Cipro antibiotic and competing vitamins (calcium/zinc/iron/magnesium doses)

Hi all,

    I'm on Ciprofloxacin and clindamycin for a bad toe infection. Just trying to keep it in check for a week.

    I just barely rejiggered all my doses to get everything in and I'm wondering if anyone has any insight if the DS
would allow me to cut some time on the Cipro instructions>

    They say none of the competing vitamins for 6 hours before and 2 hours after a Cipro dose. And I'm on 2 a day. This gives me 
2 4 hour windows for the competing vitamins.

    I wondered if due to a quicker transit time the 6 hours before taking the cipro isn't an over reach. 

    Anybody have any thoughts or experience on this? I'm usually on Augmentin and don't have those issues 
and they also aren't listed for the clindamycin. Just the Cipro.

Thanks in advance,

Pete

Hmm...I've been on antibiotics since the DS and never got all those restrictions on food or vitamins. Interesting. The antibiotics always worked for me even while taking my vitamins normally.

--gina

It's just the Cipro. I wondered if it wasn't an issue just for that class of antibiotics. It came out
on the drugstore fact sheet and I was able to verify with Dr. Google.

Pete

Hi Pete!

just think it's interesting you were given those instructions. After I almost died when my appendix burst I was on IV anti biotic sad strong as they make and no one at that hospital informed me of any nutrition or vitamin changes.  Then came home on cipro and another anti biotic for several more weeks. I think u will be fine. I've been having pain tonight thought I would check the board I have stabilized at about 225 after a low of 203. Just curious where u ended up. Your buddy from Texas,

   Mike Andrews 

Hi Mike,

    Good to hear from you. I never had that brought up for any of my IV antibiotics either. I sometimes don't read the 
instructions that the drug stores send home with your prescription but this was an interesting factoid.

    Instructions like this make me crazy because it seems so subjective to just say it makes the antibiotic less effective.
I always wonder do they mess us up for a 1% loss or is it a 30% loss...

   I've been hovering between 230 and 240. Trying to get a better take on my diet but sometimes I let life get in the 
way. My first reaction to bad news is stil lto reach for some food......... but less than before.

   Sorry to hear you are in pain. I hope it is not too bad.

Pete

Pete, I think this is one of those times when you have to prioritize. As important as the vitamins are, getting this infection under control is even more important, though hopefully a short term issue. You are a very well informed person, so I'm sure you know that diabetic foot infections are serious, sometimes difficult to resolve, and sometimes lead to losing far more than a fraction of a toe. So do whatever you need to do to get in the antibiotics ad make sure they are effective. If that means missing an occasional vitamin or two, so be it. You can bump the vitamins back up after the infection is resolved.

Of course, if you can figure out a way to do the cipro effectively and also get in all your vitamins, that would be ideal. But if you can't, just for now, make the antibiotics your biggest priority.

Larra

Absolutely.  One of the reasons I work hard on my vitamins is knowing I'm covered in situations where I need to cut back or skip for some reason.  At this point the infection comes first, it helps that I know I'm only looking at 2 or 3 weeks and maybe not even that since who knows what they'll give me right after the op. If it's back to Augmentin then I'll have no issues. 

Pete

PS and while I may speculate that the 6 hour before time is too long for anyone especially a DS'r as long as I can follow it I will. 

Just was going to tell u I stay on no diet whatsoever. When I got right around 200 I started to feel like for my body type that was too much. So I let the s word back in. Yep Sodas. And I still eat protein but I don't monitor anything. I'll tell u something else strange. I don't take any vitamins. They always add to my constipation problems and just so u know u are human we all still resort to bad foods me more probably than others. But if I do eat some junk my body just dumps it out so I really don't get comfort from foods but believe me I try. I get my labs done all the time and they come back normal. Then again I'm in a little country town I'm not sure what all tests they should do. I hope don't end up messed up later because of the false sense of confidence that I don't need vitamins. Guess we will see we have both come so far. Life is so different to get to pick your cloths instead of the size rack picking them. And people do treat u better. That's sad but very true. What do u think about my no vitamin strategy ? They always say my blood seems normal ranges. Talk to u soon- Mike 

Hi Mike,

     Interesting. I have never gotten back my taste for diet soda or any soda at all. Now everything else at least gets a try. Glad you found a range you can stay in. I worry that I'll pop up above my range if I'm not extra careful. Having said that I'm not always that careful but I try.

    The whole vitamin thing can be a little crazy. You're not the first person I've seen say that although there haven't been more than a handful. I do think labs are your guidelines and some of us may be luckier than others in that regards. 

     The only way to really tell is to do what you are doing and watch the labs. I'm way too much of a nervous nellie to do that. The minimum I would do would be 2 standard multi's and 1500mg of calcium. Mostly as a just in case and because osteoporaisis sounds like a stone cold problem to have later in life. I would cut back on the rest of my vitamins if I saw the levels creeping up but I just don't see that. I'm entirely convinced I couldn't cut back but figure why chance it now that I've got everything down pat. Some people get dramatic drops when they mess with their vitamins while others seem to coast for years on reserves and what they take in. I have no idea what the differences are.

    I'm not well versed in vitamin research. As far as I'm concerned if my labs come back in the normal range I'm fine with that. I know some people talk about Higher levels for DS patients on some things like vit D but I just don't see the point. I also think about ADEK's and wonder why E hardly ever seems to be a problem and the others are?

   Who knows. In the end everybody just has to do what works for them. Healthy is the goal after all. :)

Pete

I agree with Larra's comments. Whenever I have medical issues that are serious, I scale back or even eliminate the vitamins short term so the medical situation can get under control and any medication can do what it is intended to do.