Amoxicillin is a medication that belongs to a group of antibiotics called penicillin-like antibiotics. It has potential use in treatment of a number of ailments caused by harmful bacteria in your body. Acidophilus, formally known as Lactobacillus acidophilus, is a beneficial bacteria species that belongs to a group of substances called probiotics. Use of amoxicillin requires modification of your use of acidophilus. Consult your doctor before taking acidophilus in combination with amoxicillin.
Amoxicillin Background
Amoxicillin is used to treat a variety of bacterial infections, including gonorrhea, pneumonia and salmonella and E. coli infections, as well as bladder and ear infections. Doctors also sometimes treat ulcer-causing infections of H. pylori bacteria with a combination of amoxicillin and a second antibiotic, called clarithromycin. Like all penicillin-like antibiotics, amoxicillin achieves it effects by triggering faulty cell wall construction inside target bacteria. The improperly made walls allow water into the cells, which in turn burst open.
Acidophilus Background
L. acidophilus and other probiotic bacterial and fungal species typically resemble beneficial microorganisms that naturally exist inside your digestive system. Use of acidophilus can potentially improve your health by suppressing the effects or halting the growth of damaging bacteria responsible for ailments such as irritable bowel syndrome, stomach ulcers, stomach inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, infectious diarrhea and infections of the skin or vagina. Use of acidophilus and other probiotics can also potentially offset the negative effects of amoxicillin and other antibiotics, which commonly kill off beneficial bacteria in your system as well as harmful bacteria.
Acidophilus/Amoxicillin Interactions
Acidophilus is just one member of the Lactobacillus genus that has potential use as a probiotic. Other beneficial species in the genus include L. casei, L. brevis, L. amylovorus and L. rhamnosus, also called Lactobacillus GG. If you take acidophilus or any other Lactobacillus probiotic in combination with amoxicillin or any other type of antibiotic, the antibiotic can kill off the probiotic and reduce its effectiveness, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus. To avoid this possibility, MedlinePlus recommends that you take acidophilus or any other form of Lactobacillus a minimum of two hours before or after taking amoxicillin or any other antibiotic.
Considerations
If you take acidophilus or any other form of Lactobacillus in combination with medications that suppress your immune function, it can contribute to your bacterial load and increase your risks for illness, MedlinePlus notes. Medications that can cause problems in association with amoxicillin use include sulfa drugs, anticoagulants, probenecid and a variety of other antibiotics, including clarithromycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, demeclocycline and doxycycline. Review your medication usage with your doctor before taking acidophilus or any other probiotic. Also review your medication usage before taking amoxicillin.
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