Taking Antibiotic Capsules with an Ileostomy: Tips and Advice

Best way to take antibiotic capsules with an ileostomy? Is it best to open them and put them into something like food or yogurt? Are they okay to take with an ileostomy, or can they cause high output? Just curious, really.

Thanks

Hello Nikki

In the early days when food would fly through me, the doc told me to grind the antibiotic tablet up and put it in some water to avoid it going straight through. Tastes like crap but works well. So I would have suggested taking a capsule as normal wouldn't be an issue.

Some antibiotics you can't grind up. I took them whole and yes, certain ones can cause more output... Check with your doctor first before trying to grind them!!!

Absolutely!!! Spot on!!! Rose Bud 🤗

Check with your doctor first!!!

A lot of doctors just give you these tablets and capsules, and they don't even think about how it's going to pass right through you or how they actually get dissolved or absorbed...

And I recall certain medications need a "quick dissolve" label or a quick dissolve understanding. And I believe Nikki said it was a capsule, which I would believe would be possible to take apart and spread out onto something, but a tablet? I think the tablet could be crushed unless coated... hmm... and there are warnings not to crush, "take whole," which should be written on the container. But you're right!!

Definitely needs to check with her doctor, and I don't know about other suggestions, but usually, they also recommend crushing with applesauce, and I'm told the applesauce is a binding agent, so that's something to think about. Pour it over applesauce... maybe??? Or ask about liquid form for better absorption. There are a few liquid form antibiotics I use...

Good luck

Try them in the capsule first, see what happens. I'm prone to abscess, so I take them quite often. I just swallow the capsule and have never had any problems, and surprisingly, even to my GP, I never get loose output from them, but that is a side effect you can get. Recently finished taking Flucloxacillin 500mg.

I would suggest, rather than capsule format, have the pharmacy do it in pill form. Keep things simple.

I sound like a broken record, I know, but I am new to the ileostomy stuff, and part of it is because I took antibiotics beforehand, and that's part of why I lost my colon because of the C. diff. That said, I had to take antibiotics again recently, and I don't know if it's because my body is sensitive, but I was screaming because the acid was a lot in my stomach. I was supposed to take 800 mg of Bactrim twice a day, and they changed it to something less strong, which I don't remember right now, but the game changer was an antacid. A little bit of antacid in a cream-like liquid form helped the pain a lot so I could tolerate it. I know that's not directly related to your post, but I thought I would share in case it helps anybody. I didn't know that having a colon helps make things less acidic, and then the antibiotics can cause more acid, so a little bit of antacid seems to help. But I also would like to avoid antibiotics altogether at this point if it's possible, but it's not always possible, of course.