Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives Alternatives and ALCHEMISTS Antibiotics - spec, Macrobid (Nitrofurantonin)

The symptoms came on so fast and quick - went from a slight lim, tp a full on limp, then I was using a walker to walk at the end of my pregnancy. It was assumed that it was pregnancy related - pelvic girdle pain - so when within a few months of my having the baby, the symptoms remained, the doctor knew they were dealing with something different.

My GP took Xrays of my lower back and hips, send me to a sports medicine clinic, where the doc there suspected AS - then I was sent to was sent to a rheumatologist who confirmed it with more Xrays and an MRI.

The whole process took around a year, from first symptoms to diagnosis.

In a way, it was good that it came on during pregnancy - although it made my pregnancy SUCK, it came on during a time when I was being seen by doctors very frequently.

I also think the breastfeeding thing is a blessing and a curse - cant take drugs because I am breastfeeding, but if I had gone straight to drugs, I may never have tried the low starch diet, and I am so glad I did. Now I don't take even the advil, which was the only thing I could take!

I thought it was pretty common for women to have their autoimmune disease temporarily go into remission during pregnancy and then come on with a vengeance later on. From what I've read it is suspected that during pregnancy the immune system of the mother is downregulated to prevent rejection of the fetus. This is pure hearsay and conjecture on my part and not to say that certain antibiotics aren't helpful in AS as I've certainly had great luck with them myself...

NorCalJim

anyone ever try macrobid?

after looking here www.macrobid.org not sure im too interested now.

I took it for 6 months (low dose-one cap at night) to break a cycle of UTIs. It worked for that. Don't know if it helped AS, but it was just a low dose.

Nitrofurantoin (aka Macrodantin or Macrobid)is only used for Urinary Tract infections - and even for those there is probably a drift away from it's use if any other antibiotics can be used. It is up to the preference of the Doctor.

For AS the offending bacteria (??Kleb) are presumed to be in the gut and it's questionable whether Nitrofurantoin would work.

Also, whilst Klebsiella pneumoniae are always resistant to Amoxycillin, they are sensitivite to most other antibiotics. One exception however is Nitrofurantoin, and it is quite common to come across Nitrofurantoin resistant strains.

Minocycline is probably a better choice.

Dragonslayer advocates Ciprofloxacin, but some doctors, at least in Australia, will not prescribe it since here it is reserved for more "serious" infections (to avoid the promotion Cipro-resistant strains).

David