What To Do?

We recently took another stool sample from M to determine what was going on inside his gut. Given his hands-down-the-pants, behavioral issues, frequent illness, etc. his doctor thought it wise.

We give M probiotics to help balance his gut and keep him healthy, however, his gut is NOT balanced nor is it healthy. We had done the last stool test a year ago and subsequently treated him for some bacteria. This year he has more strains of 'bad' bacteria present at very high levels. The lab that analyzes this stool tests the bacteria that is present against various antibiotics to see which they are resistant to and which they are sensitive to. Unfortunately, the strains of bacteria that are currently present in my little guy's system are resistant to almost all of the basic antibiotics and sensitive to a very, very strong antibiotic, Cipro. I went to the pharmacy yesterday to pick this antibiotic up and the pharmacist came to speak to me. She told me she was uncomfortable letting me administer this drug on a child as it is usually prescribed to adults.

I have a call into our doctor (at Thoughtful House in Austin, TX), but also turned to my trusty parent listservs for some advice.

What I have learned thus far is that Cipro is treated for very, very bad bacteria including anthrax. I have also heard stories from another parent like one who had to give two rounds of it to her son. (He did fine and it made a huge improvement in him)

My son has been in a decline over the past year and if these harmful bacteria are the root of the cause, clearly I want them gone...but at what risk do you do that?

I am at a bit of a loss as to the answer to that question. If anyone reading this has experience with Cipro, I'd be very interested to hear about it. And if anyone is interested in learning more about the gut flora results, I'd be happy to post them or email them to you.