# Cipro



## origin46 (May 10, 2009)

I have had moderate IBS (A) for many yrs, which most of the time has been very reasonably controlled. But for the past 3 years I have had many more bad days than good. I have tried various possible remedies with no stand-out successes. I recently had a bout of prostatitis for which my urologist prescribed a 5-week course of Cipro. While taking Cipro I had 5 weeks of "good" days only. But as soon as I finished the Cipro 2 weeks ago, the next day was bad as have been most of the days since. I thought this might be telling with the exception that I have read that antibiotics, if successful with IBS, tend to give continuing relief for some time period, at least more than one day. Also, about a year ago, I took a 4-week course of Rifaximin without positive results. I wonder if it's possible that the Cipro required more than 5 weeks to give longer-lasting relief? Any thoughts appreciated.


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## PD85 (Aug 19, 2010)

origin46 said:


> I have had moderate IBS (A) for many yrs, which most of the time has been very reasonably controlled. But for the past 3 years I have had many more bad days than good. I have tried various possible remedies with no stand-out successes. I recently had a bout of prostatitis for which my urologist prescribed a 5-week course of Cipro. While taking Cipro I had 5 weeks of "good" days only. But as soon as I finished the Cipro 2 weeks ago, the next day was bad as have been most of the days since. I thought this might be telling with the exception that I have read that antibiotics, if successful with IBS, tend to give continuing relief for some time period, at least more than one day. Also, about a year ago, I took a 4-week course of Rifaximin without positive results. I wonder if it's possible that the Cipro required more than 5 weeks to give longer-lasting relief? Any thoughts appreciated.


I wouldn't recommend treating your IBS with Cipro. Do you remember what dose you were on for the Rifaximin?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Cipro was used to treat SIBO before Rifamixin ever was invented, so it isn't the craziest thing to use, and not all bacteria that cause the problem are killed by Rifamixin.However, taking the antibiotic longer isn't really going to give you much more relief and the longer you take it the more likely you are to get C. diff which is much more troublesome than IBS tends to be.Usually if you really have SIBO there should be some post antibiotic benefit not the first day off all things go back to bad immediately. Did they ever do a breath test or just tossed antibiotics at the IBS just in case?Usually for SIBO Cipro is only given for a week or so, not weeks on end before there is good relief, so this sounds more like a side effect of the drug rather than it clearing up the SIBO, unfortunately. Typically when you clear up SIBO you get from a few weeks to a few months of feeling better before it comes back.


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## origin46 (May 10, 2009)

Kathleen M. said:


> Cipro was used to treat SIBO before Rifamixin ever was invented, so it isn't the craziest thing to use, and not all bacteria that cause the problem are killed by Rifamixin.However, taking the antibiotic longer isn't really going to give you much more relief and the longer you take it the more likely you are to get C. diff which is much more troublesome than IBS tends to be.Usually if you really have SIBO there should be some post antibiotic benefit not the first day off all things go back to bad immediately. Did they ever do a breath test or just tossed antibiotics at the IBS just in case?Usually for SIBO Cipro is only given for a week or so, not weeks on end before there is good relief, so this sounds more like a side effect of the drug rather than it clearing up the SIBO, unfortunately. Typically when you clear up SIBO you get from a few weeks to a few months of feeling better before it comes back.


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## origin46 (May 10, 2009)

Thanks for your reply Kathleen. I think it makes a lot of sense. I failed to mention that I began (and still am) taking Amitriptyline 25mg a week (to increase Serotonin levels) before I began the Cipro. My immediate reaction was that the Amitrip was responsible for my IBS improvement, but when things went south immediately after I stopped Cipro, I focused more on that. With the precarious understanding of IBS causes, I now believe that I may simply have been in a "good" cycle for my IBS for whatever reason and the positive feedback (which I attributed to taking Amitrip) helped lengthen the cycle, however crazy that may seem. No, I have not taken the breath test, but have read that it is highly error-prone, which probably explains why the antibiotic (Xifaxan it was, I have snce learned) was prescribed by my GI without the test. Interestingly today I read that the FDA has not even approved Xifaxan for IBS http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2011/02/24/salix-shares-plunge-on-fda-delay-on.html?ana=yfcpc, not that non-approval means it does not work in some cases. It seems to me that a condition so widely suffered as IBS deserves more research/investigation than what it has received.


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