Thanks to the fine people here, I heard about and then managed to get my surgeon to try Augmentin (called Clavulin in Canada) for my pouchitis.

My latest scope showed redness and inflammation in the pouch and bleeding and swelling in the cuff (confirmed pouchitis and cuffitis).

Have been on Antibiotics since June 2010.

Cipro worked great at first - but always lost effectiveness.

Flagyl made me feel weird and depressed (NOT in my nature)...

Tetracycline did nothing.

Was getting desperate. A few months ago I asked surgeon for Augmentin - he said no (had never heard of it). This time I found the Canadian term (Clavulin) and he was on board!

First few days I felt a bit sick and felt very odd, joints ached. Strange. BUT I persisted and now my frequency is WAY down, spasms still controlled with the Ativan.

But best of all I slept through the night without 'an accident' (almost nightly before)for THREE nights in a row. This is unheard of for me. I am normally up 2-3 times per night!

THANK YOU everyone for taking the time to share you experiences here, as it is here where I have learned how to manage this whole thing and improve the quality of my life

That's so great that you finally found something that helped you.

Whenever my kids get sick with something that needs antibiotics, their doctor usually prescribes Augmentin for them. Knocks the bug out literally overnight!

Hope it continues to work for you!

Thank you mgmt10!

Now I think I will try an Augmentin/Cipro rotation as suggested here so it stays going well (hopefully, fingers crossed...)

Congratulations on finding something that works. And speaking up for your health. I wish you continued success.

That's awesome to hear. I'm new to the site but have had a pouch since 1996. I only had pouchitis about once every year or two until the last year or two. It seems to be getting anti-biotic resistant - It's been treated successfully with cipro/flagyl combo in the past. However, this current flare does not seem to be affected by those two. I'm seeing a new GI and he just put me on Entocort (Budesonide). I just finished a month of Cipro and two weeks of Flagyl. They always make me sick. Hopefully this new med will work.

I said all that to say, I've not heard of using augmentin for pouchitis but it's good to know. Thanks for sharing - I may have to try that course one day. Hope your recovery continues!!!

What wonderful news, Clicky! Thanks for taking the time to share it with the group.

For people who are still trying to find an antibiotic(s) that work for them, here are a couple of related threads from this site that you might find helpful. I’m sure these are tons more that you can find by doing a search.

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...=421105224#421105224

http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...=684100924#684100924

Best of luck!

Lynne

I've just started some Augmentin to see if it improves anything for me. Now two things that have happened are:

1.) I have even worse anal burning happening. It's at least doubled the burning compared to not being on these(happened on the first toilet trip after taking the first tablet).
2.) Within 1 1/2 hours of taking the first tablet, I experienced a constipation like effect. This has continued since. It's like I've tripled my codeine intake or something....it's like it's slowed down the bowel even more. Problem is, another side effect of it is...I'm getting woken up from sleep more due to the burning down there of some liquid trying to escape, rather than the feeling of needing to go to the toilet, which goes against what the output thickness is when I actually have to go...

I'm pretty sure an antibiotic can't work that quickly, well at least for the intented purpose of what an antibiotic is for. So...looks like i'm getting a side effect(actually 2 side effects), that I can't find any other reports of. Unless.....some of the people who think it's working, since they are having more formed stools etc are actually experiencing what i'm experiencing, a weird side effect of the drug, but think the antibiotic is actually working. I just feel it worked a little too quickly if it is indeed the antibiotic doing it's business.

Opinions on how fast antibiotics take to work are welcome.

I'm going to find out quite quickly after I stop taking them if indeed this is the case.
By the way I'm allergic to Flagyl and Cipro, but was given Augmentin after coming out of hospital 4 months ago. Didn't see the constipation effect then as I wasn't eating a lot of solid food still I guess, but I do remember the burning being more severe at that stage too.

Edit: I'm not questioning the fact that most of the time the antibiotics(and their intended purpose) are indeed what help people out. Incase my post is taken the wrong way.

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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Adroen,

Not taken the wrong way at all!

