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On Rifampin and STARVING

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Posted 3/19/2020 4:37 AM (GMT 0)
Is this a side effect? Or is it the bugs dying and begging for more food? What is the cause of this? Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I have not been this ravenous even when I was on a diet and eating about 3/4 of what I've been eating lately. I looked up Rifampin side effects and it says LOSS of appetite. If only that were my issue. I can't afford to be gaining weight on top of all this mess!
Posted 3/19/2020 4:50 AM (GMT 0)
My daughter hasn’t taken that medication but is starving all the time, even after eating a meal. If she’s not too sick and nauseated to not eat at all, she is so hungry and says she never gets full.
I’ve wondered about that as well. Before getting sick, she was my child who really didn’t eat a lot. And also, the starving thing just started maybe three months ago🤷🏻‍♀️
Posted 3/19/2020 5:39 AM (GMT 0)
I haven’t heard that is a side effect.
I didn’t experience it.

Curious to hear what others say.
Posted 3/19/2020 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
Bugs are dying and need more food to keep going. Rifampin may be my favorite antibiotic for what we have.
Posted 3/19/2020 5:47 PM (GMT 0)
Okay this might be an obvious question but does bart feed off carbs? If so then I'm going to have to cut carbs again. I just reintroduced starchy carbs but I'll have to take them back out. I was also going to add back in unsweetened yogurt which has carbs.

*starchy vegetables

Post Edited (jb1994) : 3/19/2020 11:58:56 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/20/2020 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
I don’t know anything about the drug, but I was thinking about sickness in general. When you have acute illnesses, especially with fever, you eat little. Then, after the fever breaks and you start to feel better, you feel ravenous.

I don’t see that as feeding bad pathogens by eating in that case. No one would not eat or worry about “feeding the bugs” in that situation. Seems more like the body has finished fighting a big battle and is ready to feast and replenish its store.

How do we know your situation is not the same as this? I can see how craving sugar might be related to yeast or parasites or bad bacteria, but just feeling hungry and unsatisfied could be the body needing more nutrients and fuel.
Posted 3/20/2020 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
Well the problem is my body is demanding more food than I need as evidenced by my weight gain. So I don't believe I need more food right now, I think the bugs are making insane demands on my appetite in their last bid to survive.

Anyway I talked to my doc today and he presented a few options, namely that I go back on the keto diet and cut carbs, lower the number of days I take Rifampin from 4 to 3, or just bear the discomfort. I'm not sure if I'm going to back down on the dosage but I'm going to be taking the starchy vegetables back out of my diet because it's very torturous having a growling stomach all day long within minutes after eating a full meal. There is no way my body needs as much food as it is demanding right now. I just can't tolerate carbs very well right now I don't think and I'll just have to accept that I guess.
Posted 3/20/2020 1:36 AM (GMT 0)
I think i had some mild iron anemia in the beginning if Rifampin treatment, my iron tests were ok but I had insatiable craving for beans and red meat.
Posted 3/20/2020 1:52 AM (GMT 0)
Interesting. My cravings are just for food period. My stomach sends hunger signals within about ten minutes of eating a full meal. Today after cutting out the starchy vegetables they seem a lot less intense, practically gone. So I do think it's an issue of the dying bart bacteria feeding off any carb sources available, even high-fiber "healthy" starches like winter squash.
Posted 3/20/2020 8:47 AM (GMT 0)
Bartonella does not utilize glucose, it instead catabolizes amino acids to derive carbon and energy from its host.
Posted 3/20/2020 2:09 PM (GMT 0)
I've definitely experienced this, although it didn't seem to get worse on rifampin for me. I feel like it's made me develop some strange eating habits. Sometimes, if I don't eat at all, I don't feel hungry, then if I start eating, I feel hungry. A lot of times I don't eat, so I won't feel hungry.

Sometimes whatever it is goes away and I don't know why. Eating carbs or not doesn't seem to make a difference at all. The only thing that I've found is that it gets worse if I don't use the bathroom regularly and I get constipated. Sometimes I've found like eating a little less helps me to go to the bathroom more regularly.

Georgia Hunter-it's good to know that bartonella doesn't utilize glucose. Because it uses amino acids, would eating less meat help?
Posted 3/20/2020 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
Notime, it is my opinion that the incidence of adverse reactions/effects one gets are not from bartonella. It certainly plays a role, but there are so many non-pathogenic bacteria that become pathogens that their effects outweigh the effects of bartonella. For instance, one of our good bacteria that protects us is Lactobacillus. In the wrong amount or if they are in the wrong place, they can create problems and be considered pathogens. This is one of many thousands of bacteria that affect our well being. Everyone on this forum that has issues has problems with percentages and location of bacteria in their GI tract and periphery. I wish I had the answers but I do not. I do know by the time bartonella rares its ugly head, the body is ravished by other issues.

Eating less meat may or may not help depending on many variables. In a perfect world, eating less meat would help. We are unfortunately not in a perfect world.
Posted 3/21/2020 1:14 AM (GMT 0)
Notime- I noticed yesterday I barely ate and wasn't hungry either so I'm not sure what's going on. I ate normally today without the carbs and appetite is being extra again. I've tried so many different dietary changes by now and they at best don't help or at worst completely backfire so I feel very stuck. The fact that food is in short supply of late only makes it harder and more stressful. Just trying to eat as clean as possible under the circumstances. My low muscle mass is critical right now so I can't skimp on the protein or calories.
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