A lot of people have been on antibiotics before. Many individuals have gone through an intense antibiotic protocol after surgery. However, antibiotics wipe out bad and good bacteria in your intestines. Good bacteria help you to digest your food and regulate your immune system.

Some people feel absolutely fine after a course of antibiotics. Others can experience symptoms that become chronic if they do not know what to do. Some of the symptoms that can be experienced after antibiotics include:

  • Major fatigue
  • Slower recovery
  • Heartburn
  • Indigestion
  • Gas
  • Bloating
  • Feeling like your food is not digesting
  • Constipation

These can be signs of lower amounts of good bacteria and thus poor digestion. If these symptoms continue, they can get worse and lead to more issues such as:

  • Food sensitivities – this can present as almost any chronic symptom, but common ones are gas, bloating, heartburn, joint pain, and migraines
  • Mood changes – irritability, anxiety, depression
  • Hormone imbalances – changes in your period, pms or worsening pms (ex. cramps, heavy bleeding, breast tenderness), migraines (especially around your period)
  • Low adrenal function- this can present with symptoms like night sweats, fatigue, slight shakiness in the hands, trouble sleeping, not waking up refreshed, lower immune function

I saw this first-hand with a relative who would get surgeries often for a particular condition. He would usually bounce back fast, and be out of the bed the next day. But one time he did not, and how slow he was recovering really concerned the family. He was greatly fatigued and experienced burning pains in his abdomen, for which the surgical physician and staff suggested antacids. They did not help. The thing that really turned it around was Probiotics.

Once the probiotics were implemented, he went from being in bed for several days to getting out of bed in two days.

Probiotics are good bacteria that our digestive system uses to digest food and regulate our immune system. They replace some of the good bacteria lost from antibiotics. A probiotic capsule or probiotic liquid is a good place to begin.

Other ways to improve good bacteria in your stomach are through eating fiber in the form of fruits and vegetables, as well as fermented and home-pickled foods like: injera, kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt (dairy-free is usually best), miso, pickled cucumbers (pickles), pickled beets.

Probiotics, fiber from a diet of fruits and vegetables, and fermented and pickled foods are great to add to your daily life even outside of a situation like surgery recovery. Why? Because the standard American diet and stress levels tend to dysregulate the amount of good bacteria in our gastrointestinal tracts on a daily basis. These strategies help to counteract and prevent these tendencies.

Juicing is great for overall health, but the whole vegetable is needed to get in the fiber, so if you are into juicing, keep going, but also remember to eat whole vegetables too. If your stomach does not tolerate raw vegetables, steaming or cooking them is a great option. I tend to do all three because the rotation tends to work well for me.

If you are seeking help for digestive issues, schedule an appointment by:

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