Post-Antibiotic Gut Healing Guide
Antibiotic's effect on the gut microbiome & how to support overall gut health after taking antibiotics
Hellooooo good morning or afternoon now I guess — Drinking my sunshine in a cup beverage this morning
I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately and got to thinking about how Glow with Ella started. It was around the same time that I was finally seeing a turning point (and a glimmer of hope!) in figuring out my gut issues. Before that, it had been years and years of build up.
I had been struggling with symptoms starting in high school, and gone to multiple doctors who told me nothing was wrong or that I should just “cut out gluten and dairy” or “try low-Fodmap” with no end in sight. They didn’t listen to me, didn’t ask me about my lifestyle.
In college, I tried again, and each and every time they told me that it was probably just “pain from a UTI”, and put me on antibiotics. I truly don’t know where that diagnosis came from, because it was completely inaccurate and had nothing to do with my lifestyle, but they were doctors, they knew best, so I took the antibiotics.
My immune system was wrecked, I would go to the doctor every month with a new sickness, sinus infections, strep throat, and every time I got prescribed more antibiotics.
I finally started questioning the amount of antibiotics I was being put on. I started not finishing the rounds or not taking them at all, and even just stopped going to the doctor to begin with. I was doctor fatigued, and I pretty much gave up at that point. I forced myself to start thinking it was normal to live with this pain and I should just suck it up. Eventually, my turning point came (ending up with me in the hospital) and through this I became in love with holistic and gut health.
ANTIBIOTICS x GUT HEALTH
One of the first things that I learned about when studying gut health was the effect of antibiotics on your gut microbiome. Antibiotic overuse is one of the root causes of so many health issues. I believe that this was one (of many) causes of my sibo, leaky gut, inflammation and dysbiosis. The entire time that I was going to the doctor trying to FIX the pain that I was in from gut symptoms, was actually making them so much worse. Antibiotics kill the bad bacteria, but they also kill the good, creating an environment where pathogens, fungus, and bad bacteria can thrive.
Antibiotics can also break down your gut barrier, allowing for toxins, bacteria and even undigested food to slip through into your bloodstream. When your body sees this toxin where it isn’t supposed to be, it goes into attack mode. This attack mode causes inflammation, inflammation is a normal immune system response, but at high rates it can cause chronic inflammation in the body leading to detrimental health issues.
When your gut is imbalanced, it is like dominos, slowly other systems in your body become imbalanced trying to make up for that one imbalance. Antibiotics, in the RIGHT situations, are life changing and revolutionary. However, I believe that they are overprescribed. I read a statistic that said around ⅓ of antibiotic prescriptions aren’t even necessary. It is very important that we stand up for ourselves in these situations and ask more questions.
If you feel like your doctor is bothered by you asking questions and being curious about your own health, get a new doctor. Advocate for yourself and choose someone who shows a genuine investment in your well-being.
If you do get prescribed antibiotics, don’t freak out. Sometimes we need them and that is okay! It is important that you support your gut during and after so that you don’t deal with long-term issues. I created a post-antibiotic guide for myself with the knowledge from my naturopath and beyond to share with you so you can support a healthy microbiome.
*Disclaimer: this is not medical advice and I am not a doctor! This is a personal plan that I am sharing with you, and you should talk to a medical professional before starting any drastic changes*
Gut Replenishing Post-Antibiotic Guide
In this guide I cover how to address the basics of health first: rest + digest state, stress, gut health + digestion tips and then I deep dive into supplements that support healing of the gut during & post-antibiotics.