Important to know:
Ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolone of the 2nd group): Due to the degradation pathway of the drug, the effect of caffeine is enhanced. Especially patients with cardiac arrhythmia or seizures should avoid caffeine during therapy with ciprofloxacin. In addition, the antibiotic should not be taken together with milk, dairy products or antacids (for heartburn), as this will weaken the effect.
Ciprofloxacin should also not be taken during pregnancy and lactation. Fluoroquinolones are often associated with accident-free tendon ruptures. Therefore, a weakening of the tendon structure by the intake of fluoroquinolones is to be suspected.
In case of a known penicillin intolerance, the intake of amoxicillin and cephalosporins should be avoided urgently. In this case the combination of metronidazole + fluoroquinolones is a suitable substitute. Amoxicillin and cephalosporins, unlike metronidazole, can also be used during pregnancy. As the combination with a beta-lactamase inhibitor is critical in pregnant women, a therapy with cephalosporins would be most likely to be considered for such a patient in a diverticulitis relapse.It is therefore crucial to know which patient with which previous illnesses and accompanying medication needs the antibiotic in order to make the right choice.
Diarrhea under antibiotic therapy
As a rule, the antibiotic drugs that are often used are well tolerated. Nevertheless, high-dose antibiotic administration can have some side effects. Here above all belly pain and/or diarrhea would be to be called, which can occur frequently under a longer antibiotic gift.
The reason is because the antibiotic taken works systemically, i.e. also important intestine bacteria, which are necessary for the digestion, are killed. The result can be easy to strong diarrhea. If strong diarrhea occurs, a termination of the treatment should be considered.
There are also some measures that can be taken to prevent diarrhea or to stop occurring diarrhea. Medications such as loperamide should be avoided. However, naturally oriented preparations such as Omniflora or Perenterol® show very good efficacy. One can take these preparations either as a precaution before the beginning of the antibiotic treatment, or in addition, only if first diarrheas adjusted themselves.
