• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Flagyl without Cipro for abscess?

My MRI showed I have a perianal abscess. Now I just took a two week course of Vancomycin for C Diff. Although my GI knows this she prescribed me 3 weeks of Flagyl/Cipro for the abscess and she gave me another 3 weeks of Vancomycin to offset the Cipro from causing a recurrence of C Diff. I asked her if I could take the Flagyl alone without Cipro, because I'm worried about the C diff returning or getting worse, even with the Vancomycin to prevent it. She told me Flagyl alone would not kill the abscess and I needed the Cipro.

Has anyone just taken Flagyl for an abscess? I am thinking of not bothering with the Cipro due to the problem with C diff. I'm also seeing my colorectalsurgeon to have the abscess drained, but that won't be for a little while, so I'm taking the antibiotics in the mean time. Thank you.
 
Location
SoCal
I think your doc Is right.
Don't fool around kill it before it becomes a fistula, which you may have.
Take lots of probiotics to avoid the c diff.
Take them at least 2hrs before or after the ABS.
I use garden of life colon care 50 billion.
There are other good ones.
Get one with 10 or more strains.
 
I think your doc Is right.
Don't fool around kill it before it becomes a fistula, which you may have.
Take lots of probiotics to avoid the c diff.
Take them at least 2hrs before or after the ABS.
I use garden of life colon care 50 billion.
There are other good ones.
Get one with 10 or more strains.
Robrich, I have been taking Florastor twice a day. Can I take more probiotics or would that cause a problem? BTW, unfortunately I already developed two fistulous tracts from a huge abscess back in June.
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
Robrich, I have been taking Florastor twice a day. Can I take more probiotics or would that cause a problem? BTW, unfortunately I already developed two fistulous tracts from a huge abscess back in June.
You can take more, we have trillions of bacteria in the body. You can't really overdose on good bacteria but it could increase bloating, diarrhea.

Florastor though is a yeast so you could take more than 2 but I wouldn't take more than 3 because you don't want to get Fungemia. Any other probiotic you can take more though. The highest I've seen non prescription is 200 billion CFU.
 
It would have been nice if my doc had said, "If one is on the Cipro/Flagyl combo for a long duration be aware of the possibility of a C. Diff infection. Once all the "good" bacterium are gone there is nothing holding down the C. Diff bacteria from flourishing."

I was on the antibiotic combo for 6 months and it happened to me. Took Vancomycin for a month for it to go away. Just be careful with antibiotic therapy. BTW I was taking Florastor as well.

Good Luck
 
I have taken cipro in combination with flagyl and it remedied an abdominal abscess I had a few years ago. Antibiotics don't always do the job though. As was the case when I got a rectal fistula. From my records my Colorectal doctor prescribed me Cipro when I went to the ER, then Flagyl a few days later at an office visit. So I think I was taking them individually at times and in combination as well. Both were useless for the fistula and I had to have a seton placed which kept draining for years. I opted out of surgical procedures as he couldn't guarantee it would completely resolve the fistula and I didn't want any muscular damage that would lead to potential incontinence issues.

I'm not sure probiotics are of much use while taking antibiotics, pretty sure the former cancels out the latter? I was taking homemade milk and water kefir for the past few months and I'm pretty sure I overdid it and now have overgrowth that is contributing to a myriad of symptoms like leaky gut, insomnia, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, eczema...basically a lot of histamine intolerance symptoms because certain strains produce excess histamine in the gut.

So, yes it is possible to overdo it with certain probiotics depending on the strains in the makeup and which ones end up thriving in your gut. The idea is to find balance, not overrun the "bad guys". Because even certain good bacteria (Bifidus) can supposedly mutate, overgrow and cause issues.
 
Last edited:
Top