I just got it again a few days after 20 days on Xifaxin.

I am new in a small town aand am going to a doctopr who may not evenn know what a J-Pouch is.

What should I ask him to prescribe? Xifaxin doesn't seem to clear it up. When I am alright, I take probiotics and that has kept me clear for a year. I took red rice yeast for colestorol and within a few days got pouchitis, in September, and haven't been able to clear it up with two 20 day runs of Xifaxin.

Advice, please.

10larry10

Many on this site have found benefit with Cipro.

Not sure what dosage your on but I take 1000mg cipro daily and 1200mg of Xifaxin daily and my VSL#3 2 hrs before or after my antibiotics.
This combination has seemed to really help.
Hope this helps.

Craig

I do well with 1000mg of cipro daily also but as soon as I stop taking it all goes nuts again. I haven't had a scope yet but I must be dealing with chronic pouchitis. Sucks.

Karen

Hi Karen, I have been on the combination that I stated above for quite some time now, maybe 6 months. My TD was 11/06 and I feel the best I have felt in years at this point(Down to about 4 to 6 BM's daily). I have not only been having problems with chronic pouchitis but have had a bleeding problem since march. Everything has seemed to quiet down, although, it has been a long year. Blood transfusions and all. The point I'm trying to make is sometimes you have to stay the course for an extended period of time. I talked to a young man last night in the jpouch chat room that told me he was on antibiotic for 2 years and is doing fine since he has stopped them.
Anyway hope you have a wonderful holiday and feel better soon.

Craig

I had bad pouchitis a long time before I finally got myself in to get treatment. I took Cipro 1000mg/day for 10 days which worked great, and then did Flagyl for long term maintenance. Flagyl didn't work for me as symptoms came back within weeks to a month.

So later I went back to Cipro at only 250mg a day and that has been working. So far so good, after a couple months. I also take probiotics, yogurt, and watch sugar (a killer for me).

I'm contemplating going off Cipro all together and try to manage with probiotics and diet, but I'm not going to start that for a while yet.

Good luck!

Craig what is Xifaxin? I haven't heard of that. Yeah I had my take down 12/06 and it seems things have just slowly gotten worse and worse over the last year. The last time I took cipro, just back in October, I took it for a month and it worked really well. I noticed a difference soon after stopping it though. I would kill to go under 10 times in a day I swear! I was supposed to get a scope on Dec. 12 and go figure my husbands boss switched are insurance out of the blue on Dec. 1st and we have a 2500 deductable, my husband starts a new job next week and that insurance won't kick in until Feb. 1 so I just have to wait it out ( don't want to pay towards a deductable for insurance we aren't going to keep ). I'm getting nervous though because I started taking cipro again 4 days ago and I'm still getting really bad cramps out of the blue and going to much, I hope it will help soon. It's good to know people take them long term, I didn't know that. Sadly my doctors made it seem like I just have this surgery and life goes on all will be fine, boy what a crock : ) Happy Holidays to you too!

Karen

P.S. You know I was just reading different posts and it sounds like Xifaxin is also an antibiotic. This is interesting and it made me remember that last time I was prescribed cipro and flagyl but stopped the flagyl because of the metallic taste plus I didn't understand why I should take two (again nothing was explained to me) . I took in for a couple days though with the cipro so needless to say I just now took one so maybe taking them both will help me feel better (like last time). I do take culterelle also ( learned about probiotics also from visiting this site ). Man I would be clueless if it wasn't for this site and everyone being kind enough to share their experiences, thank god for that! I'll see what happens, I would love to feel better for christmas!

Take Care!!

Yes Karen Xifaxan is an Antibiotic and it really works well for me. I can't take flagyl, I seem to have problems with it.Xifaxan is very expensive so if you plan on asking for it, I hope you have insurance. But many people are prescribed two different antibiotics as you will read. Best wishes,
Craig

I have found that combo of Xifaxin and Entocort really helps a BIG flare up. I am on Xifaxin now but I am going to ask my doc to add the Entocort as it cleared me right up last time. I had a rebound effect with Flagyl and Cipiro in the past.

Karen, it sounds like we're in the same boat. I had my takedown last year in 10-06 and only realized 6 months ago that I've had pouchitis all along. My surgeon had been telling me it was normal to go 15-20 times per day as I was. But the antibiotics sure do change everything. It's so not fair. I can't work, can't go out with friends, can't do anything because I've got to stick close to my bidiet. At least now I got my long term dose of Cipro and Flagyl (TODAY!!) I moved across the country 3 months ago and I've had trouble finding a doctor who would prescribe them to me.

I know it's sick, but for some reason it makes me feel better that there are others out there in the same lowsy condition I am in. It's that I'm not alone I guess. I do feel sorry for all of you, hang in there. My slim hope is someday maybe something new comes along that puts an end to this ordeal. Oh, I've been on Cipro and Xifaxin for the last 4 years.

I had my takedown 4/05 and have had pouchitis almost from the start. They only thing that worked for any length of time was Xifaxin. (For those you don't know of Xifaxin it is a relatively new antibiotic here in the US but has been used a lot in Europe. I found a study using it in England and suggested it to my doc. It is different from other antibiotics because in works in the intestinal tract rather than being absorbed into the body. So, supposedly there are less side effects, especially with long term use.) Unfortunately the good effects of Xifaxin wore off after about 9 mos and I am searching for something new again. I just started Entocort 2 days ago.