# Combination antibiotics



## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Hello. 
Long time poster here. My diarrhea is really unbearable these days. That's on a diet of only meat, bananas, and bread.

I have been reading about what else it could be. Perhaps it is a bad case of SIBO. But i test negative on the breath test. Perhaps an undetected parasite. Really not sure about that one. My GI doc told me it's the worst case of IBS he's ever seen in his 30 years at a major hospital and research clinic. Have also been to Mayo with no real help. I am confounded at how little is able to be done about IBS. I can't blame anyone because even to me it just seems so weird. Why in the world can't i digest things?? Or sleep a normal night of sleep? I don't have an autoimmune disease, no hormone imbalances, no bleeding, no real detectable inflammation, yet all I poop is liquid. I have very low stress and do not notice much difference between high and low stress periods. The diarrhea is always there.

I do really hope that the clinical FMT is approved for IBS because I would totally try that. However i truly feel that the oral probiotics have worsened me, especially prescript assist, and i would like to empty everything out and start over. Perhaps i will re-try the DIY enema FMT again after this process is done.

I know there are a lot of antidiarrheals and cramp meds but they just don't cut it for me. The only one I haven't tried is codeine and my doc doesn't want to try that. With all other meds, they work for literally about 24-48 hours after starting them, then all explosions break loose and the meds never seem to catch up. I had big hopes for viberzi but it didn't help me. Imodium used to work but as my diarrhea has worsened, it has become basically irrelevant. Plus the antidiarrheals make my sleep even worse than normal because although the stools may be reduced in number, the cramps are worse.

So in my reading i have determined that the big guns for SIBO is a combination of flagyl and rifaximin. The big guns for a parasite issue is flagyl and bactrim. So since i already have flagyl and rifaximin on hand, i am going to try to purchase some bactrim and do a triple threat to my intestines. Honestly no idea what to expect and have never taken bactrim before.

Just posting because I am getting really beaten down by IBS-d these days...it is controlling my life. I only sleep about 2 hours per night these days due to non-stop cramps. It is rather miserable but i have to hang onto the hope that things can improve even if it seems unlikely.

Keep your head up my diarrheal friends. We will hopefully find a solution to this horrible "syndrome". Ugh. Just the name makes me laugh sometimes. All this discomfort and it's just a syndrome? Until the cure comes, one day at a time is all we can handle. Be strong. If you have IBS-d, you have my sympathy. 12 years of diarrhea have taken the will to live a vibrant life right out of me.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

That sounds brutal my friend, truly brutal.

You should absolutely try some antibiotics.

Have you been tested for C. Diff though?

Have you taken any antibiotics in these 12 years?

Have you been tested for parasites?

There is a place in Tampa Florida that does FMT. Called RSDinfusions. I know someone who is going there in a few weeks I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Cool, i would appreciate a report of the place!

I have been tested for cdiff and parasites although the parasite test was a few years back, but i haven't been anywhere "risky" since then.

I have done two rounds of rifaximin and one round of flagyl in the past. The first round of rifaximin i remember helping but not so sure about the other cycles.

I found a couple threads about bactrim helping people's diarrhea on here. Let me know if you've tried it.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

mellosphere said:


> Cool, i would appreciate a report of the place!
> 
> I have been tested for cdiff and parasites although the parasite test was a few years back, but i haven't been anywhere "risky" since then.
> 
> ...


I have tried Bactrim, Flagyl, Augmentin, Cipro, and Rifaximin. The only one that helped me was the Cipro, which is one of the most dangerous of them all. I don't have "diarrhea" though. My stools are mostly formed, I just go 5-10x per day depending on what I eat. The Cipro got rid of all gas, my stools actually became slightly looser, but they were much smaller and I had zero issues. I simply had the sensation of needing to go #2 arise, and I walked to the bathroom and went! But the others could definitely work for you, every person is different. I don't think there's much harm in trying an antibiotic at this point, what do you have to lose? It's good to know you don't have C.Diff, which would make taking antibiotics extremely dangerous. Please consider carefully though as antibiotics could make it worse!

The fact that you have "watery" D is, to me, indicative of something other than IBS, like an active infection. I feel like we are missing an angle here that could explain your symptoms!

Have you ever done an alternative medicine stool test?


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Thanks PD85. I have not done an alternative stool test due to the cost. Can you recommend one you've done?


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## celestin (May 20, 2004)

Stop bread, completely. Change to (cooked!) white rice.

Morning : cooked egg(s) /white rice

Other meals : cooked full natural meat, white rice. If bananas are ok, go on.

