# Worse after Xifaxan



## jorichma (Mar 30, 2009)

I've had a pretty good handle on my IBS-D for 4 or 5 years. I've been following a heavy soluble fiber, low insoluble fiber, low meat, low fat diet. It's the diet outlined by Heather Von Vorous in "Eating for IBS" and it's worked pretty well for me. A lot of rice and bread. However, recently I was eating things that I thought were ok but they were making me sick, so I went to my GI to see what we could do. He suggested xifaxan - 550 mg 3 times a day for 14 days. During the 14 days I was constipated and gassy most of the time, but I thought I'd let it run its course.Here's the problem: I finished the 14 day prescription 5 days ago and have been feeling terrible ever since. Alternating IBS-C and IBS-D, gassiness, and every time I eat anything I immediately get bloated and feel sick. I almost constantly feel pressure in my stomach and the sensation that I need to use the toilet. And while I had a pretty good handle on what I could and could not eat before xifaxan, now everything seems to make me sick. It's like all the hard work and pain i went through figuring out a stable diet has been thrown out the window because of 2 weeks of antibiotic. I'm extremely frustrated and worried.I called my GI and he seemed surprised. He said I should take Florastor, but it has lactose in it and I'm lactose intolerant, so I'm taking Align (and crossing my fingers because it has milk protein).Has anyone else had a similar experience? Has anyone felt worse after xifaxan? Will the effects of xifaxan wear off eventually? Will probiotics help? I feel like my IBS world and knowledge about my body and digestion has been flipped upside down.Any help is extremely welcome. Thanks.


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## Freud (Mar 22, 2012)

It's a bad thing your doctor didn't check at first if you had a problem with small intestine bacteraial overgrowth. 'Cause he didn't, didn't he? Then you and he could have been sure Xifan was the right way to go.


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## jorichma (Mar 30, 2009)

Freud said:


> It's a bad thing your doctor didn't check at first if you had a problem with small intestine bacteraial overgrowth. 'Cause he didn't, didn't he? Then you and he could have been sure Xifan was the right way to go.


No, he didn't. He told me he doesn't do breath tests and I had read that they are unreliable so I just went with it. I feel stupid in retrospect. Hopefully my system will bounce back but I have no idea what to eat right now - everything is making me sick.


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