Is Clindamycin The Cause of This?

[spangler2k3]

Hello,
     24 Year old heathy male. Active in sports, used to eat what i wanted, when i wanted with no problems with bowel movements. I had some teeth extracted and had a bit of discomfort a few days after. I am allergic to Penicillin, so my oral surgeon prescribed Clindamycin 150mg 4 times daily, for 7 days.(November 5th )
    
     Mouth pain went away and about the first week of December (one month later) and up to this date, i have lose stools, not quite diarreha but they are soft and accompanied by mucous like substance. Stress has always been a big part of my life, but never a problem so i am ruling that out. It does not matter what i eat, it generally does not digest well and if i eat anything spicy it burns really bad the next day at the site of my anus, usually for the entire day. I have kind of a heartburn feeling most of the time and my stomach feels upset some of the times.

     Ive done research on my own to find that i could have UC, but also the same type of problems I am having are suggesting Crohn's.

     I plan on going into the doctors and having him refer me to a GI that im covered with my insurance so i can get a better idea.

     Anyone ever hear/have this and can let me know what to expect. Im hearing all sorts of horror stories.. Will antibiotics clear this up, or will i be dealing with this forever?

Please Advise,

[MYoul]

I think the correlation between this medication and UC is not that it CAUSES UC, but that it aggravates the UC that is already there but is otherwise in a state of remission. There is nothing that I have seen that indicates that either crohns or UC are caused by any medications, however in researching this medication as a possible antibiotic I can safely use with allopurinol, an immediate red flag came up in that it states not to use it if you have UC or crohns. What I've read indicates that it is very harsh on the digestive system when the body process it (all medications have a toxic byproduct, which causes side effects, but normally this amount is minimal) and bowel symptoms are a frequent side effect of this medication. Someone who already has UC, but may not be experiencing significant symptoms would therefore be put into a "flare" mode which would prompt diagnosis.
I had crohns symptoms for over 12 months before it got so bad that we scheduled a more urgent colonoscopy to obtain a diagnosis of my symptoms. Before that they were sporadic and minor (they did not impact on my daily life.) It was a high level of stress in my life that resulted in the flare up of my symptoms that eventually led to my diagnosis. It could have just as easily resulted from a flare caused by a medication like this, as is the case with some people who have posted.
So essentially, no it doesn't cause UC, but it will aggravate UC that is already present and may not otherwise be significant, leading to investigation of the symptoms and ultimately to a diagnosis.

[Rweir38]

My wife had clindamycin while in labor with our son in 1999.  He was born 7 weeks premature and developed UC at the age of 8.  He is now 16 and has had numerous rounds of powerful antibiotics, steroids, immunosuppressive drugs, colonoscopy procedures and he is about to be switched to a biologic.  I also asked the GI if this could be caused my clindamycin and he said no.  Interesting connection with all of these folks.

[Kennynaija]

I took the same clindamycin and my GI said I now have UC. Don't know what to do anymore, this disease has turned my life upside down. I cannot eat what I use to eat, and I have lost a lot of weight. My dentist should never have prescribe this medication. If a lot of people are complaining about it, why are they still prescribing it. There should be other antibiotic that doesn't cause this type of damage. My GI keep saying is not Clindamycin but I have never had anything like this until I took clindamycin. I felt like my GI is trying to protect the drug company.

[lydelia]

Ditto here. I stopped a round of clindamyacin a month ago because of severe heartburn and i am now on my way to see a gastro because of the symptoms i am having.

[Kathysis]

wow, I cannot believe how many folks have these issues since taking clindamycin.  I as well took the meds(last year) and now have UC.  Is there some connection.  Should the drug company not be responsible in some way?

[Kathysis]

wow, I cannot believe how many folks have these issues since taking clindamycin.  I as well took the meds(last year) and now have UC.  Is there some connection.  Should the drug company not be responsible in some way?

[MissEx]

Hey there. I know its way over a year since your post, but I was googling "clindamycin ulcerative colitis" and came across your troubles. I too was prescribed clindamycin (in topical form) to treat some dermatitis around my mouth back in Dec 2007. I was a healthy, active 22 year old but I remember I started have bloody mucousy BMs shortly after and heaps of abdominal cramps. I had a colonoscopy in Feb 2008 because the diarrhoea had not stopped and I was found to have ulcerative colitis. I have been living with UC ever since and it has turned my life upside down. Out of curiosity, what was your diagnosis?

[tjoan910canadian]

Clindamycin .....I had never heard of it so I researched it on this web site:

http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/drug_info_details.asp?channel_id=0&relation_id=0&brand_name_id=1371&page_no=2#AdverseEffects

Common side affects are:  diarrhea (mild)
nausea and vomiting
stomach pain

Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:

More common

abdominal or stomach cramps and pain (severe)
abdominal tenderness
diarrhea (watery and severe; may also be bloody)
fever
Less common

sore throat and fever
skin rash, redness, and itching
unusual bleeding or bruising

Please see your doctor ASAP as this is not something to pass off as nothing....Crohn's Disease is not caused by taking a medication.....I had to take a large dose of antibiotics last year because I had a bacteria present in my small bowel.....called "Pylori" and the gastriologist thought that it was what was causing me to have "Acid reflux"....I took the antibiotics and the "Acid reflux" has disappeared but several weeks later I had severe watery & pus filled diarhea for almost 3 weeks continuously....approx....30 times a day...and then it stopped....so the diarhea was  caused by the antibiotics that I had taken......as diarhea was a side affect..of the medication.....I am fine now.....I do have crohn's disease also but the crohn's is stable at he moment.....I had an ultra sound to rule that out.

[clns]

Hey! I began to have issues like these on June 15, 2007...Come to find out I had a bad gallbladder so I got my gallbladder taken out thinking that afterwards everything would be fine...not knowing that there was an underlying problem that would show itself as horrendous starting really bad two days after my cholecystectomy...so it could be your gallbladder...About 3 and a half to 4 months after my gallbladder was taken out after one doctor told me there was no hope for me that I would have to live with the pain for the rest of my life I went to the best gastro dr in columbus, georgia...He told me we would get to the root of the problem and after several tests and a biopsy came to the conclusion that I have what is called ileolitis which is crohns disease of your terminal ileum...Antibiotics can sometimes be used to help during a flare up because sometimes crohns disease can cause serious infections if it goes untreated for too long...So just make sure you are seen about asap and if a doctor tells you that nothing is wrong get a second or third opinion like I did be persistent until you find a dr that is committed to figuring out what the problem is...basically a dr that is in the practice for the right reasons...I hope you can get everything figured out...May GOD bless you and His healing virtue flow through your body