10 days

Bactrim can help against Blastocystis (common parasite: ask to be tested for that. Good site:http://www.blastocystis.net/), buy you need a high dose.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

White rice passes through my system at an incredibly fast rate. One of those weird things for me. I don't tolerate it well at all.


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## celestin (May 20, 2004)

mellosphere said:


> White rice passes through my system at an incredibly fast rate. One of those weird things for me. I don't tolerate it well at all.


....passes fast ok, but does it give D. ??
You shoud definitely be treated for Giardia and Blastocystis. Giardia has 2 treatments (Flagyl [actually tinidazole is slightly better] and Mepacrine -in case of resistance). Blasto is much more difficult to eradicate(flagyl together with Bactrim is the best) nb:how old are you?


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Yes absolutely diarrhea. #6 on bristol scale and gives me bad cramps too.

That's what i'm considering...taking flagyl and bactrim together.

Am 26 years old.


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## celestin (May 20, 2004)

Both together...not the best, I think. First +- 15 days of Flagyl and then a high dose of Bactrim.


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## laylow (Jun 2, 2016)

PD85 said:


> That sounds brutal my friend, truly brutal.
> 
> You should absolutely try some antibiotics.
> 
> ...


Please let us know if they do FMTs for anything other than C Diff.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

mellosphere said:


> Thanks PD85. I have not done an alternative stool test due to the cost. Can you recommend one you've done?


They are expensive yes. Between $250-$500. I don't believe they are normally worth it, but they can sometimes point you in the direction of what your issue could potentially be.

The best are the Doctor's Best Comprehensive Stool Analysis, and the Genova Comprehensive Stool Profile.



laylow said:


> Please let us know if they do FMTs for anything other than C Diff.


Yes they do it for IBS as well, which is what my friend is getting it done for. The way around the FDA issues is that you self-administer it with their help.


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## laylow (Jun 2, 2016)

PD85 said:


> That sounds brutal my friend, truly brutal.
> 
> You should absolutely try some antibiotics.
> 
> ...


Yes, please let me know. I am currently looking into if I have c diff, cause I have just came down with a bad case of diarrhea after antibiotic.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

laylow said:


> Yes, please let me know. I am currently looking into if I have c diff, cause I have just came down with a bad case of diarrhea after antibiotic.


Definitely get tested for it right away!


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

What antibiotic have you been on recently?


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## laylow (Jun 2, 2016)

Clindamycin. It's well documented in causing issues.

Mellosphere, have you looked into Sucrase-isomaltase deficiency? It's very rare, but unless you have totally cut out sucrose, you couldn't figure out if you have it. It is usually presented with persistent watery D.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Guess i missed this comment. Have not looked into that deficiency but after reading yhhe description it sounds like a stretch. I don't remember my mom saying I had bad diarrhea issues as a kid and it seems like in this condition it is worst as a child. Mine has gotten worse as I've gotten older.

That being said, have you done genetic testing with any interesting results? Always thought it could be really cool but didn't know if there was a benefit to it.


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## laylow (Jun 2, 2016)

mellosphere said:


> Guess i missed this comment. Have not looked into that deficiency but after reading yhhe description it sounds like a stretch. I don't remember my mom saying I had bad diarrhea issues as a kid and it seems like in this condition it is worst as a child. Mine has gotten worse as I've gotten older.
> 
> That being said, have you done genetic testing with any interesting results? Always thought it could be really cool but didn't know if there was a benefit to it.


I have not. However, there is an adult onset version of that deficiency if you happen to be a recessive carrier. Obviously very rare, but since you seem to be an extreme case, I thought I would mention it. Probably the only way to know for sure is to cut sucrose and see what happens. You may have already done this, since it sounds like you have restricted your diet a lot.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

[quote name="PD85" post="1327122" timestamp="
There is a place in Tampa Florida that does FMT. Called RSDinfusions. I know someone who is going there in a few weeks I'll let you know how it turns out. [/quote]

Any word on this place for FMT?

I never did take the bactrim. I did take 10 days of flagyl and rifaximin together. Symptoms alleviated for about 1 month but now I'm back to my really bad place again.

One thing I do differently than many people here is that I do eat bread. The problem is that my diet now consists entirely of meat and bread. All vegetables and fruits cause me worse issues than i already have and i don't sleep more than about 4 hours as it is. If my cramps get worse then it's like 3 hours and I just can't really cope with life at that point.

I am going to try rice but in my experience that just rushes through my system.

Am also considering trying bactrim and maybe trying to obtain some cipro.

PD and laylow, any recent improvements or thoughts?


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## laylow (Jun 2, 2016)

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/FODMAPS/comments/6co1ss

Might want to ask around on there.


