chronic pouchitis

Try augmentin. I have chronic pouchitis and I'm on this now with success. Also I was on and off cipro for over two years. Are the meds no longer warning and what are your current symptoms?

CT GI who is great w joouches is Dr. Oikonomou out of Yale. Unfortunately, he will most likely just alter your meds to try and control symptoms. Zyfaxin or ryfaxin ( cannot rem correct antibiotic name) and entocort are also used. Do you have ulcers in the pouch? If so, he may try entocort.

I also just started Augmentin with some good success, when Cipro finally ran out of gas. In the past I've also had good results with doxycycline. Xifaxan didn't do anything for me (opther than astonish me with its price), but some folks get good results with it.

My son tried rifaximin twice with no success but then went on 2000 a day ( no success) then combined that with cipro for a week, then tapered off the cipro and gradually tapered down to 600 on just rifaximin. Augmentin had stopped working for him.

Cipro, Augmentin, and Pepto Bismol all worked great for me for about a year each. As Scott put it, they all eventually ran out of gas. I'm currently on Flagyl since December and doing great, but imagine that this too will stop working after a few months. The Xifaxan never worked for me. My next option is doxycycline.

Has anyone tried cycling their antibiotics. When one stops working if you are off it for awhile, isn't it possible it will become effective again ? Clearly some of us have what I think is auto immune related pouchitis and there is a desperate need for a medication to help control this issue in the small population of chronic pouchitis patients.

Lots of folks cycle their antibiotics - a common approach is three or four different regimens, changing every two weeks. I haven't done it that way, but it's a very reasonable approach.

Thanks everyone. Not sure how to respond on this forum but if I ask to switch to Augementum, what would be the proper dosage and frequency? I really wish I could find a local GI(hartford area)who is up to speed on these pouch issues. Any suggestions? ( Thank you, Jeanne,for your recommendation. I'll keep it in mind.)

Yes, I used to cycle Cipro, Augmentin, and Pepto at one point, but had been on Cipro first for awhile, then Augmentin solely while pregnant, then the Pepto for a year with no antibiotics. If I had been able to cycle them the duration of the 3 years, perhaps they would have lasted longer.

As for Augmentin, I think it's technically a 1000mg tablet (750mg of Amoxicillin and 250mg clavulanate). I took that twice a day except when I was pregnant and only took half a pill once a day. Both dosages worked fine for me.

Augmentin is a combination of two antibiotics: amoxicillin and clavulanate. "Basic" Augmentin tablets are available in three different strength combinations:
1) 250 mg amox/125 mg clav
2) 500 mg amox/125 mg clav
3) 875 mg amox/125 mg clav

There are a couple of liquid formulations, too, as well as extra strength and extended release tablets. My GI put me on the basic tablets with 500 mg amoxicillin. I started at twice daily, got decent results after a few days, and after 10 days have backed off to one tablet daily for now. This isn't authoritative, it's just what my doc is doing. Good luck!

I suggest you hand your doc the pouchitis review article Jan posted at the top of this (Pouchitis) Forum.