# Xifaxan and Neomycin side effects - is this normal?



## kellyp (May 15, 2015)

Hello,

I'm on day 11 of Xifaxan and day 9 of Neomycin (out of 20 days) to treat SIBO. I've been having horrible nausea, with diarrhea and even vomiting a couple times. This is unbearable! I feel worse overall than I did before getting antibiotics! I'm a wedding photographer and this is horribly affecting my work.

I put in a call to my doctor last Thurs, and he said it was probably the Neomycin, but he wanted me to keep taking both meds. I called again today, and it looks like I'm not getting called back today. I don't think I can take this another 10 days.

Any advice out there? Has this been other people's experience? I don't know if I should consider stopping the pills, or suffer on.

Help or kind words would be so appreciated!


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

Hi Kelly

i am so sorry you're feeling so miserable. it's no fun, is it. especially when it interferes so much with your life and your work and i'm sure this is your busy season with all the spring and summer weddings.

i agree with your doctor in so far as it's the neomycin that is causing the problems since rifaximin (generally speaking) is usually well tolerated and does not have bad side effects. i, too, get horrible side effects from a lot of antibiotics including neomycin (which i won't take any more) . i have SIBO. i really wanted to take rifaximin but my insurance wouldn't cover it and i can't afford to pay out of pocket for it. so i ended up taking augmentin instead which made me feel somewhat sick but no vomiting--it really wasn't too bad at all, considering. and i kept telling myself i only had to take it for ten days and then it would be over.

if you are ibs-d, like your profile says, then i am somewhat surprised that your doc prescribed neomycin in addition to rifaximin. usually you see that combination for us C (constipation) folks--we generally show methane gas with the breath test and that's why neomycin is rx'd as well as rifaximin.. but of course i'm not a doctor and not an expert--this is just what i've read about anitbiotics for SIBO .

anyway---really the way i feel is that it is your call on all this. sometimes antibiotic side effects wane after you take it for a few days. or sometimes, taking it with food lessens the nausea--although you definitely want to take neomycin as directed and if it says don't take with food, then don't. that said---if you really do feel you can't go on with this combo--well, if it were me and my test results did not show methane and if i did not have constipation, i think i would just drop the neomycin and see how i do on rifaximin alone. i would call my doc's office and tell them this, too. often people--especially those with D--do take rifaximin alone and that makes them much better. but i do have to stress that this is just my opinion --i don't really want to tell you to go against your doc's advice but......

just my 2 cents here. good luck with everything. i do hope you feel better soon. take care.


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## kellyp (May 15, 2015)

Thanks for responding! I do have IBS-D from the SIBO, but I did test positive for methane. The doctor still wants me to keep going with it if I can. But we'll see. This is making me really anxious, feeling so miserable.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

ok--thanks--now I see why he prescribed neomycin.

yes, feeling miserable can make one anxious--you keep wondering if it will all get worse etc. although this can all turn into a viscous cycle, with the anxiety increasing the miserable feelings etc and making everything seem worse than it really is. so if it's at all possible, please try not to get overly anxious and try to think positive, keep your mind off the miserable feelings and try to focus as much as you can on something else. I know it's hard but this can help. and hopefully the side effects will begin to wane a bit.

keep counting down the days til you're done with the drug. that's what I did when I had to go through a course of amoxicillin --which made me quite ill--in January due to gum surgery . I kept thinking that each day brought me closer and closer to the end of the treatment.

good luck with everything. take care.


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## kellyp (May 15, 2015)

I'm trying to hang in here. I have a wedding to shoot on Saturday, so I may be done with the Neomycin before then. Here's a question: Has anyone else been prescribed treatment for SIBO for 20 days? It is basic protocol for my gastro's office to do either 10 days or 20 days, but most things I see say that typical treatment is 10 or 14 days. Just wondering if anyone else has had that long of treatment.

Thanks!


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

my gastro doc had me take augmentin for 10 days (my insurance wouldn't cover rifaximin).

it worked. i felt better after treatment.


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## marleyma (Aug 13, 2014)

Seeing how you are doing kellyp. I am on day 10 of 14 with xifaxan and neomycin and feel much like you did - so crappy! Hope there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel!


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