I would appreciate for any help to get my pouchitis in remission. I am allergic to cipro & flagyl. I was hospitalized in July and given IV Vancomycin. I felt better, but symptoms reoccurred a few days after being home. I have taken 3 weeks of oral vancomycin with no improvement and I am currently on Rifamixin 200 MG 3 times a day. I cannot figure out what foods to omit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am infusion once a week with Gammagard.
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I think your rifaximin dose may be inadequate. The dosing for IBS is 550 mg three times daily. The dosing for pouchitis is less well set, but higher than your current dose. That being said, it doesn't work for everyone and didn't help me.
Have you been tested for C. Diff? Did you react to Cipro and Flagyl while on them separately, or did your problem occur while taking them together? If the latter then you're probably only allergic to one of them.
Thank you for your response. Unfortunately I had to an allergic two different times while taking only one antibiotic. I will check about increasing my dosage. I continue to struggle with the part diet plays. I have read many different views.
Kindest Regards-
There are only two dietary factors that seem to pan out at all reliably in pouchitis. One is that a *very* low carbohydrate diet seems to be helpful. Many people find it difficult to sustain such a diet, and start making up stories about the carbs they don't choose to give up. The other is probiotic supplementation (the best-studied one is VSL #3 DS). I take a high dose of VSL, and I do find that it makes an appreciable difference.
There are also people reporting success with a low FODMAP diet, which is probably easier to sustain than very low carb. I'm honestly not sure how much of a factor diet plays in pouchitis.
There are also other antibiotics that might be worth a try. Some folks have used Tindamax, and others have used Augmentin, for example.
Good luck!
I agree with Scott and I must say that VSL#3 DS TURNED MY LIFE AROUND! I also stay on a maintenance dose of 500 mgs. a day of Cipro and this cocktail works for me. I know many have said that Cipro is a dangerous drug but it's worked for me for about a year. If it starts giving me a problem I will find another medication to keep me comfortable! Can you take Doxycycline? Not sure if that would help but I think I saw that it did helped someone ... I'm just not sure where I read it. I would try what Scott recommends... he's been very helpful to me!
Good Luck!
Janie
Thank you for the info. I am open to any tidbits of information. It is definitely a learning experience.
I appreciate so much that you took the time to respond to my post.