It may be that is slows your gut at first, I dont know. I slept through the night at the start - but am now back to nightly accidents - time to rotate I guess! I do, however, still feel better!

I find Cipro slows the bowel even more though which can be good sometimes but problematic at other times.

I have found that I have to vary the amount of codeine I take depending on the antibiotic - less codeine for Cipro than for other antibiotics.

I have had 2 scopes - one with antibiotics and one when I was off them for a short couple of weeks.

The second scope without showed angry inflammation and redness in the pouch and with antiobiotics the pouch looked good (but both times the cuff looked bad).

Re butt burn - for me it has definitely improved this unless I eat something bad!

Do you have confirmed pouchitis? Perhaps you are struggling with something else?

Or maybe your pouchitis does not respond to antibiotics? Or not to this antibiotic?

Clicky, great to hear you're feeling better! I really like Augmentin. It's really necessary to find an alternative like this that works for you so one antibiotic doesn't become completely ineffective for you. Hope it keeps up!!

Hey Clicky,
No I don't have confirmed pouchitis or cuffitis. Just a question in my mind about it. Getting a diagnosis for those things where I am would be challenging.
It's more a case of being on a collision course with a perm ileo, so I'm trying some things out before the time arrives where surgery is allowed by my surgeon.
The increased burning from the Augmentin is odd in itself. I don't have any other obvious reactions from it except the constipation and increased burning.

If it's cuffitis, well that's not good, because i'm allergic to 5ASA medication too. And from experience the steroid suppositories(although not allergic lol) I was using in the past kept gradually losing their effect last time and required higher and higher dosages to keep their effects working, so that would have an ultimate dead end if I chose to go that way anyway.


Sorry to hear the augmentin is losing it's effect already. I really thought you were onto a winner too. Let's hope your change in rotation gets you back to some good times.

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Edit: Was good to see that you feel it slows things down too. Means i'm not losing my mind-yet. Woohoo!

I think I have had pouchitus since I had my takedown last year in April (1 year J-pouch birthday coming up)I was really having a hard time. Constant urges, butt burn (sores around anus) wich made the urges worse, feeling like I had to go but nothing would come out and pretty bad cramps. I was on Cipro, Flagyl and anything else the Dr. would put me on. Nothing seemed to work and I thought I was going to be feeling miserable the rest of my life. My gasterologist
finally put me on Entocort (Budesonide), Colesevelan, and Hyoscyamine. For the last 3 months I have been feeling great. The cramps went away, no leakage, my butt burn is completely gone. I sleep all night and now I go when I really don't have the urge. I feel like I did before UC. I really have to thank you guys here and my Dr. (Dr. Swaroop at the Southwest Medical Center in Dallas Tx) You have been here since I got my operation and my takedown. I just hope in the next years of my life I continue to feel this good. I still have to watch what I eat but who dosn't. ( No Chile)
Thank again.

Have you all tried Xifaxin? That's the antibiotic I'm on and it seems to help a lot. I recently went back on b/c I started to notice signs of pouchitis and want to get it under control quick. I've never tried augmentin, but have used it with my kids for sinus infections. My holistic dr. suggested garlic tabs too. works as a natural antibiotic that could be used for the interim when off the prescription drugs. Just a thought.

Or tindamax? I've been on tindamax for the last 2 months, mostly to keep a fistula at bay, but, my jpouch hasn't been this calm in many years. I had tried flagyl in the past for pouchitis symptoms, but it gave me nasty side effects. Tindamax, which has been called "super flagyl" has given me NO side effects whatsoever (so far), except for a little bit of a fuzzy tongue feeling. The only down side I've found is that it is quite a bit more expensive than flagyl. Just another something to ask your doc about as an alternative to flagyl or augmentim.

Thank you Nancy Ann, Pete and Miss M. It is a relief to see all the potential meds!

I just wanted to say in case anyone thinking of Augmentin was wondering... I persevered, increased bulking and slowing agents and voila - I have been doing great with it still.

It has such a different effect on my motility I find that I need to shuffle other things around and it works!

Thank you everyone for sharing your suggestions.