Xifaxan for SIBO

Posted by drpepper @drpepper, Jan 3, 2019

A number of you have indicated success with SIBO using drug Xifaxan. Talked with my doctor yesterday and he said he didn't see how this would help. Said for IBS and travelers diarrhea. He reluctantly prescribed 600 mg per day for 10 days. Feedback appreciated. Thanks

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Profile picture for h8bigbiz @h8bigbiz

Sorry, no success story from me. I tested positive, "off the chart" with SIBO and I think I've been suffering from birth with it. But the Xifaxan (which cost me $1,900) didn't work for me at all. (The Florastor didn't work either.) As I heard someone here on this site say, the Xifaxan doesn't get at the cause of the SIBO so it comes right back as soon as you stop the Xifaxan. And last I heard, they still don't know what causes the SIBO, so no wonder there doesn't seem to be a cure for it.

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I'm sorry it didn't help you. The first time I took Xifaxan, it improved my symptoms slightly, but I didn't have complete resolution.

It turned out I had methane-dominant SIBO and for methane-dominant SIBO, they've found that Xifaxan + Neomycin (another antibiotic) is more effective. Did your breath test indicate what type of SIBO you had?

It's so frustrating.

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Profile picture for p95 @p95

I need to hear some success stories. Everything I've read on the internet shows very poor efficacy of Xifaxan. My doctor has order 550 mg twice a day for 14 days along with Neomycin. Both are antibiotics. The Xifaxan is going to cost me $1,057.73. Also, I've read Xifaxan can cause C. Diff. (hospital acquired from spinal surgery) and after 3 years, I am still recovering from the damage that nasty bacteria left in my colon.

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Yes, the test showed both methane and hydrogen. My doctor called in both Xifaxan and Neomycin. He also said I could look up SIBO diet on Dr. Google. Thank you to emo too. Good to know I may need to take the Neomycin with food. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Profile picture for emo @emo

I'm sorry it didn't help you. The first time I took Xifaxan, it improved my symptoms slightly, but I didn't have complete resolution.

It turned out I had methane-dominant SIBO and for methane-dominant SIBO, they've found that Xifaxan + Neomycin (another antibiotic) is more effective. Did your breath test indicate what type of SIBO you had?

It's so frustrating.

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I don't know if the breath test indicated what type of SIBO I've got or not. I'm not going to bother to try seeing our local Gastroenterologist practice again (or even call them) to find out: it takes about 8 months to get an appointment and about 15 calls leaving messages to get a call back, seriously. I hear that there's a really good (better than ours anyway) Gastroenterologist practice in a town about 30 min. from here but they're only taking patients that live in that town.

This town isn't super small but you'd think we were with how sparse our local medical professionals are.

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Profile picture for p95 @p95

Yes, the test showed both methane and hydrogen. My doctor called in both Xifaxan and Neomycin. He also said I could look up SIBO diet on Dr. Google. Thank you to emo too. Good to know I may need to take the Neomycin with food. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Everyone’s different, but neomycin definitely did a number on my stomach whereas the first time I took the Xifaxan I don’t recall many side effects. I used Florastor with it.

I have a GI dietician and she said there’s not a ton of research on diets but I could see what made me feel better. The one thing she did say was not to change my diet while on the antibiotics because you want the “bugs” to be active so you can kill them off? Not sure if that’s true, but it kind of made sense at the time.

I found Dr. Pimentel’s protocol for preventing relapse here (he’s done a lot of research on SIBO): https://www.siboinfo.com/prevention-of-relapse.html

Fingers x’d for you that the treatment works!

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Profile picture for p95 @p95

I need to hear some success stories. Everything I've read on the internet shows very poor efficacy of Xifaxan. My doctor has order 550 mg twice a day for 14 days along with Neomycin. Both are antibiotics. The Xifaxan is going to cost me $1,057.73. Also, I've read Xifaxan can cause C. Diff. (hospital acquired from spinal surgery) and after 3 years, I am still recovering from the damage that nasty bacteria left in my colon.

