by Dr. Carolyn Messere

Most of us have been in a position of feeling like crap, not knowing what to do about it, and looking at a prescription of antibiotics and wondering if it’s a smart decision. While we do our best at LIFEstrength Health Center to help folks avoid antibiotics and even repair from the damage of over-using them in the past…sometimes there just isn’t much of an option.

If you are about to start or have already started antibiotics, I recommend that you make a few changes to your supplement routine to minimize the long-term impact. This will help your gut to recover as quickly as possible after the antibiotics change your gut microbiome.

1. Stop current probiotics

2. Take a prebiotic such as MegaPrebiotic from Microbiome Labs, Biotagen from Klaire, inulin or potato starch.

3. Take 1 capsule of RestorFlora from Microbiome Labs 2 times a day.

4. Give your liver some support such as Liver Cleanse from Gaia. Taking 2 capsules daily for 30 days is smart even though your prescription for the antibiotics won’t last that long.

5. 2 weeks after your antibiotics are done, restart a spore-based probiotic such as Terraflora from Enviromedica or MegaSporeBiotic from Microbiome Labs.

* For women, especially those that experience frequent yeast infections, I also recommend adding Jarrow-Dophilus Women probiotic, inserted vaginally each nigh while taking the antibiotic prescription and for one week after.

There are many other considerations to take into account including toxicity, sleep, food (dairy, gluten, other allergens), hydration levels, etc. We are happy to help if you’d like more advice from our team of doctors, call 239-774-5433 to schedule an appointment.