiotics may be complicated by superinfection.

	Action	Most Common Side Effects

Broad Spectrum Antibiotics

Examples include:
Tetracycline, Ampicillin	Decrease bacterial overgrowth	Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, photosensitivity, skin rash.

Metronidazole (Flagyl®)		Metallic taste, headache, diarrhea, reduced appetite, dizziness, nausea.

Ciprofloxacin (Cipro®)		Drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.

Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (Clavulin®)		Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, rash, vaginitis, pseudomembranous colitis

Clarithromycin (Biaxin®) Azithromycin (Zithromax®)		Altered taste (dysgeusia), diarrhea, nausea, heartburn, abdominal pain.