Xifaxan (Rifaximin) prescribed at my appointment

Has anyone been on Xifaxan?? I went to my GI appt today and I have tried every type of drug out there and nothing seems to work. I am currently on Humira but not seeing much improvement if any at all. So My dr prescribed me xifaxan which i guess is an antibiotic that just goes in your intestines. He also is switching me from prednisone to entocort because prednisone has become ineffective.

Im wondering if anyone has tried xifaxan. My GI said we are running out of options so we are on the "3rd tier"  drugs that they usually don't prescribe but he said its worth a shot.

Thanks!!

Xifaxan was developed in Europe to combat travellers' diarrhea, but some gastros in the U.S. started RXing it for UCers about 3 yrs ago. It helps some patients who need a boost because their current med doesn't do enough to relieve symptoms. I remember that rey posted some time ago that it helped her daughter get back to remission from a flare-up of UC-- probably in 2009-2010. Another member wrote that it helped but caused increased gas for about a week. Other than those comments, I don't recall anyone posting that Xifaxan was a bad experience for them. My gastro actually prescribed it for me (to take along with Colazal) during my last flare, but it turned out that the Colazal alone worked so I didn't try the Xifaxan yet. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Bumping up this over year old thread, to ask if anyone has recently tried this or had good success gaining remission with it?

I am currently having great difficulty getting out of a flare that came on for no apparent reason- other than that, due to inability to tolerate any maintenance drugs really, I am a ticking time bomb I guess. This happened after a ten month remission during which The biggest change had been adding in LDN (which may have been benefit from LDN but may have just been coincidence, who knows). A year and a half back, when I was still on humira (I began to react adversely to it, and it wasnt doing much anyway even at 2x dose), my then GI did say Xifaxin coukd be tried as a last ditch to avoid surgery, but that it was kind if hit and miss 50/50 for helping and could make some worse. He also mentioned that it can require a bit if a "fight" with insurance to be approved for UC- is it a suoer expensive drug like biolkgics, i e could never be paid for out of pocket? One thing that appeals to me if it could work is that it would be compatable with LDN.

Post Edited (Probiotic) : 5/24/2012 5:53:50 AM (GMT-6)

Thanks Trojen- I agree, dart board analogue is good one. What puzzles me a bit is that the risks of this drug seem very low (little to no risk of resulting in drug resistant strain, no systemic effect, etc) so I am a bit surprised that it isnt tried commonly if someone isnt tolerating or resposning to non steroidal drugs. Since I am certainly considering surgery again this year, it sounds like a dart worth throwing at least. Doesnt even look super expensive, in generic version.

I took it and i don't think it did much of anything positive or negative. I would try it again though if I were in a flare up without any hope :)

I took rifaximin from just ~180mg/day to 550mg x 3/day and it did make me believe I was getting better but in the end it was another failed experiment