recurrence immediately after just 2 days of pulsing Flagyl

[rika99]

has anyone had a recurrence while pulsing on flagyl? this is my 2nd round of flagyl (1st round was 500mg 3x day). This round I did 2 weeks on 250mg 4x day, tapered to 250mg 2x/day for a week, and just started every other day at 250mg 2x/day, and my c. diff is already back full-force after skipping only two days of flagyl (it's saturday--i didn't take flagyl thursday, and this morning, but took it friday, and am also taking florastor). urgh. is this normal? why does it come back so fast? the flagyl keeps the symptoms under control, but doesn't seem to be able to destroy it completely. is it time to try vanco?

[Nancy1]

I always relapsed between 3-5 days after stopping vanco or Flagyl. We can relapse one day after stopping meds, and some people even relapse at low doses. In some of us it just comes back fast, and I don't know why. If I were you, I'd check with my doc about trying vanco next. I definitely felt better on it than I did on Flagyl. Good luck.

[cryingsilly]

Rika I had a relapse when I reduced the dosage of vanco down to 325 X4 from 500X4!

I think that its uncommon but that it does happen.

Darlene

[Nan]

Yes, I have relapsed after being off just Flagyl only 2 and a half days which was my shortest time period. Vanco works much better for me, feel better quicker, none of those nasty side effects, and I can go longer after stopping before relapse, although have not conquered it yet. (My other relapses have been up to 7 days off Vanco, most coming while still in the middle of pulsing. I always feel very discouraged when that happens. But…. Keeping my fingers crossed for my new pulse dosing try, as I just went to 7 days off, 1 day on and have never got beyond this, but here is hoping this time. One of these times it has to work.)

Hang in there. You will get better.

[Bobbie]

rika99,
If you continue to have problems on Flagyl, I would mention Vanco. to your GI as it sometimes works when Flagyl doesn't.

Hope you've read the first forum ALL USERS READ THIS FIRST & its subtopics. They will guide you in using the site & answer some of the most frequent questions. Read Dr. Borody’s & Dr. McDonald’s articles and the areas in FAQ that interest you – especially FAQ-Hygiene, Nutrition, & Testing.

If antibiotics contributed to your C. diff., be careful about taking them again. (See FAQ-Antibiotics.)

Remember, you will recover although it sometimes takes a lot of time, patience, and "trial & error."

[rika99]

Hi Bobbie and others,

yes, I've read everything on the site--the articles, etc.
I'm due to see my GI doc again wednesday. I've mentioned Vanco to him before, but first he told me it was expensive so they like to try Flagyl first, and last time, he explained that because of the Vanco resistant strains, they like to also exhaust Flagyl first.

In the meantime, he put me back on a full dose of flagyl (250mg 4x/day), but this week it's been working less and less, and today the flagyl stopped working alltogether, and I had a full-on relapse while still on the flagyl. I haven't found anything on the site yet about anyone relapsing while still on drugs that were previously working, and I'm totally confused, as my body/c. diff was responding really well to the flagyl for the last 2.5 months that I've been on it. Am I just not finding the right thread? Has anyone had Flagyl/metro just stop working while they were taking it, when it had worked before?

[Christina]

Yes, I had the same issue with Flagyl. It seemed as though with my first two relapses it was somewhat working but by the time it got to my third relapse it did not stop it and I ended up in the ER twice in 24 hours, once by ambulance. Finally, the ER switched me to Vanco and all turned out well. I did later find out my strain was resistant to Flagyl but like I said it did work to some degree at first but even on high doses of it I still was testing positive.
Some studies now show that Flagyl does not seem to work as well as it used to and that Vanco may be a better choice. because of the resistance issue and cost of Vanco it's still usually a good idea to try Flagyl first.

[Bobbie]

Yes, docs. usually start C. diff. patients on Flagyl -- less expensive, easier to obtain, & the fear of Vanco. resistance. Resistance is fairly rare, however, & usually takes a lot of Vanco.

I agree with Christina. Call your GI & ask his/her opinion about switching to Vanco.

I know little about the actual mechanism of this since I'm not in the medical field, but docs. have told me that some meds. no longer work as well after a period of time as the body adapts to them. You might also check with your pharmacist.

[cindy w.]

Whenever my daughter "relapsed" whether on Flagyl or Vanco, we would up the dosage or slow down the taper. I define a relapse as serious D.- over 20 movements in approx. 8 hour period...including blood and mucus. She has relapsed even when changing the Vanco from 250mg. day to 125 mg. per day and it took only the 1 day to become symptomatic. Another on this site shared that she usually became symptomatic while changing doses during a pulse. Finally, recently, after 5 months of this never ending cycle, we just didn't respond to her symptoms by upping the dose, changing the pulse/taper regimine. Well, much to all our surprise, her "relapses" have been fairly self-limiting and fairly infrequent. Of course, if she was in danger of becoming dehydrated or if temp. would substantially rise, we would have continued with the meds. She was very uncomfortable, but I kept her hydrated to the max to prevent further sequalae. We followed her CBC and ESR which came down nicely. We're now off meds for 20 days and diong fairly well...this is the very longest we have ever been able to go without. Just another way to look at the relapse...hope you feel much better soon.

[cindy w.]

Of course, not even 5 minutes after hitting "submit", she had massive D. ---back on the WWW list now...ugh!!!!!!!!!

[Bobbie]

cindyw,
Happens to me a lot. The minute I "brag" about something, it turns sour. So much for the power of positive thinking -- although we have to try to think positively.

Hope this is a minor setback.