Re: Kombucha & Penicillin?

[Guest guest]

Did he have a shot or penicillin pills?

Sharon, NH

> My 6-year-old had a severe reaction to Penicillin over the weekend that sent

> us to Children's ER (he was on Amoxicillin for strep) and now I'm kind of

> scared to give him the GT's kombucha that he's been drinking daily for

> several months...

>

> It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like:

> Could the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a

> detoxer? Could the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused

> the severe reaction?

>

[Guest guest]

I don't know if this is helpful at all-  I am currently studying microbiology,

and we have been learning about penicillin, although I know next to nothing

about Kombucha.  Some of the things we have learned are: penicillin attacks a

bacteria when they are in their log phase, which means the bacterial cells are

in a phase of rapid chromosome reproduction.  Penicillin interferes with cell

wall synthesis.  Many of the allergic reactions we see to penicillin (redness,

swelling, etc) are immune system responses to a perceived invasion or toxin (in

this case the penicillin).  Perhaps even more interesting is that we learned

that around 30% of people are allergic to penicillin, and the rate is rising. 

We should remember that anti-biotics have only been in widespread use for 50-70

years.  My micro professors calls anit-biotics " Our own little evolutionary

experiment. "   Our bodies are still trying to figure out how to deal with them,

while at the same

time bacteria are rapidly devloping reistance to many anti-biotics, which will

lead to the development of new antibiotics, which bacteria will then become

reistant to, whick will lead to development of new anti-biotics, etc, etc,. 

So- if it appears your son is allergic to penicillin, he probably is.  It is not

as uncommon as we think, and will probably increase with the continued

widespread use of anti-biotics. 

Hope that was helpful-

Meg N

Subject: Kombucha & Penicillin?

To: trad-foods-MN

Date: Monday, April 6, 2009, 5:13 PM

My 6-year-old had a severe reaction to Penicillin over the weekend

that sent us to Children's ER (he was on Amoxicillin for strep) and now I'm kind

of scared to give him the GT's kombucha that he's been drinking daily for

several months...

It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like: Could

the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a detoxer? Could

the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused the severe reaction?

Alternately, I have kind of wondered if maybe the reaction was to the kombucha

*instead* of the Penicillin.. .though according to SF, a reaction to kombucha

usually occurs right away, and he's been drinking it for months....

Anyone have any insight into this? I didn't get anything that looked

particularly helpful when I googled " kombucha penicillin " . ..

Thanks,

a

[Guest guest]

Oh, would that I could live life over, I'd love to be in class with

you, Meg. It all sounds so exciting!! I used to get penicillin shots

3, 4 times a winter for strep. Each time, I became paralyzed and had

hallucinations seeing the ceiling being lowered down, about to crush

me, and floating heads and eyeballs. It made it a lot easier to stay

on the straight and narrow in college when everybody else was

experimenting with drugs. I was the " square " . " Been there, done

that " , I used to think. I didn't have the type of mother one could

tell such a thing to - wouldn't have done any good, but one night she

came in to find me in the state of paralysis and then she took it

seriously. Turned out, I'm allergic to the lidocaine (Xylocaine)

which is (was?) in the shot to reduce the pain, given how intensely

painful penicillin is. Of course, the doctor didn't figure that out.

It took a dentist, giving me a shot of novacaine, who ended up having

to give me oxygen, " pulling me from the brink of death " , as he shakily

put it. I took penicillin pills after that and never had a problem.

I'm NOT discounting what you said, but thought I'd throw this scenario

out there, because in your future career, sometimes, the answer won't

always be in statistics or what they teach.

Sharon, NH

> I don't know if this is helpful at all-  I am currently studying

> microbiology, and we have been learning about penicillin, although I know

> next to nothing about Kombucha.  Some of the things we have learned are:

> penicillin attacks a bacteria when they are in their log phase, which means

> the bacterial cells are in a phase of rapid chromosome reproduction.

> Penicillin interferes with cell wall synthesis.  Many of the allergic

> reactions we see to penicillin (redness, swelling, etc) are immune system

> responses to a perceived invasion or toxin (in this case the penicillin).

> Perhaps even more interesting is that we learned that around 30% of people

> are allergic to penicillin, and the rate is rising.  We should remember that

> anti-biotics have only been in widespread use for 50-70 years.  My micro

> professors calls anit-biotics " Our own little evolutionary experiment. "   Our

> bodies are still trying to figure out how to deal with them, while at the

> same

> time bacteria are rapidly devloping reistance to many anti-biotics, which

> will lead to the development of new antibiotics, which bacteria will then

> become reistant to, whick will lead to development of new anti-biotics, etc,

> etc,.

>

> So- if it appears your son is allergic to penicillin, he probably is.  It is

> not as uncommon as we think, and will probably increase with the continued

> widespread use of anti-biotics.

>

> Hope that was helpful-

> Meg N

>

>

>

>

> Subject: Kombucha & Penicillin?

