cipro
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi frog,
and welcome to the board. The reason why you can't find much information about cipro as a treatment for MC, is because it is contraindicated for long-term treatment, (due to the risk of certain pathogens developing a tolerance for it, and becoming "super-germs"). MC cannot be cured, it can only be controlled, which means that any treatment program usually has to be continued indefinitely. Only a small percentage of patients, are lucky enough to experience spontaneous remission, without continued treatment.
As antibiotics go, Cipro is one of the most "MC-friendly" antibiotics that is available, meaning that it is one of the least likely to trigger an MC reaction. (Most antibiotics have a reputation for causing MC, or triggering subsequent MC reactions). Often, Cipro will stop an MC reaction for the duration of the treatment period, but a few days after the treatment is ended, the symptoms will return. I have had Cipro, myself, while actively reacting, and I had the same experience - everything was fine for a couple of weeks, but as soon as it wore off, the diarrhea was back.
I am guessing that if one's MC is caused by a bacterial overgrowth, (which is probably true for at least a small percentage of MC patients), then a Cipro treatment for ten days to two weeks, followed by daily use of a good probiotic, might possibly bring remission. I'm not aware of anyone in this group who has any experience with this, as most GI docs don't make the connection as to what is going on, (with bacterial overgrowth), and they rarely prescribe a probiotic program, following an antibiotic treatment.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on Cipro, as a treatment for MC.
Tex
and welcome to the board. The reason why you can't find much information about cipro as a treatment for MC, is because it is contraindicated for long-term treatment, (due to the risk of certain pathogens developing a tolerance for it, and becoming "super-germs"). MC cannot be cured, it can only be controlled, which means that any treatment program usually has to be continued indefinitely. Only a small percentage of patients, are lucky enough to experience spontaneous remission, without continued treatment.
As antibiotics go, Cipro is one of the most "MC-friendly" antibiotics that is available, meaning that it is one of the least likely to trigger an MC reaction. (Most antibiotics have a reputation for causing MC, or triggering subsequent MC reactions). Often, Cipro will stop an MC reaction for the duration of the treatment period, but a few days after the treatment is ended, the symptoms will return. I have had Cipro, myself, while actively reacting, and I had the same experience - everything was fine for a couple of weeks, but as soon as it wore off, the diarrhea was back.
I am guessing that if one's MC is caused by a bacterial overgrowth, (which is probably true for at least a small percentage of MC patients), then a Cipro treatment for ten days to two weeks, followed by daily use of a good probiotic, might possibly bring remission. I'm not aware of anyone in this group who has any experience with this, as most GI docs don't make the connection as to what is going on, (with bacterial overgrowth), and they rarely prescribe a probiotic program, following an antibiotic treatment.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on Cipro, as a treatment for MC.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.