My recent antibiotic experience

I recently had an experience in which I had to take an antibiotic. Those of you who have been following my Defiant Health podcast discussions, or have been reading my thousands of blog posts on DrDavisInfiniteHealth.com, or my books, especially my latest Super Gut book, know that I advocate for absolutely minimizing our reliance on antibiotics, as they are extremely destructive to the microbiome. Antibiotics disrupt microbial composition of the gastrointestinal tract, the airway, the sinuses, reproductive organs, urinary tract, and other body parts with serious potential long-term consequences.

Well, I had a failed root canal and crown put in more than 30 years ago. It recently failed and I had the tooth extracted, following by insertion of an implant. Because the periodontist had to drill into the jawbone and insert an anchor for the implant, he prescribed an antibiotic to prevent osteomyelitis, or infection of the jawbone that can be catastrophic. I therefore spent weeks dreading this process as, in past, I’ve had some nasty experiences with antibiotics: GI distress, abdominal discomfort, skin rashes. But I was especially dreading the awful insomnia that I feared I’d experience with loss of the L. reuteri that I had been supplementing for several years that converted me from a severe chronic insomniac to a deep sleeper.

To my great surprise, I experienced none of these effects and I wanted to share with you why and how I believe I, and my listeners who have engaged similar strategies, avoided these effects from antibiotics. It’s my n of one experience, along with some of my listeners, so it’s proof of nothing. But, because these concepts are evolving rapidly with very little formal evidence, it’s worth at least being aware and even trying some of these strategies.

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Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed