What is the point of taking probiotics and antibiotics at the same time?

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I work at a doctors office and when I’m reading chart notes, I see a lot that someone gets prescribed antibiotics, and the doctors will always write in there to take probiotics at the same time.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to take the probiotic AFTER finishing the antibiotic course? Because I would think that taking them both would be pointless, because the antibiotics would immediately kill the probiotics that you just took… right?

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4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

You’re technically not supposed to take them at the same time as an antibiotic. You should take them 2-3 hours apart to maximize the number that actually make it to go your gut. Basically, the probiotics increase the number of good bacteria in your stomach to help offset the ones you kill off.

There are also prebiotics, which is a type of fiber that feeds the good bacteria in your gut. They can be taken in pill form, but they’re also found in a lot of foods like apples, asparagus, bananas, members of the onion family, and others. By eating prebiotics foods *and* taking probiotics (or consuming foods that have probiotics), you’re giving the good bacteria in the gut a helping hand.

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