My 10 month old son just ended a 10 day round of Cefprozil (antibiotic) for a sinus infection. He started having diarrhea about half way through the cycle and now, 4 days after he finished, he still has 8-10 loose stools a day, stomach cramps that wake him every 2 hours at nght and a horrible diaper rash. I called my Pediatrician today and they told me to up his probiotics, give him sitz baths and to call if he was still like this after a week. We change him as soon as he poops, slather on Triple Paste, and I've given him small doses of Mylanta for cramping thus far. He's OK during the day, but the nights are miserable. Has anyone had this happen to your child? Any suggestions on how to make him more comfortable? This is breaking my heart.
Make sure he's eating a full meal with the antibiotic. Lots of yogurt!! Ask for RX strength cream for his butt (my son can ONLY use Nystatin), and ask for a different antibiotic!! My son can take amoxicillan, but not augmentin. Poor dude, I hope he feels better soon!!
You have power. Next time call your doc the min the diarrhea starts tell him to change the antibiotic. He is at least highly sensitive to this antibiotic and that needs to go on his chart. Both my kids have had so many ear infections and have different antibiotics they can't take. Watch your milk consumption in the next week. Supplement with water and maybe some tea to make sure he gets enough to drink. If you can, leave that diaper off for a while after you change him. Bless your heart, I know you are suffering too.
Ah, yes, the nighttime "screaming diarrhea" as I used to call it. I'm SO glad they told you to use probiotics. That was the missing link in my daughter's misery/aftermath of needing so many antibiotics (long story).
I also wish nursing homes/geriatric docs had a clue about this but I'm dreaming (okay, I know that some of them must know about this).
We used a specially made paste for the bottom as well; some sort of barrier cream with zinc oxide, I'm pretty sure. I'll try to update this when I go home, if I can find the name of it (writing from work). But, if I recall correctly, it was made by the hospital pharmacy & may not be commercially available.
Very best of luck to you!!!
I had this happen more than once with my now two-year old. It turns out that lots of diarrhea can make a kid temporarily lactose intolerant. Hence, the cramping, bloating, and diarrhea. To help with this, and give their digestive tract a break, switch him to pedialyte (no milk for formula) and BRAT diet. Keep up with the probiotics and give it a few days. Hopefully his symptoms will start to lessen. It usually did the trick for my little one. For the diaper rash, something to consider trying, is a product called Criticaid. It is a barrier cream for adults with ostomies or incontinance. You can usually find it at a pharmacy behind the counter or at a medical supply store. Hope this helps.
To reduce the pain and swelling use a thin ice pack or frozen wet rag in ziploc. Put it on the outside of the diaper and to hold it there, layer on top with another diaper or small underwear.
Make sure he's not getting anything for a couple of days that loosens stools such as apple juice. I would add lots of breads, crackers, rice, etc along with yogurt and pro-biotics. Pedialite, water, even flat soda if needed to keep hydrated.
Can he take yogurt yet, not the stuff with all the sugars, but the live cultures yogurt. I guess it's all live cultures.
My daughter had the same thing happen to her but it showed up in school. She broke out in the purple rash first then the cramps and stomach thing.
Take care of the poor guy. I know he's miserable.
Yes Probiotics...my mom swears by taking them whenever you take an anitbiotic because Antibiotics take the good and bad out of your stomach..so probiotics put the good back in. Sorry I can't explain it better, but check w/your doctor or pharmacy. They sell them at Walgreens
Oh, this brings back horrible memories. My daughter got a C-diff infection from an antibiotic a couple of years ago. It went undiagnosed for months! She had horrible diarrhea and severe stomach pain (she would just lay on the couch in the fetal position moaning and crying). Her pedi sent us to a pediatric GI that checked her for everyting under the sun but didn't do a stool sample! They even put her under and did an endoscopy because they thought she had Celiac's disease. She lost more than 10% of her body weight from all of the diarrhea and was diagnosed "failure to thrive" before they finally figured it out. Makes me want to cry just typing this....it was seriously awful. I would be sure they check his stool if it doesn't subside in a few days with probiotics. See if you can get a prescription diaper cream (my doc had a "special recipe" that only one pharmacy in town knew how to do, but that stuff was gold!). Keep him hydrated as much as you can and KEEP ON TOP OF THIS! Don't let them blow you off! I kept telling all of the docs that this all started with this antibiotic and NOBODY took me seriously. Turns out, I was right. GRR! I'm so sorry you're going through this and hope it's just a side effect that is short lived. My best to you and hugs to your little one.
My daughter always got sick with diarrhea from antibiotics. However, your son may be having an allergic reaction to the medication,, which as you know stays in you system for a bit even after they finish taking it. Keep an eye on it and it should go away. May be worth getting some allergy testing done if you find he is sensitive to things. My daughyer is IGA deficient, so even though she is not realy allergice to one thing in particualr she is very sensitive to things and gets diarrhea VERY easy!
