# Amphotericin B & Diarrhea?



## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Hello all, Wasabi is doing much better these days! It's been an arduously long path and we've had our ups and downs, but I think Wasabi is much better off now than they were a few months ago. However, I've noticed he's most energetic in the mornings, but after his first sip of morning water medicated with Amphotericin B, he becomes a lot quieter as I suppose he's dealing with side effects. I try to ease them by making sure he has a full crop of food (usually pellet mash to slow down the medication intake). This seems to help a lot and takes away the worst of the side effects. Compared to him a few months ago, he's a completely different bird. Even with the rough days and side effects, he's far more active, happy and noisy than he was on his best days before medication.

*My question for anyone who used Amphotericin B, did you notice it caused diarrhea that sticks to the vent? I can't for the life of me find experiences from other owners about what they went through with treatment, so I don't know what to expect.* It's worst right after he takes the medication, but towards the end of the day, he'll be able to poop and it will drop without getting stuck. I'm not _too _concerned, as he is well versed in cleaning himself up (usually lets it dry then nibbles it off). Just wondering how long until it gets to the point where he's pooping normally.

PS: for the keen observers who are worried that I've had him on amphotericin b for quite a while, I wasn't giving it properly during the first course 😕 instructions said 1ml/1 litre of water, so that's what I did. But I noticed as the day went on, the ampho would settle to the bottom and leave clean water at the top of the bowl. After speaking to the vets, I was informed that I need to mix it regularly to make sure it stays dispersed in the water  so had to start over, currently on day 14 of 28 days. So now I personally give water, first thing in the morning, and again around 4pm, and just before bed, to ensure it's mixed properly and Wasabi is getting what he needs.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

So good to hear that Wasabi is feeling better. Ampho B is a pretty toxic drug and it would not surprise me if it caused diarrhea. If it is causing the diarrhea I would expect it after every dose and not just in the morning. One of my birds has recently finished a 30 day course of Ampho B but in a different formulation than what you have, I had to give it 2x a day directly into the mouth. During this time his droppings were softer than normal but not what I would call diarrhea, on day 27 I had to stop the Ampho B because he began to vomit with every dose and because we were so close to the end of treatment the vet advised to stop treatment. He developed a bad bacterial infection and was treated for that and is now back to normal.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Soft is a more accurate description, not diarrhea, apologies. They're formed, just soft and sticky, as opposed to dry that fall right out. I'm sincerely hoping Ampho completely cures Wasabi because this is all we have left. My only alternative is to spend close to $400 to overnight ship a fecal sample to a lab in the UK to 100% guarantee what his issue is, but the vet here (not avian specialist) said he had candida and AGY, so I'm trusting that and will do the fecal sample if things aren't better towards the end.

I think the side effects are strongest in the morning as he hasn't eaten much. If I get him nice and full on Harrison's high potency pellet mash he's practically a normal bird and goes about his day fine. But if I give him the water first thing in the morning before he's properly gorged himself, he gets a bit iffy. Is the soft poop the only issue you noticed, or were there other side effects?

Thanks so much for writing down your experience with it. I'll be sure to keep a lookout for vomit. I was hoping there would be some crystal clear indication during treatment to show they're on the up and up (I guess his overall personality and energy levels indicate it's working, but the poops don't give much info at all, they still appear meh). I'm just glad his poop went from watery and awful, where you could see thin strings of digested food matter floating in the thick watery part, to now fully formed, non-watery poop. White paper sheets no longer get stained brown from his poop either.Thanks Cody!

Wasabi is currently napping on his seagrass net and chirping so loudly and whistling with his head tucked in. In the past, he would just be a zombie and make absolutely zero noise whilst sleeping all day. So fingers crossed! Oh, on a brighter note, he finally came around and started letting me love him again. The months of having to grab him to give him medicine made him despise my hand, but a few days ago, he started letting me nuzzle his cheek with my nose and give him scratches with my fingers  He's also flying in and out of the cage all by himself, and exploring, playing and being a general good boy.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm so glad to hear that Wasabi is improving!! How wonderful he is allowing you to love again. It sounds as if he is recovering nicely. 💚 💚 💚 *


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

The AGY organism under the microscope is unmistakable, that of course assumes you know what it looks like to begin with, it's not as if you could confuse it with a bacilli (rod shaped bacteria).I did not see any other side effects, just the soft droppings, I was also giving Carafate 1 hr prior to each Ampho B dose, Carafate is a GI protectant and coats the GI tract, this may have helped to curb any potential side effects. The indication that the Ampho B was working was the change in behavior from a puffed up sleepy vomiting bird back to normal activity and retesting the droppings at the 14 day and 30 day mark. Based on Wasabi's activity it seems that he is surely feeling better and on the road to recovery.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

The Carafate is genius! As for the AGY diagnosis, what you wrote makes me breathe a sigh of relief. The vet wasn't an avian specialist but she worked with birds a lot and I'm sure she also leaned on colleagues at the clinic for extra eyes to check the sample. Wasabi's behaviour is also a huge plus to the treatment working. Puffed up sleepy quiet bird to nowadays being the total opposite.

To think we're on the home stretch after dealing with this constantly since March, my god.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Thanks to your persistence in finding a way to treat him and obtain the medication in an area with no avian vets is a wonderful accomplishment.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

Cody said:


> Thanks to your persistence in finding a way to treat him and obtain the medication in an area with no avian vets is a wonderful accomplishment.


*I agree with Cody, 100%. Well done!! 💚 💚 💚 *


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