Xifaxan (rifaximin) and diarrhea

[gutbubbles]

I'm on day two of xifaxan (rifaximin) and it seems to be causing more problems.
Yesterday I took it and was in and out of the bathroom all day. Today I skipped breakfast and lunch and seemed to be ok, nothing in = nothing out. Had dinner and took my second pill (two a day) and the diarrhea came back.

I'll give it another day before I call the doctor. The pain from eating is worse than the pain from fasting but I'm already underweight so I can't really keep this up.

There's a warning label on the bottle that says diarrhea may occur weeks or months after taking it, not cool. Has anyone experienced this?

 

[effdee]

I know it's mainly used to treat Traveler's Diarrhea, and it always helped alleviate diarrhea for me so that seems strange. I'd definitely go ahead and check with your doctor.

 

[David in Seattle]

GB - I just completed a month on Xifaxan (550mg 3X/day, in my case). The only side effects I noticed were a lot of gas for the 1st week or so, and itching ("pruritus"). I'm one of the "undiagnosed", so my experience may not be representative of what an IBD sufferer might get. In terms of the long range threat of diarrhea, if it occurred, this would most likely be due to C. Difficile, a very nasty bacteria which can become dominant in the gut when other, more susceptible organisms are wiped out by an antibiotic, including Xifaxan. There are instances of this occurring some months after antibiotic use. I would think it unlikely that you would get an overgrowth of C. Diff (or any other organism) after only 2 doses. Diarrhea of unknown cause is one of the adverse reactions reported by some patients. If you are feeling that bad, I would suggest you stop taking the drug until speak to your doc.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum.

David