How Long After Taking Antibiotics Should I Take Probiotics?

There’s question about how important antibiotics is in modern medicine. Effective at preventing infections to grow out of control and lead to severe illness and deaths that can be easily avoided. But with something as powerful as a medicine that can stop a deadly infection in its tracks there are a couple of down sides to using it. Luckily for us probiotics can rebalance the gut’s microbiome. We must admit, it’s not an easy task as the complexity of the gut can often lead to it taking a little longer than anticipated for the good bacteria to build-up again and help with the correct and effective function of the gut.

What I mean by this is, is as impactful as antibiotics are at tackling any bad bacteria, you will also find they don’t know when to stop and will begin to kill off the essential and important good bacteria also.

You’ll find that once you have completed your course of antibiotics you are often left with some side effects, such as diarrhoea, constipation and sometimes women’s intimate health, such as thrush. These are very common problems after taking antibiotics and will hopefully clear up in their own time, but it’s important to stay vigilant in how you feel in general to prevent any bad bacteria to overgrow in the gut and prolong these unwanted side effects.

This leads me onto to today’s topic and a question we have heard a lot recently which is, “How long after taking antibiotics should I take probiotics?”

How long does it take for gut bacteria to recover after antibiotics?

There is an extensive amount of scientific evidence showing how taking probiotics alongside antibiotics is the optimal way of preventing all the good bacteria in the gut to disappear. There are some strains of probiotics that have proven to be more beneficial taken at the same time as antibiotics, these are Lactobacillus acidophilus Rosell-52, Bifidobacterium lactis lafti B94 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11. It’s these strains that should be taken together and not separately to antibiotics. Although these strains have not shown any signs of preventing the medication to stop working, it’s still very important you check with your doctor or medical professional that it’ll remain safe and effective for you to use probiotics whilst taking antibiotics.

As for other strains that have not been suggested, these may require you to take a little more time and effort to ensure you are using the most effective routine. You should also establish a better understanding of when to take these probiotics to avoid any unwanted reactions or disruption to the effectiveness of the medication.

Should you take probiotics during or after a course of antibiotics?

This very much depends on which strain of probiotics it is you’re taking. If it is one that I have already mentioned, you are able to take them during your course of antibiotics. For others it is best to consult with a doctor to ensure you will benefit from taking both, and perhaps leave it until you have completed the course.

Is it OK to take antibiotics and probiotics at the same time?

Yes, it’s considered OK to take antibiotics and probiotics at the same time. Although the risk of the potent antibiotic fighting against the probiotics can cause a slight concern, this doesn’t necessarily mean it is bad idea to use both together. If you are using the correct strain of probiotics, you’ll find the effectiveness of the medication isn’t depleted. Instead, you’ll find that in general, you’ll feel in good health and can go about your day whilst treating the concern with antibiotics and preventing them from disrupting the complex balance of the gut’s microbiome.

This balance is something that many of us are unaware of how fragile it can be, with daily stress, greasy food, or not drinking enough water throwing off the delicate ecosystem of organisms and bacteria that remain in the gut. By finding a strain that can survive these sometimes-harsh conditions will have a marked improvement on your overall health and wellbeing, as well as not preventing the antibiotics to do their job.

What is the best probiotic to take after taking antibiotics?

Research has shown that after completing a course of antibiotics, it can take a total of 6 months for the gut flora to recover and repair. If you decide to not team any strain of probiotics with your antibiotics, the best two strains to have been saccharomyces boulardii and lactobacillus acidophilus. Both are highly effective at rebalancing the gut flora as well as helping to calm any inflammations and reducing the frequency of diarrhoea and other digestive concerns. You can find both in supplement forms as well as in probiotic enriched yeasts and yoghurts, it’s down to you to find one that will suit your lifestyle and daily routine.

How do I repair my stomach after antibiotics?

Once your body has experienced damage caused by antibiotics you will find that this can affect the rest of your body. This is because the gut microbiome contains such an enormous and varied number of bacteria. This will probably explain why medical professionals consider the gut to be our second brain. As I have already mentioned, with the gut’s flora altering at the slightest change you may find that if you adopt some changes or lifestyle swaps, as well as taking daily probiotics, you will find any damage caused will be repaired quickly. Don’t panic too much as you don’t (and shouldn’t) make any extreme and sudden changes, but instead you can choose to drink more water, introduce more greens into your diet as well as probiotic rich foods, such as yoghurts, kerfir, and sauerkraut, exercise regularly, and improve your sleeping pattern, you’ll start to feel a lot better.

How long do antibiotics stay in your system?

Each type of antibiotic will remain in your body for a different length of time. What you may find is that once you have taken the last antibiotic it’ll remain in your system for about 24 hours. This can alter for others depending on how severe the infection was that was being treated by the medication. As a rule of thumb, you’ll find that once 5-7 days have past you will find the antibiotics are out of your system and you can start taking probiotics to restore the gut back to its full health.

I hope that I have cleared up some confusion surrounding the topic in today’s post, don’t forget if you have any further questions, you can come and find us on Instagram as you can find one of our experts in the direct messages.