Flagyl Side Effects

[mn1201]

Hello,
Here is my story:

23 y/o female:

I had a tooth infection, went to the dentist and he prescribed clindamycin. I did not even finish the clindamycin because it started making my stomach hurt. After I discontinued use, the stomach hurting went away. Two weeks later, the D with M and B started along with abdominal cramping.
I went to three different doctors within a two week time frame being a college student, I visited two urgent care centers in my hometown on a visit. They thought it was the stomach flu. A week later, I went in to my college health center and they did a stool sample as well as a cbc count.
The stool sample tested positive for c-diff.

My doctor started me on Flagyl 500 mg 3 times a day for 10 days.
The first 5 days were fine with no side effects, until I started experiencing dizziness and felt generally off-balance.
I visited a GI doctor after the dizziness had started and he told me since the flagyl was effective in making me feel better, that he did not want to change the medicine but to let him know if it got worse.

The dizziness went away a few days later but I started experiencing extreme anxiety. I feel kind of "out of it" like I am dreaming while I am awake. I keep having panic attacks and crying. I am also drowsy. My parents suggested I call back the GI doctor, so I did. He was not in the office but another GI doctor told me I should discontinue the medication and give my GI doctor a call on Monday in order to figure out alternatives.

I completed 8 out of 10 days of my treatment, do not feel any c-diff symptoms.
My last dose of flagyl was a litle around 30 hours ago.

When will this feeling of having a brain fog and being anxious go away??
Has anyone else experienced these side effects??

I have heard that flagyl stays in your system around 48 hours so should I see some improvement by then?

[NanciT]

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Hi and Welcome to the site, the above letter is for all new posters.

I am sorry you are having such a hard time, I can only speak from experience that Flagyl is a very difficult medication to take. I was only able to get through 3 days, it made me very ill and dizzy, confused, it was a terrible experience for me. There are many on the site who have also found it very hard to take although it does work and it sounds as if it has helped with the Cdiff.

I agree, you need to call your GI on Monday and let them know all the side effects this medication has caused you, it should become part of your medical record so they do not give it to you in the future.

I can't say how long your symptoms will last, everyone is different, I do hope you re feeling better soon and just make sure to make that call.

Let us know how you do!

[Lisa33]

I can totally relate to how you are feeling. It was weird with me though as I was able to tolerate Flagyl for the first round of treatment. I took it for the full 10 days and felt better. But unfortunately after 2 weeks, I relapsed. I was put back on Flagyl again, but this time, my body couldn't tolerate it at all. The side effects were far worse than the c diff. I had the same thing as you described - brain fog, felt completely out of it, extreme nausea (this was actually the worst part), no appetite, extreme fatigue, oral thrush and just felt awful. I fought through it for 9 days, and was finally switched to vanco for a 14 day course. The vanco is what cured me. For me, the side effects of the Flagyl went away within 24 hours. It may have been a little longer, but I instantly felt better once it was out of my system. I had zero side effects on vanco. The Flagyl was like poison in my body. I felt very ill. It is good that you stopped the flagyl because you shouldn't have to feel that way, but I just hope that the 8 days was enough. Make sure that you get an answer from your GI doctor on whether you need to start another treatment or if the 8 days may be sufficient.

Also, if you aren't taking any probiotics, you probably should, especially now that you aren't taking treatment. Most of us take VSL-3 (a lactic acid probiotic) and Florastor (S. Boulardii), as well as drink Kefir and eat yogurts with live cultures. Not everybody can tolerate probiotics, but if you can, it could be beneficial in restoring your good flora in your gut that has been wiped out from the meds.

I hope you start to feel better soon. Keep us posted.