Stomach Virus or Antibiotic allergy

[CML2014]

Hello,

I am a very healthy 62 year old . Yearly physicals always turn out with no problems except high cholesterol. Taking Crestor 20 mg--still 220, so Doctor put me on Nyaspan. New drug with Niacin that bumps up effectiveness of statin.

Two weeks ago had cough and very bad throat, thought I had strep was prescribed amoxycillan. Culture came back negative. Lipid panel taken then showed high liver enzymes and high CRP. I am scheduled for Ultasound of liver Monday the 23rd.

After taking this new Nyaspan for 8 days woke up in cold sweat, fever of 100, body aches, total weakness, and diarrhea bad enough to cause Vasalvaga reaction.
Next day make apt with doctor who says it is not a reaction to the new Nyaspan or regular Flu. Thinks it may be a gastrointestinal virus. CBC taken on Thursday still waiting results.

I still have tenderness when pressing on my stomach, have been constipated since, other than that feel ok.

Question antibiotics given for throat (not strep) could have caused allergic reaction that could mimic these symptoms and rip up my stomach a week after they had been finished??  

[mkh9]

You are welcome.  I hope it helps. The Dr. McDougall diet which a whole plant based diet has been very helpful. My husbands weight was 210 and now it is 175. You have to stop eating meat and dairy and no cooking with oil though. It is a lifestyle change not a fad diet. So it takes time to get used to it. The book he recently wrote is called Starch Solution. It is informative and has some recipes to start with too. It is important to understand that you really don't need as much protein as people think but you do need whole grains in order to keep your energy and stay full as white bread, white rice aren't as rich in protein etc. So if you are interested in it after looking at the website and reading what people say etc. and I would be surprised if you are serious and found that you weren't interested. I mean it is hard to eat out and not go off the diet. Regarding the Niaspan, the most recent study said that although the lab work looked ok the real difference in actually decline in heart attacks and so forth clinically didn't change. The lab work for the Triglycerides did make a difference though. Also, if you did go on this diet I noticed our LDL went down but our HDL also went down. The Family practice doc didn't understand why. I found out that this is because HDL is protective and when your cholesterol is low you don't need the protection so the HDL isn't needed and drops. My cholesterol was at 200 and went down to about 150 with this diet and has stayed there. My doctor is also confused because my LPa was 10 and he said that is genetic and will never go down. Well on this diet it went to the normal level. It is a marker for sudden heart attack and now it is normal! So, go figure. Maybe mine wasn't really genetic or they don't entirely understand it. I also read Colin Campbells China study, and Dr. Lederman and Esselsyne. They all agree on this diet. Dr. McDougall was a cardiologist. He has a clinic in Santa Rosa, California that you can go to get off your pills if possible and learn the diet. We just learned by reading the books. The DVD and/ if you get Netflix streaming called Forks over Knives is good as is the recipe book. Anyway, the results are in seeing your lab work, and blood pressure drop.
take care,
mkh9

[CML2014]

Wow!
Thanks, mkh. You seem like you are very knowledgeable. I was really surprised to hear you were familiar with Niaspan.

I will go with your theory on stomach virus. Your thoughts echo my initial thoughts.

Thanks also for the Dr. McDougal site I will take a look at it

[mkh9]

The high liver enzymes are a sign of the Crestor causing problems for you. So, you may have to get off of it. My husband had low platelet count with it and was only on a 10mg pill. He was also on Niaspan and only gets the flushing.  But he had to go down to every other day on Niaspan. So, you may have to do something like that. If you are on a very high dose of Niaspan then less common side effects can be fever, diarrhea, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, headache and rash. But my husband is on 500mg with no problem. I don't know what they consider a high dose. The Niaspan is only really for lowering your Triglycerides not the cholesterol. The new data that has come out shows it doesn't really work on the cholesterol only the triglycerides. The cough, and sore throat are not symptoms of Niaspan. So it sounds like more likely a virus. If you had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics you would have had a rash, hives, swelling of the throat or breathing problems, something other than the symptoms you describe. A virus can make your stomach feel like it has been torn up. Stay hydrated. Hope this helps.  Check out the diet on drmcdougall.com it lowered my husbands and my cholesterol a lot and helped with weight loss. It is a big lifestyle change though.