Here we will look at the known side-effects of antibiotics. But before that, I want to clarify a point from before. Yesterday I wrote about the immune system and I think what I wrote there about antibiotics might have caused a misunderstanding in some circles. I did not say that one should never take antibiotics. Neither did I deny that antibiotics is a valuable tool in the arsenal of medicine. What I said was three things:
It you take antibiotics for an infection, that infection will not train your immune system. The fact is that it will weaken your immune system, because the antibiotics kills bacteria and the immune system remains passive. If you do this repeatedly, the immune system atrophies. Nature is economic, it doesn't waste resources on something that is not used. After the antibiotics, when its effect has faded, you will be wide-open for any infecting microbe, of which fungi are the most dangerous, and your microflora (more below) is ruined, which causes a large number of problems and paves the way for degenerative disease.
That an infection “cured” with antibiotics will never completely go. Indeed antibiotics works on the bacteria causing the infection, not on symptoms, but it will not extinguish them – only natural immune function can do that. Some of them will hide from the antibiotics and survive (your own immune system won't care, it was released from this work by the introduction of antibiotics in the organism), making the basis for chronic illness. It can be semi-dormant, perhaps you don't notice it for 20 years, but it is there, slowly poisoning you and an outbreak can come at a time later when you are temporary weakened for some reason. It can be enough with sudden chilling in cold water or being drunken a night. In both these cases (any many others), the power of the immune system falls enormously for a short while. Anything you have inside can break out then or at least advance and get a firmer hold of you.
That one should only use antibiotics as a life-saver, otherwise not. This is not to say that I deny that antibiotics would not be valuable. It is, in life-threatening situations, such as difficult pneumonia or severe bacterial meningitis. But that's it, and it should be a short treatment to minimize harm. To use it for an ordinary cold, inflamed gums, or something like that, is abuse – and will cause more harm than benefit in the long run.
So, let's leave the previous article and look direct at known side-effects of antibiotics.
I won't suggest that everything is known, there are still new results emerging all the time, and they are worrying. What we do know, however, is the following.
Antibiotics kills off micro-organisms without any distinction between good and bad ones. While they might kill a disease-causing bacteria we want to get rid of, they also deplete us of many good micro-organisms which we need in order to function properly. They destroy our microflora. This is not solved by merely eating some yoghurt, and it is not limited to the intestinal area. The same happens on all, or most, inner and outer surfaces. Restoring the destroyed microflora is very, very difficult. I'd say that it is almost never done properly.
A disturbed microflora weakens our defence against harmful micro-organisms and radically paves the way for fungi and various fungal infections, and it causes various nutritional deficiencies, since “good” bacteria (which should be there but isn't anymore) normally synthesise certain nutrients for us. It also contributes to a general degeneration of the organism, with degenerative disease, such as cancer. Apart from this, it causes many minor ailments.
Antibiotics also make you fat and increase the risk for diabetes! They affect the metabolism and make you crave sugar, and if you give antibiotics to a child, it grows too many fat cells. This is irreversible, that poor child will have too many fat cells for the rest of its life.
If this surprises you, consider why, for instance, chicken are given antibiotics. This is done to boost growth! Chicken grow to almost double size when antibiotics are added to their fodder.
What happens to you when you eat that chicken?
There is very little research on that. The official standpoint is that no antibiotics remain in the food when you eat it, but studies have shown that to be wrong. There are still antibiotic residues in the food.
Fatty tissue produces oestrogen, so extra body fat means extra oestrogen which, as we know, strongly contributes to cancer, diabetes and many other diseases. In addition to that, it is not far-fetched to believe that the changed chemistry in the body, caused by the collapsed balance of the microflora, also contributes to more oestrogens – since certain (bad) bacteria produce hormone imitating compounds.
Antibiotics also affect you mentally. They make you drowsy and sleepy. It is possible that over-consumption of antibiotics negatively affects brain and cognitive abilities – in a permanent way.
Not all antibiotics are equal. Some types are more harmful than others. The real monsters are the so-called Fluoroquinolones, antibiotics containing fluoride. They are known to cause severe and permanent harm on almost all organs and tissues, including brain and nervous system. This is a drug of absolutely last resort and should never be used otherwise.
On the other hand, I think that can be said about all antibiotics. They should be used only as a last resort in a situation that would otherwise lead to death, and for as short a period as possible. Antibiotics should never be used routinely or for minor infections that can be treated in another way or be left untreated to self-heal. Doctors who prescribe them when they are not absolutely necessary, are irresponsible to a level that borders on criminality.
When a limitation of the use of antibiotics is discussed in the general debate, it is mainly for the risk of bacteria developing resistance, which happens after too extensive exposure. But in my opinion, the side-effects are a reason at least as important. Indeed, most people would never need antibiotics in their life and would be better off without them.
Finally, be aware that antibiotics may interact with almost any medicine or dietary supplement.
Copyright © 2020 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved.
Related Article: If You're Never Ill' You're Ill Indeed
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Witnessing an allergic reaction to an antibiotic
is a serious incentive to find better ways to improve natural immunity.
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