Suggest treatment for loose stool while on ear infection medication
Patient: Hi, I have a 6 month baby boy weighed 4 weeks ago at 21lbs. for the last 4 weeks he has been having 7oz formala feeds every 4 hrs during the day, 7am,11am,3pm,7pm, plus i have been weeaning him with baby cearal,fruit and veg purees 3 times a day too. All was going fine and he loved his solids and milk and has slept through the night for the last few months. Last friday he started to refuse his solid and milk, and vomited after a solid feed. I took hime to a doctor who said he had an ear infection and gave him pencillen to take 3 times a day. We are also giving him calpol. I took him back to the doctors on tuesday as he is still refusing all solids he won t let anything in his mouth and most bottles. They checked his throat which was fine and his ears were still red. Yesterday he had 5 oz at 9am in the morning and would not have anything in his mouth till 5pm when he had another 5oz. This is very inlike him to go such a long period without any food. He is still on the pencillen and has been for 6 days now. My question is, should i be worried he is not eating any solids or refusing some of his bottles. He is very pale and feels much lighter, he is waking through the night crying too. He is not vomiting and is not having many poo s but i guess he wouldnt as he has not had as much food. He does have bad smelly wind and when he does poo it is loose and has lots of mucus in it. When should i expect him to have regular bottles again? should i go back to my gp? Doctor: Hi,It seems he was having acute otitis media- infection of the middle ear. Your doctor has given him the right medications- if his pain and fussiness is coming down and no more fever, he is responding to the treatment. It make take a couple of days for his appetite to return to normalNow, regarding his loose stools, its quite common to have frequent loose stools after taking penicillins. This is because of change in normal flora of our bowel. Usually this will get back to normal after few days of completing antibiotic course. In such cases i used to prescribe probiotics for 3-5 days and rarely replacing the antibiotic if its disturbing much. If he not febrile, pain and fussiness has come down and is playful- nothing to worry, just wait 2-3 days- he will be alright. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Regards, Dr. Muhammed Aslam T. K, Pediatrician