> To: trad-foods-MN

> Date: Monday, April 6, 2009, 5:13 PM

>

> My 6-year-old had a severe reaction to Penicillin over the weekend that sent

> us to Children's ER (he was on Amoxicillin for strep) and now I'm kind of

> scared to give him the GT's kombucha that he's been drinking daily for

> several months...

>

> It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like:

> Could the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a

> detoxer? Could the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused

> the severe reaction?

>

> Alternately, I have kind of wondered if maybe the reaction was to the

> kombucha *instead* of the Penicillin.. .though according to SF, a reaction

> to kombucha usually occurs right away, and he's been drinking it for

> months....

>

> Anyone have any insight into this? I didn't get anything that looked

> particularly helpful when I googled " kombucha penicillin " . ..

>

> Thanks,

>

> a

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I'm actually going to school to be a lay midwife, so hopefully none of my

clients will need anti-biotics!  Thanks for the info though, allergies are a

really interesting (and severe) immune response...yeah, and studying micro

totally rocks!

Meg N

>

> From: pyegirl70 <pyegirl70aol (DOT) com>

> Subject: Kombucha & Penicillin?

> To: trad-foods-MN@ yahoogroups. com

> Date: Monday, April 6, 2009, 5:13 PM

>

> My 6-year-old had a severe reaction to Penicillin over the weekend that sent

> us to Children's ER (he was on Amoxicillin for strep) and now I'm kind of

> scared to give him the GT's kombucha that he's been drinking daily for

> several months...

>

> It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like:

> Could the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a

> detoxer? Could the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused

> the severe reaction?

>

> Alternately, I have kind of wondered if maybe the reaction was to the

> kombucha *instead* of the Penicillin.. .though according to SF, a reaction

> to kombucha usually occurs right away, and he's been drinking it for

> months....

>

> Anyone have any insight into this? I didn't get anything that looked

> particularly helpful when I googled " kombucha penicillin " . ..

>

> Thanks,

>

> a

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Kombucha is one of those supposedly healthy foods that I tried and determined

that in did nothing for me. I never got on the bandwagon and have read enough

that I don't believe it's good for you. I also think it's still too sugary and

has caffeine and for a 6 year old would be like drinking sweet tea with yeast

and bacteria in it. I guess I'm just cynical about some things and I suppose

there will be some folks on here who swear by it, but I believe it caused my

yeast problem to get worse and I gave up on drinking it for health reasons.

the PCX allergy is serious and should be something you point out anytime your

child goes to a doctor or hospital. They ask, but you should tell them too.

>

> My 6-year-old had a severe reaction to Penicillin over the weekend that sent

us to Children's ER (he was on Amoxicillin for strep) and now I'm kind of scared

to give him the GT's kombucha that he's been drinking daily for several

months...

>

> It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like:

Could the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a detoxer?

Could the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused the severe

reaction?

>

> Alternately, I have kind of wondered if maybe the reaction was to the kombucha

*instead* of the Penicillin...though according to SF, a reaction to kombucha

usually occurs right away, and he's been drinking it for months...

>

> Anyone have any insight into this? I didn't get anything that looked

particularly helpful when I googled " kombucha penicillin " ...

>

> Thanks,

>

> a

>

[Guest guest]

> It's probably not a rational fear, but I have been wondering things like:

Could the kombucha have magnified his allergy response since it is a detoxer?

Could the kombucha have interacted with the Penicillin and caused the severe

reaction? >

My thoughts are this, kombucha is full of " good guys " so it would not have

caused the penicillin to be worse for your son, and actually, may have helped

prevent worse from happening.

I would totally believe that the penicillin caused a reaction, as my mom is so

allergic to it, they would never even consider giving it to me. (Though they

freely prescribed amoxicillin, which I am allergic to.)

In a situation where you have to decide between modern medicine and natural

remedies, or in this case drinks, go with natural every time. You can always go

to modern medicine later if natural doesn't work, but you can't take it away if

it does harm.

Good luck,

Roxanne

www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TheFalcon.html

[Guest guest]

The GT's bottles say 2 grams of sugar per serving--so 4 grams for the entire

bottle...

[Guest guest]

I'm a little late on this discussion...

When I was 6 months old I broke out with hives when I was on penicillin for an

ear infection. Ever since thin, I've always had " allergic to penicillin on my

medical records. From what I have been told, repeatedly, a second exposure to

penicillin for an allergic person can be deadly.

I have had G.T. Kombucha on occasion with no ill effects... it simply never

occurred to me to not drink Kombucha due to my penicillin allergy.

I just started brewing my own Kombucha, I'm still waiting for my first batch to

mature. I seriously doubt there is any danger...

Penicillin allergies are not all that uncommon - if there was a danger with

drinking Kombucha for those of us who are allergic to penicillin, I really think

this warning would be " out there " amongst all the information floating about

regarding Kombucha.

~