Augmentin leads to Colitis

After his surgery, JT was given a week's worth of Augmentin to combat infection.  The antibiotic came with a stern warning that if any tummy troubles emerged, we should get to the ER STAT.  We made that trip to the ER a week and a day after his freak accident.  Initially we were reassured that it was more than likely a virus and sent home.  But, since the tummy troubles persisted for more than four days, we headed to the walk-in clinic. 

We left the doctor's office with a lab slip for a stool sample.  Let me just say, collecting and bottling a stool sample is a very disgusting experience.  But, it was necessary and it turns out that JT did indeed have colitis due to the Augmentin.

Colitis is basically the destruction of good bacteria in your intestine.  Once the good bacteria is gone, the bad bacteria goes crazy and causes lots and lots of tummy trouble.  Unfortunately the treatment for this is a drug called Flaggyl which doesn't come in liquid form.  A local pharmacy was able to take the pill and turn it into a liquid but the medicine is super duper yucky.  Combine that with a kid who hates to take any medicine that isn't the bubblegum-riffic Amoxicillin and you have a problem on your hands.  Don't think I'm above bribery/threats to get my kids to take their medicine!  And thankfully the dose is about a half teaspoon, which really isn't much.

JT never had the "bloody stool" the surgeon had warned us about, but thankfully the ER doctor instructed us to followup with his regular doctor if things didn't improve.  If you or someone you know has to take a strong antibiotic, you might want to keep in mind that colitis can strike without the tell-tale bloody stool.  If you develop tummy troubles and your doctor doesn't order it, request a stool sample to check for colitis.