ok, i went to primary for the stomach/colon thingy. he took a ton of blood and i have to do stool sample.
here's the question.
he gave me 500 mg of flagyl for two weeks. i have to take it twice a day.
that's a very high dose of flagyl and since i have lyme, won't that just about kill me???
i mean i know i have to treat the c. difficle (he's giving me the flagyl before the tests come back cause he said better safe than sorry)...but man, can i handle that high a dosage?
how about one a day? i know i'm second guessing the doc and all, but i don't want to kill myself with a dang herx either....
what to do, what to do............
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
It could be harsh, but you also don't want to take too small a dose because that could result in the c. difficile becoming resistant.
I wouldn't lower the dose without talking to a doctor and making sure I was taking a large enough dose to hit the c. difficile.
Also, I think Flagyl is hardest on people who have had lots of abx treatment and sent the bacteria into cyst form. Since you are newer to treatment, it might not be as bad. But I've got not medical background besides what I've learned with Lyme. So this is just me thinking while I type.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Take one and if you go into orbit.... call his office.
Posted by micul (Member # 6314) on :
Acxtually that's on the low side. It's usually given 3 x's a day (every 8 hrs) because of it's short half life. It's often given at 750 mg tid for parasites.
He's giving it as a precaution for C-diff, so I wouldn't try reducing the dose. If you do end up with a positive for C-diff, then you will have to take it 3 x's a day.
Posted by mojo (Member # 9309) on :
I used to take this dose every three weeks for cyst busting. I did OK but it wasn't fun.
My girlfriend had C.Diff and she took 500 mg 3 x per day.
Posted by Patrick (Member # 8108) on :
I had Giardia many years ago and was given 750 mg three times a day for 10 days. It wasn't pleasant but I lived.
Posted by sfcharm (Member # 9392) on :
I just went through the colonoscopy and the stool samples for Cdiff. I didn't have it and was already pulsing the flagyl when the GI Dr. told me to take it for two weeks.
He did mention he doesn't like flagyl from the severe side effects he's seen with it treating gastrointestinal issues. He also said if I had CDiff it was what treated it.
I just went off the flagyl three days ago as I can'ttolerate the drug. It made me feel like I was slowly being poisioned and terribly depressed and just plain nasty.
I'm doing Rocephin IV after doing a year of orals and bicillin shots. Good luck with the flagyl.
Barb
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I don't know of anyone who has taken it and not gotten depressed. Can't imagine.
Posted by Cobweb (Member # 10053) on :
I have run several pulses of flagyl-at 500mg 3x a day-usually for 2 weks at a time.
I would have to make a countdown chart so I would just have to take it one more day until I reached the end.
And just when i was able to complete a cycle with hardly a reaction at all-my LLMD stopped it to give my body a break.
I learned here on lymenet to dip it in olive oil because the taste is so beyond nasty.
Initially it really did depress me-and wonder if treatment, life with lyme, yada yada yada was worth it. Fortunately-again with help from lymenet, I was able to recognize this was the flagyl talking-and given a chance things would get better.
I probably have another round of flagyl pulses ahead of me-but I no longer dread the thought. Perhaps naive of me.
Take Care, Carol
ps-quite frankly, I am finding my current course of minocycline and ART (and the IV Rocephin) to be doing a number on my Joi de Vivre, too.
Posted by pmerv (Member # 1504) on :
I couldn't take that dose for more than 2 days, but in my case, the cure was worse than the disease so I stopped. Good luck. Different people handle it differently.
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
The dose for treating c.diff should be 500 mg of Flagyl 4 times per day, or 2,000 mg/day. 1,000 mg is not strong enough, and that is NOT a strong dose. Even for Lyme the Flagyl dose is typically 2,000 mg per day and pulsed.
You have to be aggressive treating c.diff and it has a VERY high relapse rate. With Flagyl, you will be treating Lyme and c.diff, killing 2 birds with 1 stone. That's a good thing! Yes, it can be hard to take, but the danger of not treating it properly far outweighs the side effects.
Posted by nellypointis (Member # 1719) on :
quote:Originally posted by randibear: that's a very high dose of flagyl and since i have lyme, won't that just about kill me???
i mean i know i have to treat the c. difficle
500 mg of metronidazole per day is NOT a huge amount, it is in fact about the minimum you should be taking to fight a possible c.difficile infection.
It might make you feel a bit off (make sure you don't drink any alcohol at all, not a drop).
You might get a headache after a few days, try charcoal (well away from your abx and supplements)
Don't believe tini or metro will systematically make you feel terrible, it usually helps my brain heaps
Nelly
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
I took flagyl 3 x a day just dont drink any alchol drink lots of water,=.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :