My concern is that eventually there will be no treatment options for treating pouchitis since antibiotics will eventually stop working. Then what happens? I believe the only antibiotics are cipro and metronidazole. Anyone been on these for a long time. How long be they no longer work...thanks =(
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Marianna-
I sent you a PM on this in response to your question to me. There are many antibiotics besides cipro and flagyl. I have treated pouchitis for 20 years with as many as 10 antibiotics but I rotate 3, cipro/flagyl, xifaxin and amoxocillin/augmentin. If you rotate no resistance is built up. I would also suggest that you be careful with your diet and in particular try to keep the carb and sugar intake down. I am on a Paleo diet which may not be for everyone, but I have had results that were proven on my scopes. I was also able to lower my anitibiotic dosages by watching my diet.
Treating pouchitis is not necessarily a hopeless task. I have done it for 20 years and my pouch is now 22 years old and still functioning well. Treatment is trial and error and you have to be mentally prepared for some successes and some failures. You just keep plugging away. Good luck.
I sent you a PM on this in response to your question to me. There are many antibiotics besides cipro and flagyl. I have treated pouchitis for 20 years with as many as 10 antibiotics but I rotate 3, cipro/flagyl, xifaxin and amoxocillin/augmentin. If you rotate no resistance is built up. I would also suggest that you be careful with your diet and in particular try to keep the carb and sugar intake down. I am on a Paleo diet which may not be for everyone, but I have had results that were proven on my scopes. I was also able to lower my anitibiotic dosages by watching my diet.
Treating pouchitis is not necessarily a hopeless task. I have done it for 20 years and my pouch is now 22 years old and still functioning well. Treatment is trial and error and you have to be mentally prepared for some successes and some failures. You just keep plugging away. Good luck.
Thanks so much!! 
marianna i concur with ctbarrister on what he said..i too have rotated many antibiotic over 8 years...and a few of us who have tried diet(paleo,scd)have had some success with cutting our usage down either by extending our time in between antibiotic usage and/or cutting down how much we need to take with our pouchitis..
thanks Rebecca..x
Adding on………the thing that boggles me is when you go on-line and search for treating pouchitis, the only antibiotics mentioned is cipro and flagyl. My doctor does not seem to be rotating me, but this is only the second time I have been on antibiotics. You eliminate the colon and then you end up with another problem. Unbelievable.
Marianna,
For me, even with the rotation of the antibiotics, they still stopped working for me. Perhaps it was becauase at times, I had to take just one for several weeks or months. I had three that were working for me that I kept in rotation for a while, but then all three stopped working eventually. I seem to be running out of options right now and am only on Flagyl, which I'm worried will stop soon as well. Cipro, Augmentin, Xifaxin, and Pepto Bismol no longer work for me. I am going to try to add Doxycycline to the mix soon.
For me, even with the rotation of the antibiotics, they still stopped working for me. Perhaps it was becauase at times, I had to take just one for several weeks or months. I had three that were working for me that I kept in rotation for a while, but then all three stopped working eventually. I seem to be running out of options right now and am only on Flagyl, which I'm worried will stop soon as well. Cipro, Augmentin, Xifaxin, and Pepto Bismol no longer work for me. I am going to try to add Doxycycline to the mix soon.
With only two episodes of antibiotics, there is no surprise that more antibiotics have been tried. The first line drugs have been and remain: Flagyl and/or Cipro. Two events do not make chronic pouchitis. Rotation is only for chronic forms. Plus, there can be many fac,tors contributing to the pouchitis. Have you read the article in this sticky thread? I think it covers all your questions.
http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...1071921/m/5217016766
Jan
http://j-pouch.org/eve/forums/...1071921/m/5217016766
Jan
CIZ81 THERE ARE OTHER ANTIBIOTICS,KEFLEX,TINDERMAX..BUT IN ROTATING IT MEANS USING IT FOR 3 WEEKS TO A MONTH AND CHANGING TO NEXT ONE THEN TO NEXT AND THEN BACK TO FIRST ONE..
Do you always rotate 3?
Rotations will vary. Each of us seems to have a different set of antibiotics that work (or don't work). The 2-3 week timing seems to be a common theme.