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Xifaxin?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/16/2016 10:41 AM (GMT 0)
My doctor suggested maybe trying Xifaxin to sort of "reset" my gut bacteria. I've tried Cipro and Flagyl before without much success, and I have responded very poorly to every probiotic I've ever tried (at least a dozen).

Has anyone had luck with xifaxin without using a probiotic afterwards?
Posted 3/16/2016 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
I'm due to take xifaxin (rifaximin) gentamicin and metronidazole in combination after my colonoscopy in 2 weeks.

I'm also wondering about probiotics and frankly am a bit worried about such a harsh drug combination. My guess is my GI will tell me to take Florostor as a precaution; but I've had mixed response to any probiotic I've taken in the past.
Posted 3/16/2016 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
interesting, why does he want to "reset" your gut bacteria? Did you have any infection, bug etc?
Posted 3/17/2016 12:36 AM (GMT 0)
I don't have too much advice. I tried it when I was very sick with a bad flare up and I can't really say whether it helped, but I don't remember it hurting, so that's always a good thing. I didn't use a probiotic I doubt... They have never proven to do much for my condition.
Posted 3/17/2016 10:52 AM (GMT 0)
We're just systematically trying and eliminating everything. Imuran has gotten me close to remission, but I still have microscopic inflammation that's giving me issues. Her feeling was that if my insurance covers xifaxin, why not give it a try? Some people apparently find it helpful.
Posted 3/18/2016 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
Have you tried high doses of probiotics? I try to mix a few different probiotic manufactures for different strains of bacteria.

For curiosity purposes I'd like to compare a before and after of my gut bacteria by using uBiome or American Gut to analyze my bacteria....I didn't know about these before I started antibiotics.

I've been on Antibiotics for 18+ months for pouchitis; Xifaxan didn't really work for me, Flagyl worked for a while but then it stopped, Cipro worked but it lost some of it's effectiveness by itself too. I've had to combine antibiotics to get them to work the best for me; usually Augmentin and Cipro are the best but also Flagyl and Cipro work well for me.
Posted 3/18/2016 3:53 PM (GMT 0)
It's an interesting idea to reset your gut bacteria. However, you're creating a mass die off of all bacteria with an antibiotic, and the baddies are opportunists who reproduce rapidly whenever they're given a chance. I'd worry you'd endup with a worse mix after this experiment. Certainly, if you were to undertake this, I'd throw a lot of probiotics, prebiotics, and very healthy food at it to give you the best odds of having a good bacteria mix at the end.
Posted 3/19/2016 5:39 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with ipoop: since you say you are close to remission, it doesn't make sense to me to wipe out all your gut bacteria. Xifaxan is supposed to act only within the colon-- so if you try it at all, it would likely be better to do that alone rather than in combo with the stronger antibiotics. It sounds like your doc favors a "kitchen sink" approach-- throw every antibiotic at your gut all at once, but I would not do that except in a "last resort" situation, which you're not in-- thankfully. / Old Hat (35 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal) P.S. Whoops! I reread prior messages & see that it's really UB Tough's doc favoring the "sink" approach, sorry.

Post Edited (Old Hat) : 3/19/2016 11:43:18 AM (GMT-6)

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