i have been taking flagyl for a month and a half ...it helped heal an abcess and prevent more abcesses because i have a complex fistula that has bacteria getting trapped in it all the time (tried to get a seton in but could not)...anwyays, the last few days i have had a tingling sensation in my hands and feet ..not all the time but it kind of hurts and it is sort of a shooting pain- starts at the wrist and goes down to fingertips- that only lasts a minute. it has happened a few times a day...i have heard of peripheral neuropathy as a side effect of flagyl from reading on this forum...but my doctors never warned me about it. i am not sure what to do....im going to call my doctor tomorrow...but i don't think there is anything else i can take that will replace flagyl and without it im afraid of the abcess pain coming back.........bah. i have to get through the next few months without pain and then i have an appointment to see a surgeon at the end of jan. to talk about ripping this jpouch out. is it possible the tingling thing could just be monitored and then go off the flagyl if it gets worse or more frequent? anybody just have mild problems with tingling that go away when you stop? or is it really dangerous to keep taking it?

Once you get the tingling in your hands or feet, you need to stop the Flagyl. The problem is that the peripheral neuropathy can become permanent if the drug is not stopped in time. There is no way to predict if you are going to be lucky and this just be temporary, or unlucky and have permanent nerve damage.

Believe me, there are other antibiotics.

Jan

thanks jan. i stopped the flagyl. does this mean i can never take it again? (it took over a month to get tingling..)

a few days of not taking flagyl and i have bad pain when i use the bathroom...feels very inflammed and there is some blood...

my doctor has me taking clandomycin now instead of flagyl...well, i should mention that he didn't actually prescribe it, but a surgeon i saw last december gave it to me and i have a bunch left in my cupboard. originally, it was prescribed to me because i went to emerg and they thought i had a small abcess...i told them flagyl makes me throw up and have no appetite so they gave me clandomycin to try instead. i don't remember why i stopped taking it back then, but i think i ended up just switching to flagyl and putting up with the nausea cuz it worked better.....so now, a year later, and same kind of problem with pain, and i would love to take flayl... but can't because i developed some peripheral neuropathy or watever it is called (numbness and tingling in extremeties...). so i went to my family doctor and told him all of this, and he said he would call my specialist but to take clandomycin for now because he thinks it is better than nothing.

i have only been on it a couple days but i seem to be getting worse and not better. i think the fistula is infected, maybe an abcess forming....a couple times i have seen blood in the toilet that is clotted in a long, skinny string that i think came from the fistula. it feels so tender and sore now even between bathroom trips.

how long should i give the clandomycin to work? has anyone taken this instead of flagyl? are there any bad side effects to watch out for? im really scared now because i have to get through the holidays- my appointment to talk to a surgeon is not until jan. 21st and i can't see him sooner... i just wish that the attempt to get in setons had have been successful and then i wouldn't have to worry about taking antibiotics to keep my fistula area sterile.....i am so frustrated and sore. i just want to be able to go christmas shopping already yeeesh....thanks for listening to me vent...