I had finally, finally, worked up the courage to have a diagnostic procedure done to determine the viability of my remaining tube. In a cold, sterile room, pantsless, I was bracing myself for impending unpleasantness when the doctor casually mentioned I’d have to take an antibiotic if they found a blockage because the liquid they were about to inject could become trapped and cause an infection.

At this point I was in for a penny, in for a pound, so later that day my husband brought home a little white pharmacy bag and yours truly begrudgingly started a round of doxycycline.

I was bummed because I haven’t had a sick visit in years; in fact, no one in my family has. I am absolutely grateful for modern medicine, but antibiotics wipe out good bacteria with the bad. It felt wrong to prophylacticly decimate all the good gut flora I’d been building up for the past few years. I’ve heard it takes three years to flourish again, and a healthy gut microbiome is crucial to maintaining overall wellness.

Have you ever met a mom whose kids are on antibiotic after antibiotic? My common sense guess would be their little ecosystems might be out of whack.

I don’t know if I would have done anything different regarding my procedure, but it would have been nice to know about the possibility of the antibiotic before I was in the room. I was reluctant to go in the first place, but there was a small chance it could unblock my tube. It didn’t, and so here we are. It just felt like insult added to injury. “You can’t get pregnant, and oh, by the way, say goodbye to your healthy gut bacteria! You can pay at the desk! Have a good one!” Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Maybe it’s not such a big deal. But my allergies have been killing me this year, and they are normally mild. Allergies are an autoimmune response. All I can do now is try to nourish my body with foods that promote the good guys (note to self: no more Nashville Hot Chicken Potato Chips. Once. I bought them once. Darn you, Aldi.).

Alright, sob story over. If you want to learn more, check out this talk by a nurse about the gut micro biome. I’m not a sciency person (don’t say “obviously”) but this is important stuff!

Happy Friday, ladies and germs!

Angela