I have a very bad bacterial infection and have been using Bactrim for it. I don't remember when I've felt so good. I had been using Cipro and Augmentin but have severe leakage at night. With Bactrim I haven't had any. I asked my doc if I could continue on with the Bactrim and he said he doesn't suggest that I use it. Any comments would be great!
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Wow, I’d sure be tempted if I discovered, as you have, that the Cipro and Augmentin weren’t doing what they should, and a different medication worked great. Severe leakage is no way to live if there’s a decent alternative. I don’t know if there’s much experience with long-term Bactrim, which makes the risks potentially hard to predict. I’d be interested in whether a short course of Bactrim (e.g. 2 weeks or so) got things back into some sort of balance, and then the Cipro (etc.) worked better afterwards. If the Cipro did work better but it started to wane then you might have some success with rotating between Cipro and Bactrim, alternating a couple of weeks on each. You might also give the biologics a try, since they are at least recommended for long-term use. I hope you find a good answer!
Thanks Scott, the doctor said that with Bactrim I'd have to be checked for many things, including liver. He suggested Rifaximin or Penicillin (which I've never heard of using).
Rifaximin is an excellent one to try, if you can get insurance coverage for it (it's very expensive). It really does sound like you are past due for a change. I hope you find the right formula!
The problem is I don't have the coverage and it would cost me a fortune. I checked a site that I could have gotten it for nothing, but I didn't apply. Thanks for the comeback! The doc would like me to stop using antibiotics completely, he just doesn't understand what happens when I don't use them, I'm sure you must understand.
Is the doc proposing biologics, or just misguided lack of treatment? Plenty of docs and patients shy away from long-term antibiotics, but only the bewildered would choose untreated pouchitis on purpose. FWIW it’s usually possible to get the biologics inexpensively, even though their list price is eye-popping.
There is probably a path by which you could get rifaximin covered, assuming you have any insurance at all. The appeals process starts with the insurance company through a couple of levels, and then can escalate to your state’s insurance regulator. This process really needs your doctor’s cooperation and effort, and the best-case scenario tends to get it covered with an appreciable co-pay. This often means you’ll hit your annual out-of-pocket maximum, but then the drug (and everything else) is free for the rest of the year. I used to just budget for that.
Thanks, Scott, I'm going to try Cipro again with more lomotil. BTW, I'm on Remicade which he swears is working, I'm not too sure.
I get a SIBO/microbiome imbalance 3x/year.
I always take Bactrim DS for 14-21 days.
It works immediately and my doctor has no issues prescribing it me.
I think that 14 - 21 days is no problem, I wanted to use it longterm.
What about rotating in and out of it?
Several weeks on, week off, or something like that?
