posted
There are a lot of scary stories out there about Clindamycin and C.Dif, but I wonder......how many people have ACTUALLY had this problem whilst on Clindamycin?
Is it really going to cause more trouble than all the other truck loads of antibiotics that I have been taking for years, or is this an urban myth?
I would hate to miss out on taking a potentially helpful med for babesia, when the risk is really not that high after all.
Anyone been there on this one?
Posts: 250 | From canada | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
I am on it a couple of months and ok so far. I am noticing some flares of severe fatigue and headaches then slow but steady improvements.
As Lymetoo said, make sure you take saccharomyces boulardi when you take your other probiotics. Florastor is saccharomyces boulardi but there are less expensive ones.
I am taking the Florastor because I bought 2 bottles before I knew about the cheaper ones.
Posts: 472 | From New Jersey | Registered: Dec 2007
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blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
often times, c diff starts once stopping abx. Strangly enough, the abx that cause it, sort of control it, if that makes sense.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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posted
how would you know if you have c diff? I am starting clindamycin next month.
Posts: 618 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
You would get diarrhea, and abdominal cramps, sometimes nausea and fever as well as a nasty smell. You can have it mildly without diarrhea and smell as well. Make sure you take Florastor! Clindamycin is the # 1 offender for c.diff and I would NEVER take it for Lyme or babesia treatment when there are alternatives available that work better.
posted
you should be ok on clindy and quinine if you dont do it for more than ten days straight.
my llmd had me do 10 days then switch to biaxin and plaquinil for ten days
then repeat both cycles 1 more time for a total of 20 days on each med!
ask your llmd to have flagyl as your next med after doing this combo flagyl kind of keeps c diff at bay !
make sure you take nystantin and a good quality probiotic seperated by two hours from the abx and you should be fine.
I have done that combo twice with no problems at all other than its a nasty herx !
Posts: 294 | From sw chicago suburbs | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
I wonder why my LLMD (who is considered one of the best LLMDs) uses clindamycin?? I have read that he discovered that some of his toughest cases responded really well to clindamycin. I am on IV treatment. I do take sacro-B.
Does it go away on its own...or would I just have to stop clindamycin to get it to go away?
Great, another thing to worry about...I will have to ask him next week. How much sacro-B do I need to take? right now I take the Jarrow brand x 2/day.
I will be pulsing clindamycin, along with another IV antibiotic...and adding in a couple oral abx too. I wonder if this going to be too hard on my system?!
Posts: 618 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I am taking probiotics and eat plain yogurt and drink coconut water kefir every day. I take sacro-B too. I will be taking flagyl at the end. I will be pulsing it, so it will end up being 9 days/month on clindamycin. Thank you so much for the heads up!
Posts: 618 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
That is what Dr. J is using with mixed results. There are other options like malarone for babesia + artemesia.
I would take 2 Florastor daily while on antibiotics and probiotics as tolerated. Please be very careful.
C.diff can go away by itself after you stop antibiotics but usually you need treatment for it and it interrupts your Lyme treatment. Sometimes you can never take antibiotics again once you get c.difficile. Each case is different but it is a very toxic germ and you have to be very aware, especially with high risk clindamycin.
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posted
Surely Dr. J would know about this risk with clindamycin??!! Well, I will ask at my next appt. I don't think he is using it for babesia, but rather, for lyme treatment?? Or maybe to hit babesia and lyme. I have no idea!
I believe I will be on it a total of 9 days and a 9 day break in between...another 9 days and that's it, but I'm not sure about that either!
How would one know if diarrhea is from c.diff or from normal abx tummy problems. I got horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea when I was taking oral zith and doxy a few months ago.
Thank you for the information!
Posts: 618 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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posted
I definately got c diff/colitis within a week of starting clindamycin last year.....but i have had colitis before so dont know if i was more suseptable......
i now have it on my allergy list......you'll know it once it starts...........
but not everyone is affected by it......lots of people take clindamycin fine aslong as you are protecting your stomach.......
-------------------- Oct 09 Positive CDC Western Blot Jan 10 Positive Babesia Duncani Jan 10 Cd57 28 Mar 10 EBV, IgM, IgG HHV-6 IgG Posts: 739 | From NC | Registered: Oct 2009
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
i had c. diff after stopping biaxin.
the smell is horrendous. i was going 10 or 15 times a day with severe abdominal cramps.
also i had burning diahhrea, so bad it scalded me. i cried when i had to go, it was that painful.
that's why i'm never touching another abx again and hoping i don't have to.
i got another mild case of c. diff (if it ever can be considered mild) after having been put on flagyl for diverticulitis.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
Clindamycin helps prevent babesia from being resistant while on quinine .
-------------------- gatorade girl
"I still have Mt.Everest to climb, but I have traveled across the world and arrived at the mountain". Posts: 633 | From baltimore | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
I have been on IV clindamycin for ten months, every two weeks for seven days. I love this drug, and have had great success in combination with other babesia/lyme drugs.
Initially, took clindy orally and got the stomach ache and diarrhea, and had to stop (not c-difficile). Conversely, have had NO side effects from IV clindy.
There are many people who use IV clindamycin for autoimmune diseases (www.roadback.org). It is a commonly used, and well-tolerated drug in IV form.
Posts: 964 | From san diego | Registered: Oct 2009
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