Antibiotics - How do they affect?

sophidog

just finishing a second consecutive week of antibiotic treatment for an acute chest infection and am wondering what the effect will be on my overall fitness. You read interviews with pros where they complain that antibiotics somehow affect them. Anyone know what deleterious effect they have whilst killing off the infection. Looking to jump on the turbo tomorrow and just wondering whether I'll feel like giving it all up........

Zingzang

What kind of chest infection have you got? Antibiotics treat bacterial infections, not viral ones. If your infection is viral, the antibiotics won't be "killing it off" at all and your doctor is very irresponsible for prescribing them to you in the first place.

imposter2.0

Calm down, nobody mentioned 'viral'....

Anyway, antibiotics shouldn't stop you training per se - but the effects of whatever it is that they are treating might...

ric/rstsport

It's amazing, many people feel that antibiotics seem to be ergolytic. I'm not certain there's any evidence to support this (at least nothing springs to mind).

Many people ride like a bag of spanners after they've taken antibiotics, simply because
1) they're ill in some way and this reduces performance
2) they've been ill and had time off (and fitness is rapidly lost). Plasma volume decreases rapidly upon cessation of training resulting in a drop of VO2max and other measures.

You'll probably feel like a bag of spanners for a few days to a fortnight. It's perfectly normal. Reduce intensity and volume and just ride steady (at least for a few days) until your legs feel like they belong to you again.

Ric

Zingzang

Imposter wrote:

Calm down, nobody mentioned 'viral'....

Yes, that's why I specifically asked "What kind of chest infection have you got?"
If, as you seem to want us to assume, Sophiedog has a bacterial chest infection instead, then this almost invariably implies pneumonia, which is much rarer than a viral chest infection, and no-one with pneumonia is going to be wanting to consider riding their bike until they are thoroughly well again.
I didn't need to calm down, but it sounds like you need to wise up.

thegreatdivide

Zingzang wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Calm down, nobody mentioned 'viral'....

Yes, that's why I specifically asked "What kind of chest infection have you got?"
If, as you seem to want us to assume, Sophiedog has a bacterial chest infection instead, then this almost invariably implies pneumonia, which is much rarer than a viral chest infection, and no-one with pneumonia is going to be wanting to consider riding their bike until they are thoroughly well again.
I didn't need to calm down, but it sounds like you need to wise up.

Are you a doctor?

imposter2.0

Zingzang wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Calm down, nobody mentioned 'viral'....

Yes, that's why I specifically asked "What kind of chest infection have you got?"
If, as you seem to want us to assume, Sophiedog has a bacterial chest infection instead, then this almost invariably implies pneumonia, which is much rarer than a viral chest infection, and no-one with pneumonia is going to be wanting to consider riding their bike until they are thoroughly well again.
I didn't need to calm down, but it sounds like you need to wise up.

Wow - over-reaction of the day (or week, month, or year!).

I'm not assuming anything. I'm just responding to the information given, which stated the OP was being treated on a course of antibiotics for a chest infection. You're the one making the giant leap into medical mis-diagnosis.

I've been treated with antibiotics for chest infections on more than one occasion and the notion of pneumonia has never come up. Pneumonia, incidentally, can be the result of either bacterial or viral infections (I only know that because I googled it). 'Wise-up', that's ironic...

sophidog

Thanks Ric, still feeling like a bag of spanners(rusty ones at that) so i'll skip the turbo today. Zingzang, you were a bit quick off the mark, I'd assumed non-viral once the GP prescribed the Doxycycline(100mg/day and useless). A follow-up week of 3 x 500mg Amoxycillin a day did the trick though. Soon be back at it...

ric/rstsport

The issue, with some GPs, is that they don't always know if it's bacterial. Technically, (or at least this used to be the case) you're supposed to culture the infection to ascertain if it's viral or bacterial and i'm not certain anyone does (at least no one has for me). Of course, i'm not a doctor so i could be talking rubbish (but i did at least study for a while about exercise immunology).

increase your carbohydrate intake (good carbs not sweets ;-)), start gently, avoid ill people where possible.

CPEX

As has been said above its what the anti-biotics are treating rather than the anti-biotics themselves. Waiting for cultures to come back...well you might as well get on and treat with antibiotics if you are thinking its a bacterial pneumonia. Cultures could (and often do) take ages to come back with a result. As Ric is saying, take things easy for now. Hope you feel better soon

ric/rstsport

CPEX wrote:

As has been said above its what the anti-biotics are treating rather than the anti-biotics themselves. Waiting for cultures to come back...well you might as well get on and treat with antibiotics if you are thinking its a bacterial pneumonia. Cultures could (and often do) take ages to come back with a result. As Ric is saying, take things easy for now. Hope you feel better soon

that was going to be my next point ;-). by the time the culture has come back you'll probably be okay (unless it really was something serious!)

Zingzang

thegreatdivide wrote:

Are you a doctor?

Your point being?

sophidog wrote:

A follow-up week of 3 x 500mg Amoxycillin a day did the trick though.

How do you know it was that that "did the trick" though, and not your own body's immune system?
You could be falling into the fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Imposter wrote:

Wow - over-reaction of the day (or week, month, or year!).

You try that one regularly, I suspect. It has anything but the effect you intend.

Imposter wrote:

You're the one making the giant leap into medical mis-diagnosis....

I never made a diagnosis. Read my post again.

Imposter wrote:

Pneumonia, incidentally, can be the result of either bacterial or viral infections (I only know that because I googled it).

I never said it couldn't be. Again, read my post properly.

Imposter wrote:

'Wise-up', that's ironic...

Yes, in ways you clearly can't imagine. "Imposter" was a good choice of name.

imposter2.0

Wait - is this Trev..???

meanredspider

Antibiotics can affect your gut too which may have an impact on how you are feeling. Given your gut is full of various bugs (most of which help you) killing them off isn't going to help. I think you'll do yourself more harm than good trying to start exercising too soon so the advice above to take it steady is very sound.

kajjal

You need to confirm the illness has gone and also be aware antibiotics ineffect flush nutrients out of your body and reduce its ability to absorb nutrients. Not a problem for most people but really pushing yourself on a bike makes it more noticeable and if you train while "infected" the worst case is you get "blood poisoning" which is very nasty.