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Up all night-- diarrhea from Alinia. Will it stop?

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Posted 2/12/2017 9:20 AM (GMT 0)
Day 10 on Alinia. Herxing for sure. Massive return of both Babesia and neuro symptoms. In addition, horrible diarrhea . Will this side effect get better with continued treatment? Waking up every hour to run to toilet is no fun at all. Hoping it's just a transient side effect. Please share.
Posted 2/12/2017 9:59 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Evanston - I can't sleep...but for different reason. Sorry you're up at this hour too.

I don't have any experience with Alinia, but sure sounds like a herx.

How much longer are you planning to be on the Alinia?

I'll do a search on the forum and see if I can find anything about that.
Posted 2/12/2017 10:01 AM (GMT 0)
So here's a link to a thread...someone posted with same issue...and another member read it was a side effect.

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=1833435


also this (listed as side effects):

abdominal pain,
nausea,
diarrhea,
vomiting, or
headache.

www.rxlist.com/alinia-side-effects-drug-center.htm
Posted 2/12/2017 10:04 AM (GMT 0)
Found this on Drugs.Com:

Major Side Effects
You should check with your doctor immediately if any of these side effects occur when taking nitazoxanide:

Incidence not known:
Diarrhea

/www.drugs.com/sfx/alinia-side-effects.html

I'm thinking maybe you should take a break from it...and let the diarrhea subside.
Posted 2/12/2017 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Girlie! I'm going to try a couple of things today to help my stomach and see what happens. Fingers crossed!

It seems like every time I start a new medicine, I get significant stomach issues for 7-10 days and then they resolve. This happened with Bactrim, too.

A double whammy right now is that I also stared rifampin three days ago so it's hard to know what's what.... other than whoa--- I have not felt this bad in general since I first started treatment around Thankagiving. I do believe I'm having a significant herx from these meds and I really want to push through to see what the other side looks like.

I'll keep you posted smile
Posted 2/12/2017 1:46 PM (GMT 0)
Girlie.... btw.... I saw that you are on mine. Do you know what the benefit of that is vs doxy? I've been on doxy since October. I was on 100 twice a day for a long time. about a month ago they bumped it up to 200 twice a day as I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Relapsing Tick Fever, and Erhlichia... all of which the treatment is doxy. But, I've been wondering if I should ask to switch to mino at some point. I think I read somewhere that it benetrates the brain better. What has your experience been?
Posted 2/12/2017 2:44 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so sorry, Evanston! I do hope that you get this under control soon! Do be sure to stay very hydrated, and eat foods/liquids that are very easy to digest too.

ILADS says that treatment for RMSF is the same for Ehrlichia: "Standard treatment consists of Doxycycline, 200 mg daily for two to four weeks. Higher doses, parenteral therapy, and longer treatment durations may be needed based on the duration and severity of illness, and whether immune defects or extreme age is present. However, there are reports of treatment failure even when higher doses and long duration treatment with doxycycline is given. In such cases, consideration may be given for adding rifampin, 600 mg daily, to the regimen."
www.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf (page 25)

Doxy and Mino are both tetracyclines, and Mino has better penetration of the BBB.

And.... we've reached the end of my abx understanding. LOL!

But, I do hope that you get this under control soon or that you find alternatives if you can't. Please do keep us posted!
Posted 2/13/2017 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
I had it and it went away and I had UC on top of Lyme. I felt like I was passing parasites and collected some samples...then later in treatment I broke out head to toe in itchy hives never had that before...I had to go on antinausea zofran for uncontrollable vomit and got on stuff for the hives...in hindsight it was all herxing.
I am back on Alinia, if I had to count I'd say I've been on it like 40 days! Meant to post in thee Alinia thread.

The diarrhea should go away, I get some gas and explosive bm after work every day but that's about it. Every now and then a stinky one that reminds me of the so called ropeworms on curezone...
Posted 2/13/2017 12:25 PM (GMT 0)
I had similar issues through treatment. Its was like a "purge" of my GI track and eventually passed. Try taking some Floristor. Work up to two capsules twice a day, then back down when things get more normal.
Posted 2/16/2017 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
Update: diarrhea has continued along with horrible nausea. And extreme fatigue. Today I got my blood work done and it showed low protein and low albumin which is a sign of liver problems. Its a recent change in my labs because last week they were fine. Point is-- I am done with Alinia and Rifampin. Tonight I did not take any meds at all because I am so nauseated.

I want to be a cowboy and kill these suckers as fast as possible, but I certainly do not want to jeopardize other aspects of my health in the process. Its such a fine balance. And very frustrating.
Posted 2/16/2017 1:05 AM (GMT 0)
Evanston - it could be one ...or the other...

You may (after a good rest) be able to try the Rifampin again...
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