Flagyl to stop a flare?

[hetzbaby]

I was in my GI's office around the 6th and received a pneumonia vaccine (pneumovax to be specific since I'm on azasan) because the immunologist wants to run tests on my immune system. I recovered some medical records that said I had been diagnosed with an immune deficiency with a possible secondary enterocolitis when I was five or six. Since the possibility of the whole colitis thing could be a GI manifestation of an immune deficiency that would obviously affect my treatment. And maybe change my August diagnosis of Crohn's in the first place. I only started my long descent into illness after a bout of food poisoning anyway so I'm hesitant to trust my GI.

Anyways, I got the vaccine and my stomach started acting all wonky again. I got my period and that always sets it off a little bit but even after that was over I've still had some cramping and some loose stools. Not watery but loose with a little mucous. I've been hoping that it was just a fluke but I took a day's worth of flagyl because I might have an issue with a previous root canal and here I am, the day after, suddenly with the most solid BM I've had this past year and no cramping after I've eaten. For the record, I chowed the heck down on some Taco Bell last night too and I was GOLDEN. Have any of you ever experienced flagyl stopping a flare? Or have heard of it being used as such?

 

[JDTM]

No experience with flagyl, personally, but I did have really good results using a short course of Xifaxan, which is also an antibiotic. It targeted bad bacteria (well, all bacteria, probably) in the gut, and it really seemed to help me -- I think that it helped the beginning of the end of my first flare. I've heard of antibiotics helping a flare and/or inducing remission, but I don't know the science behind it -- hopefully someone else can chime in here. It's awesome if it works for you, but keep in mind that bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics, so it's not always a great idea to constantly use antibiotics if you can avoid it. Good luck and keep us posted on how you do over the coming days!!

 

[kiny]

It's possible, but it's rarer with flagyl. They do it with cipro. / azithromycin (with or without metronidazole), rarer used are rifabutin and clarithromycin.

(there's also non-macrophage penetrating antibiotics like rifaximin)

I had the same effect with cipro.

My lymphocytes are too low to go on immunosuppressant drugs. It's the same dilemma for people with AIDS who have crohn's disease, or people with EBV or people with chronic granulomatous disease, etc

There's many people with crohn's disease who you can't give immunosuppressant and they often use antibiotics.

There's also studies where they use cipro on and off, just to induce remission, on top of a standard regime.

Only issue with all of this is that of resistance, and the fact you can't stay on some antibiotics (like quinolones) for too long.

 

[PsychoJane]

Hello!
I will weight my words here before saying it can "induce" remission but it can for sure help it. It can be used for both acute crisis and for maintenance phases. I know that my disease seems to be highly associate with bacterial activity since the antibiotics really seems to help me whenever I get flares.

Also, Metronidazole has the particularity of being, first, antibiotic, and second, it has anti-inflammatory properties. That is one of the reason it is commonly used in IBD treatment. So it is well possible that it brought you relief. I am just wondering now, you said you took 1 day worth of treatment for your root canal? Do you have a few days worth of antibiotics (5 or 7days?)?

 

[hetzbaby]

Hello!
I will weight my words here before saying it can "induce" remission but it can for sure help it. It can be used for both acute crisis and for maintenance phases. I know that my disease seems to be highly associate with bacterial activity since the antibiotics really seems to help me whenever I get flares.

Also, Metronidazole has the particularity of being, first, antibiotic, and second, it has anti-inflammatory properties. That is one of the reason it is commonly used in IBD treatment. So it is well possible that it brought you relief. I am just wondering now, you said you took 1 day worth of treatment for your root canal? Do you have a few days worth of antibiotics (5 or 7days?)?

I don't, sadly. I had a root canal about five years ago now & due to that azathioprine, I might have a nice little infection that's cropped up rather quickly. It's the weekend and since I don't have an established dentist here (I've been without insurance since 2010) I knew I had four 250mg doses of flagyl and since that can penetrate bone... Figured it'd be better than nothing. I finally talked to an on call dentist at a clinic last night & she said it'd help until I can get in to be seen tomorrow and get something stronger.

I'm almost just wondering if severe bacterial overgrowth isn't my problem in the first place since my immune system has always been so weak, rather than overactive.

 

[723crossroads]

Hello!
I will weight my words here before saying it can "induce" remission but it can for sure help it. It can be used for both acute crisis and for maintenance phases. I know that my disease seems to be highly associate with bacterial activity since the antibiotics really seems to help me whenever I get flares.

Also, Metronidazole has the particularity of being, first, antibiotic, and second, it has anti-inflammatory properties. That is one of the reason it is commonly used in IBD treatment. So it is well possible that it brought you relief. I am just wondering now, you said you took 1 day worth of treatment for your root canal? Do you have a few days worth of antibiotics (5 or 7days?)?

I was told the metrodondazole was in case you had parasites and it is like a poison to kill them. I refused to take it after that! This was yrs ago when I hd diverticulitis flrae up.

 

[upsetmom]

My daughters GI always puts her on a short course of Flagyl to get a flare under control and it seem to work.

 

[Bustersmom]

They give me cipro and flagyl , or flagyl and levequin. They work very well to calm a flare. I think flagyl is very good if you can tolerate taking it. It doesn't cause C. Difficile like many other antibiotics.

 

[DustyKat]

Flagyl is very often a first up treatment that used in combination with other meds to bring a flare under control.

As PsychoJane has said, it is an antibiotic that also has anti inflammatory properties. The reason an antibiotic is prescribed initially is that inflammation causes changes in the bowel wall which in turn cause the bowel wall to breached. The bowel, by its very nature, is not a sterile environment and so when the bowel wall is breached it is almost invariable that infection will present, hence the antibiotic.

My son was on Flagyl for 6 months, 3 months pre op and 3 post op. It did not put him into remission in the pre op phase but he did have other complications present so I didn't expect it would. I do believe however that it was one of the drugs that kept him stabilised in the lead up to surgery. He also continued with it for 3 months post op as there are studies to suggest that doing so will help maintain a longer remission and his GI was a believer in this. He had that surgery over 2 years ago and is still in remission.

Dusty. xxx