Antibiotics first came into general use during World War II. Every American soldier was issued a first-aid kit containing sulfa powder, and the Allied forces who stormed Normandy carried penicillin. Since then, antibiotics have saved millions of lives. But like all drugs, antibiotics have side effects. One of the most common is antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) — a potentially serious condition that affects up to 20 percent of people receiving antibiotic therapy.
AAD occurs when antibiotics disturb the natural balance of "good" and "bad" bacteria in your intestinal tract, causing harmful bacteria to proliferate far beyond their normal numbers. The result is often frequent, watery bowel movements.
Most often, the diarrhea is fairly mild and clears up shortly after you stop taking the antibiotic. But sometimes you may develop colitis, an inflammation of your colon, or a more serious form of colitis called pseudomembranous colitis. Both can cause abdominal pain, fever and bloody diarrhea. In cases of pseudomembranous colitis, these symptoms may become life-threatening.
Effective treatments exist for mild AAD, as well as for colitis and pseudomembranous colitis. In addition, taking concentrated supplements of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) may relieve symptoms or help prevent AAD in the first place.
