It is probably because I am suffering through a nasty summer cold and
I am dreading the usual ear infection, sinus infection., bronchitis, or
pneumonia which follows my common colds. It is probably that I am dreading
taking an antibiotic again. When I get a cold, when I am prescribed an
antibiotic, I eat yogurt.
To me eating yogurt is a Women's Health issue. I don't care about
bacteria in the digestive tract; about good or bad bacteria in the gut; or
whether or not yogurt is like milk and has lactose. What interests me in
this discussion about eating yogurt, and the health benefits of eating
yogurt, is that yogurt, cultured yogurt, helps prevent, does prevent, in my
opinion and in my experience, yeast infections in women who take antibiotics.
Yeast infections? Yeck! That's why I eat yogurt, particularly, when
I have been prescribed an antibiotic. And, I have learned to like yogurt,
and my friends and family in Wisconsin are appalled to find yogurt, and not
ice cream, in my refrigerator. It is not the calories, and it is not to be
trendy--it is the spector of those yeast infections that I have yogurt in my
refrigerator. It is not a myth. Women, who are prescribed antibiotics, are
well-advised to eat yogurt as a preventive for yeast infections.
Great topic for a PD list. I have, maybe, just tossed the guidelines
for list content out the window, but I have labelled my posting as non-PD. I
have been pointed out the delete button on my PC in the past, and I know some
of you will just delete this posting. But, for women with PD, we really
don't want a yeast infection as well as everything else we have. And you
caretakers out there, I doubt if you want your female PWP to get a yeast
infection after the original infection for which the antibiotic is
prescribed.
Women should quiz their doctors about this side effect when prescribed
that antibiodic. Some antibiotics are known to cause immediate and nasty
yeast infections. The doctor usually knows that and usually doesn't tell
the woman, or her caretaker, that unless the doctor is asked, and there are
many antibiotics, alternative antibiotics, which can be prescribed, that are
as effective on the original infection and are not as prone to cause yeast
infections.
There is also possibly a subsequent, subsidiary issue of the effect of
eating yogurt on the overall bacterial balance in the body, but I don't think
you get there by eating yogurt in a reasonable amount as a preventive for
yeast infections. I try to eat a 6-8 oz. carton of cultured yogurt every day
when I am prescribed an antibiotic, and a few days afterwards. Sometimes I
buy that huge container of plain, or vanilla, Dannon (cultured) yogurt you
can find in almost every grocery store, and I measure out about one-half cup,
or 8 oz., every day. (Tarzan the Cat prefers the individual cartons because
I allow him to lick the yogurt off the foil cap of the carton).
The yogurt has to be cultured. It doesn't make any difference if
there is fruit in the bottom or not, if it is sweetened or not, if it is
low-fat or not. The top of the carton says if it is cultured yogurt or not;
if it says "yogurt," and that's it, and not "cultured yogurt", don't buy it
if you want the yogurt as a preventive for yeast infections.
I was told about this use of yogurt many, many years ago by a
roommate. I have only had one or two female doctors, out of many doctors,
both male and female, but primarily male, advise me to eat yogurt when
prescribed an antibiotic. I try to remember to ask the doctor, or I ask the
pharmacist, or I read the package insert from the pharmacy, but I routinely
eat the yogurt anyway when prescribed antibiotics. My experience is that
eating the yogurt works very well as a preventive for yeast infections, and I
much prefer eating the yogurt to undergoing the treatment for a yeast
infection. Katie
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