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Xifaxan is a treatment for symptoms of SIBO. Every time I went off it, my symptoms returned. It’s not enough to take any pharmaceuticals or natural supplements without also changing your diet. My doctor has a dietitian that helped with kinds of foods to eliminate for a period of time to be reintroduced later one at a time until my gut healed.
There’s also a great book - SUPER GUT - you can order on Amazon that’s really helpful on foods that are gut healing, includes easy recipes. It’s worth checking out.

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Profile picture for h8bigbiz @h8bigbiz

Sorry, no success story from me. I tested positive, "off the chart" with SIBO and I think I've been suffering from birth with it. But the Xifaxan (which cost me $1,900) didn't work for me at all. (The Florastor didn't work either.) As I heard someone here on this site say, the Xifaxan doesn't get at the cause of the SIBO so it comes right back as soon as you stop the Xifaxan. And last I heard, they still don't know what causes the SIBO, so no wonder there doesn't seem to be a cure for it.

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h8bigbiz. We're so different and treatment is as well. I took Xifaxan for ??IBS (my diagnosis) and it worked great. A year of so later my symptoms ramped up so I was prescribed Xifaxan again but it did not work as it did before. Later on I had another colonoscopy and my GI doc did multiple biopsies throughout my colon which revealed microscopic colitis. I was ordered Budesonide for 3 months. Results was amazing. All was great and then a year later the diarrhea plagued me again--5-6 trips to the bathroom every day. I just finished the 3 months last week. The good results came within a couple of days and continues now. If I had to go through the treatment every year or two, it is well worth it. Good luck.

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Profile picture for fdixon63 @fdixon63

h8bigbiz. We're so different and treatment is as well. I took Xifaxan for ??IBS (my diagnosis) and it worked great. A year of so later my symptoms ramped up so I was prescribed Xifaxan again but it did not work as it did before. Later on I had another colonoscopy and my GI doc did multiple biopsies throughout my colon which revealed microscopic colitis. I was ordered Budesonide for 3 months. Results was amazing. All was great and then a year later the diarrhea plagued me again--5-6 trips to the bathroom every day. I just finished the 3 months last week. The good results came within a couple of days and continues now. If I had to go through the treatment every year or two, it is well worth it. Good luck.

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I'm glad it worked for you. Although I've never been tested for microscopic colitis, I doubt I have it since I have IBS-C (chronic constipation since the day I was born).

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Profile picture for fdixon63 @fdixon63

h8bigbiz. We're so different and treatment is as well. I took Xifaxan for ??IBS (my diagnosis) and it worked great. A year of so later my symptoms ramped up so I was prescribed Xifaxan again but it did not work as it did before. Later on I had another colonoscopy and my GI doc did multiple biopsies throughout my colon which revealed microscopic colitis. I was ordered Budesonide for 3 months. Results was amazing. All was great and then a year later the diarrhea plagued me again--5-6 trips to the bathroom every day. I just finished the 3 months last week. The good results came within a couple of days and continues now. If I had to go through the treatment every year or two, it is well worth it. Good luck.

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Good information in case I don't respond to the Xifaxan. Thank you.

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Profile picture for gigi4 @gigi4

Xifaxan is a treatment for symptoms of SIBO. Every time I went off it, my symptoms returned. It’s not enough to take any pharmaceuticals or natural supplements without also changing your diet. My doctor has a dietitian that helped with kinds of foods to eliminate for a period of time to be reintroduced later one at a time until my gut healed.
There’s also a great book - SUPER GUT - you can order on Amazon that’s really helpful on foods that are gut healing, includes easy recipes. It’s worth checking out.

Jump to this post

The SUPER GUT book is very informative. Well worth the price.

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Profile picture for p95 @p95

I need to hear some success stories. Everything I've read on the internet shows very poor efficacy of Xifaxan. My doctor has order 550 mg twice a day for 14 days along with Neomycin. Both are antibiotics. The Xifaxan is going to cost me $1,057.73. Also, I've read Xifaxan can cause C. Diff. (hospital acquired from spinal surgery) and after 3 years, I am still recovering from the damage that nasty bacteria left in my colon.

Jump to this post

Take Dysbiocide and FC-Cidal, from Biotics Research from Amazon. I took it I think for 6 weeks per doctor's instruction and my Sibo never returned.

Dont eat sweets while trying to heal.

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