Been on IV Rocephin maybe seven weeks, and was whining earlier about how it was only making me sicker so far.
Doc added in 200mg/day diflucan five days ago to help with yeast thinking that may be the problem.
Well, got a call from my doc today... my liver enzymes are up and he wants me to stop the Rocephin now.
He didn't say what we were gonna do next, just to stop everything.
I'm bummed. I wanted to try to ride out at least 12 weeks (3 months) on the Rocephin, even though it was making me miserable...
So now what? What do ppl usually do when this happens (or does this usually happen?). Sigh.
BB
Posted by chainsaw joseph (Member # 6611) on :
diflucan is tough on the liver,sounds like thats the problem if it started when you started the diflucan.Do a blood test a week off of diflucan and stay on the rocephin,see if its that
Posted by Areneli (Member # 6740) on :
Right, drop difulcan first.
Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
Hello, dear Bb.
Well, now, that sounds familiar!
I did that, too!
I stopped infusing for one week, then retested liver enzymes. They were still high, but no longer on the moon.
Therefore, we began the infusions again.
HOWEVER, I would not want to add Diflucan into a mix like that!
With your order of Theralac winging its way to you, I bet you won't need to.
Why don't you ask your doc if you can retest liver enzymes after a one week break? I 'spect they'll drop significantly - 'specially if you toss the Diflucan pronto.
I'd be doing a little Heparin flush on my line every day if I was you, too (but check with yer doc, of course).
I would hate to see you miss the benefits of the 12 week course of IV also. Don't think you'll need to if you really keep a sharp eye on things! Run this plan by your doc!
Fingers crossed for you!
Michelle
Posted by BorreliaBrain (Member # 7603) on :
Hey Michelle, and Joseph and Areneli... thanks for the feedback.
Yeah, doc wants me to stop ALL meds right now, not just the Diflucan but also the Rocephin... but he says we're not giving up! He wants me to wait 'till the enzymes go back down... we are retesting next week.
BUT NOW... He had me do an abdominal ultrasound today and YUP - I got a biiiiig gallstone in my gallbladder - and sludging.
Gallstones! Sheesh! Doc says its so big it may well have been there before the Rocephin... but that it doesn't seem to be blocking the ducts...
But I don't want that stone to stay there... Is there a way to dissolve those things?
To tell the truth, I was just a little glad he told me to stop - I have just been feeling soooo nasty on the Rocephin.
Michelle - I got my Theralac and have taken it for a few days now - 2 pills/day actually - hope it helps. Am flushing my line everyday w/ saline, but I got one o' dem fancy newfangled lines that ain't supposed to need heparin.
This whole thing ssssuuuucckkkssss.
Thanks again everyone
BB
Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
Hi Bb!
Kewl, he's taken you off but not for too long. Excellent.
Sheesh, two Theralac a day. You're gonna be WAY better.
Now, about that stone. Other gallbladder people may weigh in on this; maybe post a separate post. But seems to me I mostly hear "Me and my gallbladder parted ways." And I've never heard of anyone claiming they missed 'em. Hard to imagine dissolving a big 'un!
Don't take your past experience as representative of the whole PICC experience; it may not be. When you get RE-picc'ed, you may be MUCH better due to being yeast free. I used to think that was prolly just so much twaddle, but was surprised to notice how different I felt in short order.
Sure hope you do too!
Posted by psano (Member # 7785) on :
Are you taking anything to protect your liver? My liver enzymes went up after just a little over two months of Ketek and one month of Bicillin LA. I had to stop abx for month before they returned close enough to normal to start taking them again.
My LLNP told me to start taking milk thistle and 300 mg alpha lipoic acid daily to protect the liver. After two weeks back on abx, my enzymes hadn't gone up. I'm due for another blood test soon, and hope my liver's still doing ok.
I don't want to have to stop abx again. I started feeling worse during that month I was off abx.
Good luck.
Posted by duke77 (Member # 5051) on :
Milk Thistle dropped my high enzymes almost immediately.
Posted by fatigued15 (Member # 6437) on :
My son had elevated levels. He took milk thistle and Hepa F. No. 2 by Zhang. His levels are back to normal after one month on these supplements.
Posted by 5dana8 (Member # 7935) on :
when my liver panal took a dive on rochepin many years ago ,I was surprized at how fast it can back up again. I hear milk thistle is good.
Posted by duramater (Member # 6480) on :
quote:Originally posted by BorreliaBrain: But I don't want that stone to stay there... Is there a way to dissolve those things? BB
I had gallstones each time I used rocephin (3 X if I recall correctly). Twice, I had several little stones; once, it was one big honker stone.
Each time, simply stopping the rocephin and letting the body do its thing yielded the stones disolving. Keep in mind, gallstones produced "au natural" are made of cholesterol & byproducts. Rocephin gallstones are a precipitate of rocephin -- totally different beasts.
If you don't have any gallbladder symptoms OR you do and they are mild-moderate (that was my situation), just wait. A few months later do another U/S. They might be gone or at least substantially reduced indicating you are on the right track.
Posted by tailz (Member # 10014) on :
There IS a way to dissolve them. Ask your doctor, but here's a website with a bunch of recipes.
I forget which one I used. I know I used a combination of them with ingredients I had which included:
onions welch's grape juice gingerale (I think they call for Classic Coke.) sea salt water (You have to make "sole".) olive oil
I know it's the internet and all, but I passed some tiny black things and some larger ones (about 2-3 cm) that looked like pale green pointed ovals, pretty much identical to what is pictured!
I did have an upset stomach for a good 12 hours, but felt better than ever a day later. In fact, I felt like I was going to die for a night.
I think it even brought my liver enzymes down a bit, though they are still too high for me to infuse. I also use CHARCOAL to give my liver a rest.
You think you had it bad. One WEEK on Rocephin, and I was pulled off IV abx. I'm glad I stopped the Zithromax and metronidazole, each after only a few days.
Hoping they all come down so I can infuse again.
Posted by KP (Member # 9488) on :
Another vote for Milk Thistle!!!
My liver enzymes were VERY high - around 280! Using the Milk Thistle when I was on Rocephin brought them back into the normal range. I was only taking 1 or 2 a day but I believe you can take up to 3 a day.
Also, eating yogurt kept the yeast at bay and was easier on my stomach than the acidolphylus. It took a few weeks of trial and error to find what worked with my body.
Karen
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
On the gallstones, just be aware that if you have an attack you go to a doctor or ER immediately. Attach is sharp pain in right abdomen, that can refer to the right shoulder/chest. It can also refer to the back.
A gallbladder attack is caused by a stone being caught in a duct. That's where the pain comes from. In rare cases, the stone can cause the duct to burst and that is life threatening.
My LLMD told me this after I thought I had a gallbladder attack and waited out the pain because I had a wedding to go to.
Posted by hopeful123 (Member # 3244) on :
don't have time to find the link....however...milk thistle does not mix well certain anti-depressants...it was a recent discussion...
sorry, at work, don't have the time to look...
Posted by liz28 (Member # 4946) on :
Dr. Zhang's Hepa Formula 2 (www.hepapro.com) Milk thistle N-acetyl choline Vitamin E Phosphatidylcholine
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)