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## Scooby393 (Jun 26, 2017)

Have you looked at the FODMAP diet?


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Yes i cannot tolerate any fruits or vegetables at all.


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## acureisoutthere (Jun 28, 2014)

My heart goes out to you freind.

Have you ever considered going to the Taymount Clinic ?

Have you ever considered going to the Centre for Digestive Diseases ? {Dr. Borody}

Some further thoughts : just one course of antibiotics kills up to a third of the species of bacteria in your gut (your microbiome). Some of these come back after a year, and some do not.

Also, consider this; the average American (so I read) has lost 40% of the diversity of this ecosystem of bacteria in our guts, as compared to remote tribes that have never had antibiotics. I would have to guess that you may have lost more than 40% of your species. When we have a widely diverse ecosystem of bacteria, they help us to digest different foods, they influence our cognitive behavior, they help train our immune system, and play many other roles in our health. There are numerous studies being completed and written about every month. It is definitely a hot area of research. I just wish there was more US research or clinical trials about reversing this nasty disease.

My heart goes out to you Mellow, it's got to be really tough.

Have you looked into any of the clinical trials that might be going on for IBS using an FMT ? {just go to clinicaltrials.gov}

One more thought : Dr Borody achieves the highest rate of success for reversing IBS with an FMT, when he does more than one FMT. In fact he does several top off infusions after the initial transplant. (one has to overcome the appendix, the reservoir).

Hang in there Mellow !


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## acureisoutthere (Jun 28, 2014)

One more thought,

A study found that Glyphosate (the chemical in Roundup) was killing our beneficial bacteria. So, the bread you eat may possibly have glyphosate residues in it since wheat is routinely grown with Roundup in the US. It could be making you issues worse.

What to do ? Well, you can switch to GMO free bread, or organic bread.


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## Tuwanda (Mar 11, 2018)

I can tell you without a doubt that Bactrim cured my IBS. I had to take 14 days of it, but my symptoms began to disappear after 3 days. My story is that I developed IBS-D in late high school. My senior year of high school and first three years of college were a nightmare of trying to manage symptoms. I was blessed to have parents who always believed that I had contracted a microorganism instead of being a "nervous" person. I got a hold of some Flagyl which did help my worst symptoms, but I was still on a management program. It was not until my own dad was infected with cyclospora from eating imported raspberries that I learned about Bactrim. To me, it was the wonder drug, and it cured me. To this day, I don't know if I had cyclospora bc it had not been discovered yet when I first began my IBS testing! I only knew that my problem was in my small intestine. The thing is, the human gut is like the last frontier. There is so much we don't know. Remember what they told people with stomach ulcers for decades? And that turned out to be bacteria, too. Now finding a doctor who will believe you and prescribe Bactrim is a different challenge! I now have an autoimmune condition which I feel is from years of untreated infection in my gut, but that, I can manage. I wouldn't wish my IBS on my worst enemy.


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## mellosphere (Sep 22, 2015)

Tuwanda said:


> I can tell you without a doubt that Bactrim cured my IBS. I had to take 14 days of it, but my symptoms began to disappear after 3 days. My story is that I developed IBS-D in late high school. My senior year of high school and first three years of college were a nightmare of trying to manage symptoms. I was blessed to have parents who always believed that I had contracted a microorganism instead of being a "nervous" person. I got a hold of some Flagyl which did help my worst symptoms, but I was still on a management program. It was not until my own dad was infected with cyclospora from eating imported raspberries that I learned about Bactrim. To me, it was the wonder drug, and it cured me. To this day, I don't know if I had cyclospora bc it had not been discovered yet when I first began my IBS testing! I only knew that my problem was in my small intestine. The thing is, the human gut is like the last frontier. There is so much we don't know. Remember what they told people with stomach ulcers for decades? And that turned out to be bacteria, too. Now finding a doctor who will believe you and prescribe Bactrim is a different challenge! I now have an autoimmune condition which I feel is from years of untreated infection in my gut, but that, I can manage. I wouldn't wish my IBS on my worst enemy.


Thanks for chiming in. I never did take the bactrim but I still have it on hand and am considering trying it. Cant hurt at this point I feel like. I already had FMT and it did nothing for me. And I have my wifes stool if I ever want to do more on my own. So Im thinking about bombing away again and seeing if it helps.


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## acureisoutthere (Jun 28, 2014)

more options to consider, that is if you can afford them.

http://centrefordigestivediseases.com/

https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/westmead-hospital-to-offer-lifesaving-stomachchurning-poo-transplant-cure-20151021-gken80.html

http://www.centreforibs.com.au/faecal-microbial-transplant


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