To my knowledge, I have only taken antibiotics twice in my life. In both cases, I was prescribed a course of antibiotics in relation to dental issues. Growing up, I have had many dental problems due to poor dental hygiene that required follow up with my dentist. I was prescribed a course of Amoxicillin due to a dental infection. The dentist also highly recommended that I take Kefir while being on the antibiotics. At that time, I did not know why he recommended Kefir, but I was obedient with my doctor’s directions. However, the knowledge I gained from this course now allows me to understand why the doctor recommended Kefir. The prescribed antibiotic kills both good and bad bacteria and Kefir which includes many probiotics will help restore my gut microbiome after alteration.
In terms of my personal philosophy, I am a believer of medicine and aspiring to become an emergency physician so I have a positive outlook on antibiotic use. I know that antibiotics may cause many negative side effects and most importantly, adversely alters the gut flora that is correlated with the onset of many diseases such as gastritis or gastric cancer. Despite the known cons of antibiotic use, antibiotics are crucial and are the most effective treatment for infections. Antibiotics should only be used when deemed necessary to prevent altering the gut microbiome and potential for bacteria to develop resistance. If I was prescribed an antibiotic in the future to treat an infection, I would be happy to take it, but I would only take it in conjunction with synbiotics. Synbiotics are a combination of prebiotics and probiotics which will help restore the gut microbiome after damage from antibiotics.
