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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment for antibiotic-associated diarrhea depends on the severity of your signs and symptoms.
Treatments to cope with mild antibiotic-associated diarrhea
If you have mild diarrhea, your symptoms may clear up within a few days after your antibiotic treatment ends. In some cases your doctor may advise you to stop your antibiotic therapy until your diarrhea subsides. In the meantime, your doctor may recommend home care techniques to help you cope with diarrhea until it resolves on its own.
Treatment to fight bad bacteria in severe antibiotic-associated diarrhea
If you experience colitis or pseudomembranous colitis, your doctor may recommend antibiotics to kill the bad bacteria causing your antibiotic-associated diarrhea. For many people, this antibiotic targeted at the bad bacteria will clear up signs and symptoms. For those with pseudomembranous colitis, diarrhea symptoms may return and require repeated treatment.
- Kelly CP, et al. Antibiotic-associated diarrhea, pseudomembranous enterocolitis and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/189880460-5/0/1389/0.html. Accessed March 19, 2010.
- Ferri FF. Pseudomembranous colitis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/189880460-5/0/2088/0.html. Accessed March 19, 2010.
- Thielman NM, et al. Antibiotic-associated colitis. In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..X0001-X--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06839-3&uniq=190074036#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..X0001-X--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-443-06839-3%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed March 19, 2010.
- O'Mahony S, et al. Enteric bacterial flora and bacterial overgrowth. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/189880460-5/0/1389/0.html. Accessed March 26, 2010.
- Diarrhea. National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diarrhea/index.htm. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- Peterson MA. Disorders of the large intestine. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..X0001-1--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05472-0&uniq=191219029#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05472-0..X0001-1--TOP%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-323-05472-0%3Btype%3DbookHome. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- Diarrhea. ADA Nutrition Care Manual. http://nutritioncaremanual.org/topic.cfm?ncm_heading=Nutrition%20Care&ncm_toc_id=19099. Accessed March 26, 2010.
- Parkes GC, et al. The mechanisms and efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea. Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2009;9:237.
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