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Rifampin - usual length of time Rxd?

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Posted 9/22/2012 10:12 PM (GMT 0)

I've been on rifampin for 3 weeks and it's been horrible! Worst antibiotic ever!  Not sure I can do this.

I've started low dose--just 1/2 of a 300 mg capsule and am up to 3 capsules per day now.

I never thought to ask how long I'm on this. What is the usual time?

Also wondering if you take all the capsules just once a day or divided into two times? I was told twice, but hear some people take just once which is what I'd prefer. Take it in the morning and then don't have to worry about the two hours after eating.

Do all the horrible side effects and herxing settle down in time?

Posted 9/22/2012 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there

I've been on rifampin for about 5 months. (for bart). along with some other antibios.

The first month I had a very difficult time with it...lot of heaving. so I gradually introduced it.

After the second month it was really helping. I got to a point where I was symptom free for 3 months but the my meds were changed and the symptoms came back mainly nerve and insomnia.

From many reports bart is a tough one to get rid of and you may have aske about combining with some herbs to imprve the efficacy at some point.

Hang in there and hope it gets better for you

Posted 9/22/2012 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Korissa,

I'm on rifampin and clarithromycin for Bartonella. I've been on it for 2 and a half months now and had a horrid time - major continuous herx. Very recently I've started to feel a bit better but it's taken quite a while. I hear mixed stories about how long people take it for varying between a few months and a year and at doses more than 600mg although that seems standard; and as you point out it is important to increase the dose slowly to manage the herx and let your body adapt.

I take my rifampin all at once 600 mg in the am 1 hr before food, then eat and have my clarithromycin. It's important not to use rifampin in mono therapy as bugs easily acquire resistance to it used alone - are you taking it with something?

Rifampin does have some side effects so it's worth looking them up - it tends to increase the metabolism of other substances including your hormones so you can become hormone depleted on long term rifampin and this may require replacement.

All the best,

Hugh
Posted 9/22/2012 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks so much for your responses.

Good to know it's ok to take once a day in the am.

Are you able to sleep? I' was on ambien even beofre and my doctor just changed it to ambien CR thinking it might help me sleep longer. It doesn't work unless I take two of them. I've read a controlled study  that says rifampin decreases it's effectiveness by 58%.

A pharmacist told me that taking more ambien (zolpidem) is not abusing the drug because rifampin changes your liver enzymes  and it just doesn't all get used. But my MD told me not to take more than one.

Yes Hugh, I'm concerned also about my thyroid med which of course if a hormone. I wasn't told that I should get checked in time. Actually, I'm tired in a different way now and actually wired so if I'd get tired from low thyroid and could sleep that would be wonderful! But not sure if it would work that way.

ecotick, I'm taking it with doxy. Sorry to hear you got insomnia by "nerve" symptoms do you mean anxiety? Do you mean you were symptom free for 3 months during the 5 months on it?

 

Posted 9/23/2012 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on it almost 4 months. I started at 300mg for one week and then doubled it to 600mg. I take it in the VERY early morning when I wake up in the middle of the night (usually between 12:00 and 3:00 a.m.). That way I am sure it's away from food.

I had a rough time the first month or so. Then the herxing died down, but no noticeable improvement yet. I took it with doxy but then I felt like doxy wasn't working any longer. Rifampin has the ability to lower doxy's effectiveness. I think that happened with me. I used to get SEVERE sun sensitivity from doxy, but when I added Rifampin I got no reaction even while going in the sun without sunscreen on.

I get weeks where I am having EXTREME anxiety. I cannot calm myself down and literally have to exercise my way into exhaustion. It's really kind of scary. Most of the time though, I am just extremely weak and tired. The kind of tired where I could sleep around the clock if I didn't have anything scheduled.
Posted 9/23/2012 4:06 AM (GMT 0)
It's a little discouraging to me--actually very discouraging--summer3, that you still get extreme anxiety. I thought once the bart starts getting knocked down that it would decrease.

If I'm alone, I can handle it, but even talking on the phone brings up the anxiety.

Wish someone would come along who's been on it longer and say they suddenly turned a corner and anxiety is gone and they feel good.
Posted 9/23/2012 11:26 AM (GMT 0)
Well luckily for me, the anxiety is not a constant thing. It tends to come once in a while. I actually think it may be related to another issue than Bart. Usually when I have anxiety my liver enzymes are also very high and it also seems to correlate with pesticide/insecticide exposure for me.

According to my doctor, it's fairly unusual that people don't have some improvement from Rifampin. He was expecting some improvement fairly quickly.
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