[Pipster]

Hi ThereI have recently moved to the UK and have suffered from IBS & UTI's for years. My problem now is getting worse. I have bad constipation - when I say this, I refer to having no trouble going to the toilet, but not clearing my bowel properly. This then sees me in the toilet for ages trying to clean myself up. I often have a lot of mucus which sometimes spreads to my vagina. As a result, I take Norfloxacin every couple of days to prevent getting a UTI. I have followed all sorts of diets and there are days when it doesn't matter what I put in my mouth - my stools are so soft and mucusy.Does anyone else have this problem. I would love to get off the antibiotics but with my bowel being in it's present state, I am too scared as I can't bear the thought of getting a UTI. The last one I had was several years ago, but whilst the infection went away, the symptoms have still not left me.

 

[erin5983]

As far as your IBS is concerned, taking the antibiotic every few days could really be aggravating your IBS. Because antibiotics wipe out good bacteria as well as bad bacteria, they often cause diarrhea. Taking probacteria like acidophilus (you can get this in any vitamin aisle) will probably help with that. I understand the fear of the UTIs. I take an antibiotic every time I have sex because I'm so scared of getting them as I used to get them all the time. I have problems with diarrhea though and often take acidophilus right after my antibiotic. That seems to help. Sorry you aren't feeling up to speed

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