Xifaxon

I know others have luck with this medication. For me it just seems to further aggravate my loose stools and diarrhea esp in comparison to Cipro which has the opposite effect on me. 

Xifaxan (rifaxamin) is commonly used off-label to treat pouchitis, generally in a rotation with other antibiotics (if the pouchitis is antibiotic-dependent). It's an unusual first-line pouchitis drug unless both Cipro and Flagyl are unacceptable. Perhaps your doctor thinks you may have pouchitis? In addition, Xifaxan is now approved to treat IBS, so perhaps it's also helpful in IPS. It's a very expensive drug.

I would not hesitate taking it. It has the best safety profile of all the antibiotics that are prescribed for us. I take in rotation for my pouchitis and my GI wants me to use it more than Cipro or Flagyl.

Your symptoms are consistent with pouchitis or IBS, both of which Xifaxin can be prescribed.

Try it. You have nothing to lose.

Jan

I am taking rifxaximin (generic) for pouchitis with a k- pouch. I have not experienced any side effects so far. It seems to be working, but I might be one of those people with ongoing pouchitis. Going to Dr. shen in June.

Recently my insurance price for xifaxan (medicare and united health care) went up to $588 for 2 weeks, 550 mg, 3 times a day!!

i am now using canadian king pharmacy.  You have to call them, get an order number, then the dr. Faxes the prescription with the order number on it. It takes 3 weeks to get it by US mail. It's $120 for 100 pills! The pharmacist at CVS assures me it is exactly the same as xifaxan. There is no generic xifaxan at this time.

My local  GI dr has no problem writing the prescription for canadian king, because he realizes how the pharmacutical companies are raising their prices.

To get any type of financial assistance from xifaxan you have to send in your tax return and 2 paycheck stubs!!!

Good luck to everyone who is on xifaxan, and we can hope there will be a generic soon.

It turns out that Salix has a loyalty/savings card for Xifaxan at https://www.xifaxan.com/ (click "Start saving"). It will generally lower your co-pay to $50, but will always yield significant savings.

These loyalty cards exist for numerous brand-name meds (I currently use two, and have used 3-4 others). They are for people *with* commercial Rx insurance, and reduce the co-pay significantly. I've probably saved several thousand dollars over the years by using them. It may take a small extra effort for each refill to ensure that the pharmacy has applied the appropriate codes.

Current drug company behaviors have resulted in surprisingly high prices for generics when they become available. One of my wife's medications was much cheaper with the loyalty card than the generic price, when it came on the market. This is exactly what the loyalty cards are for: they keep the brand name drug attractively priced for the patient, even though the insurance companies pay more.

Xifaxin is often prescribed to treat traveller's diarrhea but it's also prescribed for pouchitis or pouch inflammation and related symptoms. I have taken it for many years. My co-pay is only $10 but it's pursuant to some program like what Scott described whereby Salix is giving Rite Aid Customers a discount or perhaps it's Anthem Blue Cross insureds. Not sure about that but my copay went from $40 to $10 in November 2014 and has stayed there ever since. 

I paid a fortune out of pocket  for this the first time prescribed and then just a month ago paid almost nothing.  I need to check my bottle when home but I'm certain this was the antibiotic. Maybe my insurance coverage changed over the last couple of years. 

Wow! I have to try that loyalty card. I used to have a $35 copay but since the first of the year it has gone up for this Rx to $150. I asked for the retail price and they said it was over $2000 for a 1 month supply and they are giving me the generic right now (rifaximin). I'll have to see what I may need to do to be able to use the loyalty card and what it might reduce my copay to. Thanks!

I believe Xifaxan is still under patent in the US. No generic exists here yet, so you get the same brand name drug for the same price whether the prescription is written for Xifaxan or rifaximin. Good luck!

I used it and had success. Have chronic Pouchitis and currently on Remicade too. Antibiotics don't work for me anymore so was given a course of Xifaxan since it doesn't get absorbed and stays in your system. So it works differently. 

good luck

Big thanks to Scott F for alerting me to the Xifaxan loyalty card! My copay went from $35 to $150 this year for this drug. I signed up for the card and today paid $0 for my Rx!!! The card will only cover up to $1000/yr but since I alternate with another antibiotic, this Rx will cost me nothing for the rest of the year!!! 

If you have insurance coverage for Xifaxan but a high (well even a low, I guess!) copay, go to the manufactuurer's website to get this card! It is valid through the end of the year (and I am hoping they offer it again next year!)!

Thanks again!

I'm very glad it worked for you, JJA!