Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

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Di1964
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Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby Di1964 » Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:43 pm

My gum infection went into my jaw. I was freaking out because I though I was going to be on amoxicillin and low dose vanco or IV antibiotics. Thank GOD my Infectious Disease doc put me on a fairly new tetracycline called Nuzyra (Omadacycline). I had never heard of it and it's super expensive at $250 per pill. But it's working! The jaw infection is going away.

I thought of so many who have a tooth infection or something similar to mine like a jaw infection and get prescribed something awful like Amoxicillin because their doctors are not informed about it. At least as a patient, you can now talk to your doctor to see if this seems like a better choice than a broad spectrum antibiotic. We have to be our own advocates because many doctors offer poor options because they don't know.

I hope and pray this helps someone. The cost for 2 weeks is almost $7000 but my insurance pays for it all except $75.

Here's what it says: Omadacycline is used to treat community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

Stay strong. We are all in this together! I've gotten great ideas and information on this site and hope and pray someone this helps someone not get C-diff because they had better options. Thank you guys for all your support. I only come here when I'm desperate and so glad I have you.


58 year old female. Cdiff July 2016, failed vanco 2 x. FMT Oct 2016. Immune compromised. On antibiotics at least 4 times a year but so far, no C-diff. So thankful for this board!

beth22
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Re: Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby beth22 » Fri Feb 11, 2022 8:26 pm

Thanks for posting the information. I had not heard of this new drug and am glad you shared the information.

Di1964
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Re: Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby Di1964 » Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:15 pm

I am on day 3 of 14 and the dosing is a bit tricky.

You have to take 3 pills each day for the first 2 days and then 2 pills per day. But there must be no dairy or fatty foods 4 hours before taking it and 2 hours after. I take it first thing in the morning and wait 3 hours for my coffee with milk just to be safe. A fasted stomach makes the medicine more effective (meaning 6 hours or more).

It's a 7 day or 14 day course and can be used for pneumonia too. They offer it in pill or in injection form as options.

Please talk with your doctor about it. I'm not sure if you need an Infectious Disease Doc or not to get approval. It is a very special medicine so you might have to fight for it.

I can't believe how lucky I am to have found this Infectious Disease Doc who knew about this new formulation of tetracycline that works on so many more bacteria. It was approved in 2018 but almost no one seems to know about it. Every other doc has always only offered me amoxicillin and maybe a low dose vanco as an option "in case" the worst happened. What a terrible offer! The worst case finally happened and by the grace of God, I had just found this doctor the week before for a sinus issue. Wow. I would be on Amoxicillin right now had I not met him.

My recovery is slow but it's working. I pray that this helps someone avoid a Cdiff recurrence. My doctor said he has put multiple patients with a history of Cdiff on it and no one has relapsed so far.

I love the doctor! Finally, someone who is on our side looking out for us for a change! Finally, for those of us who are so afraid of a tooth infection or like me, a jaw infection, we have something that may help us avoid another round of Cdiff hell.

Hang in there guys! I'm so grateful for all your posts. I know I've learned so much from you guys and you saved me so much pain and suffering. As my pastor says, "We really are all better together".

Stay safe. Have hope. You are not alone.

Di1964
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Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2022 10:50 am

Re: Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby Di1964 » Sun May 29, 2022 6:34 am

I have an update almost 4 months later.

Sadly, it did not clear the infection and I ended up on massive antibiotics for more than 2 full months but by staying on full dose Dificid the entire time plus 10 days, the Cdiff did not return. I am a walking miracle and every doctor I see can not believe I didn't get Cdiff. This started mid February and went through early May.

Thankfully, I was advised by a friend who had Cdiff and took offending antibiotics but was able to avoid Cdiff by working with her doctor to stay on Dificid. Honestly, I didn't believe her but I would do anything to avoid Cdif again Because I am immune compromised, I get infections easily so I knew this day would come and feared it.

After the Nuzyra failed, my ID doc put me on 2 weeks of Rocephin, but was still sick so then put me on 2 weeks of Augmentin (which was even more hell than the Rocephin) but at least that helped with the tooth, gum, salivary infection. Then I had to go on 3 weeks of Bactrim my a MRSA sinus infection. I took 5 days off from antibiotics inb between to see if it worked but stayed on full dose Dificid every single day. It as rough, I and had to take anti-nausea meds to eat, and I felt like walking death, but my BMs were ok despite fearing every morning what might happen.

I began full dose Dificid on day 1 of IV Rocephin and stayed on the entire time plus 10 days. I am now 5 weeks past all antibiotics and feel perfect so I know it's not coming back. I looked at my ID doc and said, "I'm going to need some Dificid" and he gave me a script. Thank God! And he kept writing scripts for me and that was the key to getting through a this living hell.

You should know I took no probiotics except the Florastor which I took with my antibiotics. I ate all my probiotics in kefir 3 cups a day, as well as sourkraut, kimchi, Activa yogurt, kumbacha every day. I hate that crap but ate it anyway. My diet was high in cooked green veggies, green tea, blue berries, etc and no dairy or sugar. Dr. Colleen Kelly has a video saying there's really no evidence they work and some evidence they disrupt gut bacteria. Geeze Louise she may be right but you need to eat a ton of prebiotic foods every day.

It was not cheap as my insurance sometimes refused to pay for more Dificid but CVS found coupons sometimes for $1200 and sometimes for $50 and spent about $2800 for Dificid but it was worth every penny. I now am starting a hoard of Dificid in case this ever happens again.

The hardest part is convincing your doctor to keep you on full dose Dificid as there's no evidence to support it (except common sense!). I found by saying, "I'm going to need some more Dificid" matter of factly worked better than pleading and crying.

Perhaps having an FMT helped but given how sick I was during this process I know I would have NEVER made it on vanco. I spoke with different ID doc and he said the same thing. Vanco would not have sufficient to allow me to get through these massive infections in my face but Dificid did.Basically he hinted I would have died were it not for Dificid. I thank God I had an ID doctor who was flexible and didn't insist I suffer because that's what is recommended.

I am so thankful all the depression and anxiety are finally gone and I feel completely normal. This only happened because I had a doctor who listened and a friend who told me her story that seemed too good to be true.

Last, I am not giving any medical advice but am sharing my own story so you can work with your own doctor to do what is best for you. I hope and pray you have good health and are able to avoid this awful disease.

beth22
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby beth22 » Mon May 30, 2022 1:09 am

Thanks for sharing and I am happy to hear that the Dificid worked for you. I have a bottle in my closet that my Gi also wrote for me in case I needed it. It had a long expiration date and will expire at the end of this year, but I am grateful I did not need it so far. I hope you don't need it anymore either, but it certainly seemed to have helped you. Thanks for posting and giving hope to others.

Di1964
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Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2022 10:50 am

Re: Antibiotic saved me from Cdiff recurrance (Nuzyra)

Postby Di1964 » Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:47 pm

Me too Beth. I am gathering a stockpile. I have 3 weeks worth right now.

I hope others see and can get Dificid for themselves and avoid Cdiff unnecessarily.


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